Skradgee Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Hey guys, could we please have a quick review of how to calibrate the RadioShack volume attenuator? Tomorrow night I'll be recording a really LOUD show, and lately my recordings have been coming out distorted. Maybe the mics just can't handle it...I meant to get some new mics beforehand to try to take care of this, but now it's too late to have them shipped. So, even if some people could just point me to some links that have already been posted explaining how to do this, that would be great. I did check a couple of the pinned threads but couldn't find what I was looking for. I would like to know how much to turn down the dial on the attenuator. The mics are button-battery powered ones that I bought from RadioShack a long time ago. Thanks.BTW, here's a link with the info about the mics I'm using. Sometimes these work great, and other times they sound like crap. :-P http://www.radioshack.com/sm-hands-free-ti...pi-2102927.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A440 Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Without having used those mics, it's impossible to suggest settings. The best way to try calibrating is with your stereo. Crank it up as much as you can and play with the settings of Manual Volume and the attenuator. The attenuator helps keep the preamp from overloading. But if the mics themselves overload, you're stuck. I always use the attenuator turned all the way UP and adjust volume on the unit. But my mics are powered by the unit from the Mic-in Jack--plug-in power. If I turn the attenuator down, then the unit provides less plug-in power to the mics and they will clip sooner. However, since those are battery-powered mics, they might not be drawing power from the MD unit, so you could try playing with the attenuator. It's possible that you are running into the limitations of the mics themselves. They just might not be made to handle loud music. The specs on the Radio Shack site are not informative--they don't include frequency response, sensitivity or maximum sound pressure handling. But it looks like a microphone for voice, which means it may not have either the lows or highs that make music sound good, and it may be quite sensitive. All you can do is experiment. Or get some hi-fi Sound Professionals BMC-2 and try the attenuator. Even better, spend another $50, get a battery module and go through line-in, where you will probably never have to worry about mics overloading again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenmachine Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 I wouldn't recommend using a one channel [mono] mic for music recording or far miking in general at all. Since it seems to be externally powered [propably just 1.5 Volts, the mic won't perform optimally in high SPL situations], you could try line-in recording [without attenuator] or mic-in recording with attenuator and external power on. Other than that, upgrading isn't a bad idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skradgee Posted October 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Thanks for the replies. The mics don't work without having the switch turned on, so the button battery power has to be used. I'll probably use manual record levels going through the line in with the attenuator turned down just a little bit, and hope for the best. Like I said, sometimes they work great and other times they don't. Even with a little bass distortion, I'm sure the recording won't be completely unlistenable, but I see CSBs or greenmachine mics in my future. Time to go to the show. Peace! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A440 Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Line-in plus attenuator is probably going to give you too weak a signal to get any recording. Attenuator is for mic-in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skradgee Posted October 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 OK so it worked. I tried capturing two shows, one with the attenuator and one without it. The first really loud show was in an auditorium and the levels maxed out around 3 bars on the VU meter and they never went beyond four bars even during the extremely loud parts of the show. That came out sounding pretty good. There was almost no distortion, but it's a little bit quiet. Tonight I went to another loud show without the attenuator because I forgot to bring it, and the recording came out even better. I suppose this could be because it was in a club as opposed to an auditorium, but I maxed out around five or six bars on the VU meter, there's no bass distortion, and upon final mastering this is going to sound fantastic. So, good advice from each of you. Until recently, I've had almost no problems using the Mic In, but I should use the Line In more often. It is worth the trade off for all those extra track marks and a quieter master copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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