On 3/7/2014 6:54 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Can you recommend a cheap mic splitter that still has good signals
to both outputs?
Not really, and you're always going to have some sacrifice. My suggestion
for a first splitter would be to get one of the models that uses the Jensen
bridging transformers. The isolated output is still not as clean as the
direct out, but it's fine for PA stuff. However, the guy with the direct out
is supplying the phantom power if needed.
Looks like they have dual Faraday cages for high isolation, and
good CMRR:
http://www.jensen-transformers.com/datashts/mbc.pdf
http://www.jensen-transformers.com/an/an005.pdf
Looks not to hard to build, but getting older makes you lazy:
http://catalog.adwarvideo.com/avcat/...s&product=tsbd
The dual-secondary splitters provide two outputs with the same degradation
to them, and that reduces the arguments a lot. However, the splitter now
needs to be powered because the splitter is providing the phantom power.
If you arrange things well, though, you won't need a lot of channels of
splitter. I think you're better off having a couple really good splitters
than a rack full of lousy ones.
All the ones I have ever used were custom jobs. I know Whirlwind and Masque
Sound and Rapco will make them for you if you aren't up to doing it yourself.
This can actually be an advantage for p-popping vocalists... stick the
recording microphone six inches back from the PA mike.
I would imagine double miking also avoids the excess feedback you
might get with a sensitive vocal condenser mic through the PA.
Feedback is caused by leakage from the mains and monitors, through the room,
into the stage mikes.
For live recording, you want the stage mike feeds to be as clean as possible,
with as little leakage as possible. And you want that leakage to be as flat
and neutral as possible. So in fact what you want for recording spots and
for PA in most cases is very much the same.
The tighter the pattern the better for both applications, and the flatter
off-axis the better.
--scott
Do you sometimes use a sensitive condenser mic (to record) with
a dynamic mic (to PA), when double miking, or does that end up making
the mics too far apart? When you say "double miking", I'm thinking of
the two mics you see taped together on all those live concert films.
But they don't necessarily have to be that close to each other, right?