I am almost done with my jig for use with Speaker Workshop, and I realized I'm missing something rather important....namely a mic and a preamp to test with. Seeing as how I'm new to this DIY game, does anyone have any recommendations on a reasonable mic and mic preamp that would work well for capturing and doing analysis? Any help would be much appreciated.
about the RS
I use this RS spl meter but I have to say that it is a pain to calibrate. They vary from sample to sample. I had problems with its bass behaviour (everybody elses was undereading, mine was overeading) had to put it against a calibrated panasonic to make the compensation file, then I changed the caps inside and it came to balance, then I wrote another file....
If you dont already have it opt for the Behringer.
I use this RS spl meter but I have to say that it is a pain to calibrate. They vary from sample to sample. I had problems with its bass behaviour (everybody elses was undereading, mine was overeading) had to put it against a calibrated panasonic to make the compensation file, then I changed the caps inside and it came to balance, then I wrote another file....
If you dont already have it opt for the Behringer.
I built a wallin preamp. I probably messed it up somehow, but it functions poorly and has little gain and sounds like it is clipping. I wasted $30 in parts and about 6-7 hours of my time in shopping for the parts and building the circuit. I have no Oscope, so I can't tell where the problem is and I don't feel like swapping component after component until I find the problem.
The Behringer units go for less than retail, even at guitar center, where I bought mine. I bought the UB-802 ($40) and ECM-8000 ($35), and a 15 foot mic cord ($10), for that price, I don't know why I wasted my time on the wallin preamp. It would cost me well over $100 in parts to duplicate the UB-802. I'll never build another audio circuit again, except for one-off measurement instrument circuits.
The UB-502 won't work because it doesn't have phantom power.
Don't waste time with the RS meter, mine has a lot of hum pickup and is really nonflat - like +8/-15 from 2kHz to 20kHz... I posted a comparison of the RS meter and my Behringer mic - do a search.
The Behringer mic is reasonably flat - about +/- 1dB. If you need better than that, you can send it to Kim Girardin and get an individual cal file for about $40.
The Behringer units go for less than retail, even at guitar center, where I bought mine. I bought the UB-802 ($40) and ECM-8000 ($35), and a 15 foot mic cord ($10), for that price, I don't know why I wasted my time on the wallin preamp. It would cost me well over $100 in parts to duplicate the UB-802. I'll never build another audio circuit again, except for one-off measurement instrument circuits.
The UB-502 won't work because it doesn't have phantom power.
Don't waste time with the RS meter, mine has a lot of hum pickup and is really nonflat - like +8/-15 from 2kHz to 20kHz... I posted a comparison of the RS meter and my Behringer mic - do a search.
The Behringer mic is reasonably flat - about +/- 1dB. If you need better than that, you can send it to Kim Girardin and get an individual cal file for about $40.
No offence meant to anyone who in the good will have contributed own work, but most known stuffs in this domain that can be found online are needlessly complicated and, again no offence meant, to most speaker builders, are a nightmare. I mean here on the jigs, preamps, tutorials how to build microphone from Panasonic capsule…
If you choose to DIY this, do yourself a favor, do not build pointless jigs, SpeakerWorkshop tutorial will tell you all you need to measure impedance and passive components is one resistor. Do not build unnecessarily complicated preamp intended to ape industrial units, all you need like preamp is one operational amplifier set to gain of 20-30 and battery. And one pencil in which you will put a capsule. Costs will depend on what you already have, but you should be able to accomplish this for $10-15. Then you are done and can deal with measurements.
Pedja
If you choose to DIY this, do yourself a favor, do not build pointless jigs, SpeakerWorkshop tutorial will tell you all you need to measure impedance and passive components is one resistor. Do not build unnecessarily complicated preamp intended to ape industrial units, all you need like preamp is one operational amplifier set to gain of 20-30 and battery. And one pencil in which you will put a capsule. Costs will depend on what you already have, but you should be able to accomplish this for $10-15. Then you are done and can deal with measurements.
Pedja
I built the Wallin preamp, and it works fine.
My setup here http://members.optusnet.com.au/~ggoodacre/Centauri/diy/mic.html
Cheers
My setup here http://members.optusnet.com.au/~ggoodacre/Centauri/diy/mic.html
Cheers
Dazzzla said:
Actually, not sure now. As mentioned in the above link, mine came from ME Sound, but they are no longer around. A quick look around some of my regular suppliers didn't come up with anything.
I seem to recall someone else on this forum got some sent from Parts Express - try doing a search of the forum and you may locate the old thread.
Cheers
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