Hot answers tagged electronics
20
It's really the cable that's balanced.
Imagine a long cable transmitting a weak signal (for example, a very low voltage signal from a microphone). As the signal travels down the cable, ambient noise might distort the signal.
In a balanced cable, instead of just transmitting the signal by itself, you transmit both the signal and its opposite along two ...
19
This topic is commonly misunderstood, and Joel's answer isn't quite correct.
Transmitting "both the signal and its opposite along two wires" is called differential signaling. This is used to minimize emissions from a cable into other circuitry, because the equal and opposite electric and magnetic fields cancel out at a distance from the wire.
A "balanced ...
12
Definition
Impedance is essentially a measure of how much a device resists, or impedes, the flow of alternating electrical current (AC). It is measured in ohms, the symbol for which is Ω.
Lower is Better
With microphones, a lower impedance is usually desirable. High-impedance microphones can cause a loss of high-frequency signal and are more prone to ...
8
It's an interconnect method that lets you transmit signals over very long lengths of wire without having large amounts of extraneous noise injected in to the signal. The signal is duplicated on to two wires and the input impedance at the received is the carefully matched for both signals. This insures that noise injected during the journey is done so in ...
7
Here's a brief overview to get you started. Hopefully others will answer with some more details too.
'Gain' controls are typically used to get a good input level. So for example if you had a microphone with a very low output signal, you would boost the gain to get a better level into your mixing desk or audio interface. If you had a synthesizer plugged in ...
6
Volume knobs have a tendency to get "scratchy" over time. This is caused by corrosion and dirt in the inner workings.
It's definitely worth fixing. You can get a can of DeoxIT contact cleaner for about $15.
Just unplug the unit, open the case and spray the backs of the potentiometers. Usually there is a small hole where you can use the tube that ...
4
I'm going to suggest you take these units in to a proper electronics service center and have them checked out by someone who troubleshoots this sort of stuff on a day-to-day basis. Normally I'd be all for going it DIY but you're dealing with high powered electronics. There is no room for error here. If you screw this up the result could very well be death.
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4
Yes, has BenV said, impedance is a measure of how a device resists or impedes the flow. The catch is, it's also frequency dependant.
Some more expensive preamps will even allow you to select several input impedances for the device allowing you to approximate the one for your microphone, or if you are in the mood to try something different, well...
I ...
4
Gain staging is one of the most important things you can do to maximize the signal to noise ratio of your studio or PA set up. To set up your system so that every link in the chain, from source to speakers, is sending the maximum about of signal but not clipping, insures that you are minimizing the amount of noise reaching your amp (or recorder). The Yamaha ...
4
In general, if you unplug anything from a power amp, you could amplify small currents into a pretty loud pop...which could be enough to damage speakers or amplification circuits.
With phantom power, the problem is that when you unplug, the power to circuits is dropped quickly so you get current surges from inductors and capacitors, and these can be much ...
4
The two products are pretty different. Cubase is a DAW whose primary purpose is to sequence MIDI and manage digital audio. Max/MSP, meanwhile, is a modular programming environment for audio. DAWs like Cubase tend to arrange things on tracks with a timeline, and offer the ability to effect, modify, and edit those tracks. Max has everything in little modules ...
3
That appears to be a chassis common ground.
Update: After re-reading your question, I'm confused by what you mean by "which jacks are shielded?" The circuit diagram says nothing about whether the jacks are shielded or not. It does say that the grounds are connected to chassis ground. Most mixers have a metal body that acts as a shield for the entire device, ...
3
This is a capacitive coupling issue. It can be fixed by properly shielding all the electronic parts, i.e. surrounding them with some conductor connected to ground. Hackish though it sounds, the "human ground" is actually quite a common "solution" to this problem: on most electric instruments, the strings are connected to ground, so whenever you actually play ...
2
The specs say that the M-8 is also a surge protector, and probably a better one than your average power strip kind.
It is also important to make sure any cables such as phone, network, or coax that attach to your computer are also plugged into a surge protector. I was at a customer site once where lighting struck somewhere near the building and ran up the ...
2
I think your trouble is partly related to using the overloaded, usually inappropriate word "pro" instead of "broadcast". Marketing departments love using the first word, but when you think about it, that word doesn't describe the type of work, nor the level of quality.
The rest of your trouble may just be unfamiliarity with this kind of hardware, which is ...
2
In simplest terms, the gain is used to adjust the strength (i.e. voltage level) of the signal, whether that be within the electrical components of the mixing board, within the software DAW, signal sent to magnetic tape, etc. Volume, on the other hand, is used to adjust the loudness of the signal as you perceive it, whether that is through speakers, or ...
2
As long as the electronics are off, they'll probably be OK. For example, Apple's MacBook Pro Technical Specifications give a minimum storage temperature of -13°F/-24°C.
You didn't indicate what type of condenser mics you're using, but (for example) a Shure SM81 (the first one Google found me a temperature range for) is spec'd for storage in -20°F/-29°C.
...
2
I'm not sure how the electronics will react to the cold. Usually the owners manual will have an operating temperature range that will at least tell you what the manufacturer recommends. That being said, I've left my keyboard and laptop in the car in freezing temperatures several times with no adverse effects.
One thing you will need to pay attention to is ...
1
There are two enemies of solid state electronics: heat and dust. Excessive heat will shorten MTBF (mean time between failures), while a significant build up of dust will act as an insulator and trap heat. Often I see computers that have died prematurely because the internal fans were so full of dust they clogged and stopped functioning. While you are worried ...
1
Just as an anecdote I was working in Alaska and we had an outdoor event and we set up some huge projectors. Needless to say the fans froze and even though it was freaking cold the thing didn't survive that long.... Anyway, I think your approach is good as far as to what to remove and what to leave in the room. As you state, leave the mic stands in position ...
1
I had the same problem. I found a simple and easy solution. I took out the bridge piece (which was very tight) and cleaned it, then gently rubbed the sides on some floor tiles (I had no sand paper). This was to remove any goop accumulated from playing (sweat gunk etc). I slipped it back in (a lot easier). I then tested, without strings, applying pressure to ...
1
The problem turned out to be either the pickup or the wire to the preamp. I didn't have time to shield the wire - I can't get my hand all the way into the cavity of the guitar, and I don't have tools to work inside a guitar (outside of some skinny pliers and a small inspection mirror), so I elected to simply replace the pickup. It worked; the hum is gone.
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1
Since it goes away when you touch the metal of the cable jack, it's almost certainly a shielding issue. It could be the preamp, the pickup, or – most likely – the interior cable from the pickup to the preamp: this connection is extremely susceptible to capacitive coupling because both the preamp input and the pickup (assuming a piëzo, which it likely is) in ...
1
I would like to add this little bit of information, which might be useful but is probably just (somewhat) interesting ;-)
In many modern DAW's, you'll find that the Volume Controls also can work as gain, as they're by default set at 0 dB and you would normally only pull the down, but you can also push them past the 0 dB at which moment you'd use the volume ...
1
There are two main stages in signal flow when recording audio:
TO TAPE & FROM TAPE
This is a little outdated of a label, but TO TAPE would be the signal flow getting the audio you're wanting to record to the storage device - it used to be actual reels of tape, now it's typically a hard drive. This is where GAIN comes into play. Gain is the control ...
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