View Single Post
  #10   Report Post  
David Satz
 
Posts: n/a
Default Small vs. large diaphragm condenser mikes for recording grand piano at home

[ topic drift warning lights ON ... ]

Chris Hornbeck wrote:

Would anybody in the group be interested in a mic pre-preamp project?
Something that could run off phantom power and fit into an XLR
shell is easy to do; two JFETs and a few resistors.

I'm surprised that there aren't somesuch available commercially.
Or are there?


I haven't seen any so far, but Sanken recently announced a product of this
type, model HAD-48, which is to be available in a few weeks at a projected
price around $200 apiece. It's an in-line device about 4" long which runs
off of phantom power (3 mA per microphone) and offers switchable 20 or 40
dB gain. It can be attached directly to the XLR-3M plug of a ribbon or
other dynamic microphone and has its own XLR-3M output.

I recently got specifications from the U.S. distributor ("plus24", which
may sound like the name for a banking/ATM network but they're nice people)
and I've ordered a pair for testing.

Frankly the specifications were a bit disappointing; on paper it seems
like a product that will inspire someone else to make a version with
somewhat better performance, especially in the areas of input noise
(it's specified only as "noise," but since it's given as -121 dBA I
figure that it must be equivalent input noise) and frequency response
(it's down a dB or two on top and almost 3 dB on the bottom).

Plus the "expected receive side impedance" is specified as 10 kOhms which,
if true, would exclude most real-world mixers and preamps. But I was told
that "it will work with lower loads as well." So we'll see. I'll post a
message here when I've had a chance to measure them and/or try them out.