Just how bad are the preamps on the C|24 board?

[Dude Japan]

So I was using the C|24 board the other day and had to crank the
preamp all the way up to get a usable signal from an SM-7b.

The path was SM-7b >>> mic cable >>> Whirlwind snake >>> DB25 adapter
>>> C|24 >>> Digi 192

Is it possible that the signal degraded that much over the snake and
the adapter?

How much gain is provided by those preamps? I can't seem to find the
info anywhere in the manual....


Thanks,

Clay

[Mike Rivers]

Dude Japan wrote:
> So I was using the C|24 board the other day and had to crank the
> preamp all the way up to get a usable signal from an SM-7b.

> Is it possible that the signal degraded that much over the snake and
> the adapter?

No. What's a "usable signal?"

> How much gain is provided by those preamps?

I'd guess 55-60 dB, which is about what any modern mixer or
mic preamp has. However, there's no standard for the
relationship between analog gain and digital sensitivity
(how many volts out of the preamp are needed to get to full
scale) and that's something that's fixed in the design.

The knobs work all the way up, however. If they need to be
all the way up in order to work for you, there's nothing
wrong with doing it. The SM-7 is a moderately low output
mic, so it's not unusual to need all the gain that a
"standard" preamp offers.


--
"Today's production equipment is IT based and cannot be
operated without a passing knowledge of computing, although
it seems that it can be operated without a passing knowledge
of audio." - John Watkinson

[Preben Friis]

"Dude Japan" > wrote in message
...
> Is it possible that the signal degraded that much over the snake and
> the adapter?

No.

You seem to confuse "attenuation" with "degration" and "low" with "bad"? In
audio there are usably a big difference between the two.

> How much gain is provided by those preamps? I can't seem to find the
> info anywhere in the manual....

65 dB according to: http://www.avid.com/US/products/C24/Specifications

/Preben Friis

[Arny Krueger]

"Dude Japan" > wrote in message


> So I was using the C|24 board the other day and had to
> crank the preamp all the way up to get a usable signal
> from an SM-7b.

What was the source? How far away was it? How live was the room?

> The path was SM-7b >>> mic cable >>> Whirlwind snake >>>
> DB25 adapter
>>>> C|24 >>> Digi 192

> Is it possible that the signal degraded that much over
> the snake and the adapter?

Highly unlikely.

[Scott Dorsey]

Dude Japan > wrote:
>So I was using the C|24 board the other day and had to crank the
>preamp all the way up to get a usable signal from an SM-7b.

Did it sound good when you cranked it all the way up? Or was it noisy?

>The path was SM-7b >>> mic cable >>> Whirlwind snake >>> DB25 adapter
>>>> C|24 >>> Digi 192
>
>Is it possible that the signal degraded that much over the snake and
>the adapter?

No. The output of the SM-7 isn't very hot, but it's pretty low-Z and
doesn't have issues with long cables.

>How much gain is provided by those preamps? I can't seem to find the
>info anywhere in the manual....

I dunno, I never used the thing, but it should be a five minute job with
a signal generator to find out.

There's nothing wrong with having to crank it all the way up, as long as
it still sounds good when you crank it all the way up.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Dude Japan]

> 65 dB according to:http://www.avid.com/US/products/C24/Specifications
>
> /Preben Friis

Thanks for hunting that down for me.

[Dude Japan]

>
> No. *The output of the SM-7 isn't very hot, but it's pretty low-Z and
> doesn't have issues with long cables.
>

Thanks. That's what I figured.

> I dunno, I never used the thing, but it should be a five minute job with
> a signal generator to find out.
>

The problem is that it is not just a five minute job, because all of
the connections are in an inconvenient place (behind a wall, behind a
heavy desk).

It's not really my board. I'm just responsible for it 12 hours per
week.

I was hoping that someone would say "oh, there's this little known
attenuation switch on/in the board." The VO artist's voice was so soft
that I had to turn it up all the way, and it gets noisy at the top.