Connecting Mic Preamp to CD Recorder

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I am attempting my first recording of a grand piano and have purchased
the following:
Two MXL 603 mics (phantom powered)
Symetrix 302 Dual Microphone Preamplifier
Would someone please suggest the best way to connect the output of
this preamp to CD recorder.
The preamp has 2 types of Balanced Line Outputs (I believe I need
balanced because of the phantom power)
A – TRS jacks – output 1, output 2
B – Euroblock connectors – output 1, output 1+2, output 2
The CD recorder is consumer grade and has RCA connectors
The preamp and recorder will be next to each other.
If you don't mind Dummying-it-down and let me know some obvious things
like:
Will such cables be Y-shaped?
Output goes into exactly which RCA jack in the back of the CD
recorder.
Thanks,
Paul

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Paul wrote:
> I am attempting my first recording of a grand piano and have purchased
> the following:
> Two MXL 603 mics (phantom powered)
> Symetrix 302 Dual Microphone Preamplifier
> Would someone please suggest the best way to connect the output of
> this preamp to CD recorder.
> The preamp has 2 types of Balanced Line Outputs (I believe I need
> balanced because of the phantom power)
> A – TRS jacks – output 1, output 2
> B – Euroblock connectors – output 1, output 1+2, output 2
> The CD recorder is consumer grade and has RCA connectors
> The preamp and recorder will be next to each other.
> If you don't mind Dummying-it-down and let me know some obvious things
> like:
> Will such cables be Y-shaped?
> Output goes into exactly which RCA jack in the back of the CD
> recorder.
> Thanks,
> Paul


The phantom power goes to the mics so get regular XLR-XLR mic cables,
plug them in the only way you can, and turn phantom on. To unplug, turn
phantom off first.

Take the output from whichever connector is easiest for you to connect,
but only use the + (or TRS tip) and ground (TRS sleeve); that's probably
a straight 1/4" TS to RCA cable (or adaptors) - this is not balanced and
does not need to be.

If the left mic is in channel 1, connect the channel 1 output to the
Left RCA jack (sorry, "insufficient data for a meaningful answer" ).

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

"Paul" <pgruodis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:e1850e8c.0410130846.71163297@posting.google.com
> I am attempting my first recording of a grand piano and have purchased
> the following:
> Two MXL 603 mics (phantom powered)
> Symetrix 302 Dual Microphone Preamplifier
> Would someone please suggest the best way to connect the output of
> this preamp to CD recorder.
> The preamp has 2 types of Balanced Line Outputs (I believe I need
> balanced because of the phantom power)
> A - TRS jacks - output 1, output 2
> B - Euroblock connectors - output 1, output 1+2, output 2
> The CD recorder is consumer grade and has RCA connectors

(1) Obtain a pair of 1/4" jack to RCA adaptors (e.g. Cat # 274-320) from
Radio Shack or equivalent (e.g. Hosa GPR123 )
(2) Plug the adaptors into the TRS output jacks on the Symetrix preamp
(3) Connect a pair of ordinary RCA - RCA (e.g.RS Catalog #: 42-2366) cables
or equivalent from the 1/4" to RCA adaptors to the RCA input jacks on the
recorder.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

S O'Neill <nopsam@nospam.net> wrote in message news:<SOadnRwiaOMc8vDcRVn-rg@omsoft.com>...

> Take the output from whichever connector is easiest for you to connect,
> but only use the + (or TRS tip) and ground (TRS sleeve); that's probably
> a straight 1/4" TS to RCA cable (or adaptors) - this is not balanced and
> does not need to be.

Are there Pro's/Con's associated with Balanced/Unbalanced?

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Thanks Arny! Thats the kind of "Dummy" help I need!
The Cat#'s are Most appreciated
~Paul
>
> (1) Obtain a pair of 1/4" jack to RCA adaptors (e.g. Cat # 274-320) from
> Radio Shack or equivalent (e.g. Hosa GPR123 )
> (2) Plug the adaptors into the TRS output jacks on the Symetrix preamp
> (3) Connect a pair of ordinary RCA - RCA (e.g.RS Catalog #: 42-2366) cables
> or equivalent from the 1/4" to RCA adaptors to the RCA input jacks on the
> recorder.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

"Paul" <pgruodis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:e1850e8c.0410131954.3b092a67@posting.google.com...
> Thanks Arny! Thats the kind of "Dummy" help I need!
> The Cat#'s are Most appreciated
> ~Paul
> >
> > (1) Obtain a pair of 1/4" jack to RCA adaptors (e.g. Cat # 274-320) from
> > Radio Shack or equivalent (e.g. Hosa GPR123 )
> > (2) Plug the adaptors into the TRS output jacks on the Symetrix preamp
> > (3) Connect a pair of ordinary RCA - RCA (e.g.RS Catalog #: 42-2366)
cables
> > or equivalent from the 1/4" to RCA adaptors to the RCA input jacks on
the
> > recorder.

Unfortunately, this may or may not give good results. The 1/4" > RCA
adapters he mentions short out the ring connection to ground. On some
preamps this causes no problems; on others it causes severe distortion, even
on the tip connection. Try it and see, but if you get distorted-sounding
results, try the stereo-1/4">dual RCA adapters I mentioned.

Peace,
Paul

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Chris Hornbeck wrote:

> On Thu, 14 Oct 2004 06:13:01 GMT, "Paul Stamler"
> <pstamlerhell@pobox.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Unfortunately, this may or may not give good results. The 1/4" > RCA
>>adapters he mentions short out the ring connection to ground. On some
>>preamps this causes no problems; on others it causes severe distortion, even
>>on the tip connection. Try it and see, but if you get distorted-sounding
>>results, try the stereo-1/4">dual RCA adapters I mentioned.
>
>
> God dwells in the details here, ...

>
> Strange as it may seem, the answer to the OP's seemingly simple
> question is difficult to know without knowing some deeper details.
>
> Kinda the story of our times, I guess,


True, but the fact that the output Z of the preamp is 300 balanced and
150 unbalanced tells me that it's most likely just what it seems - he
needs the usual stereo cable with 1/4" instead of RCA at one end, and he
should try it before he needs it.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

"S O'Neill" <nopsam@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:8cydncBwb9JKqPPcRVn-jA@omsoft.com
> Chris Hornbeck wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 14 Oct 2004 06:13:01 GMT, "Paul Stamler"
>> <pstamlerhell@pobox.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Unfortunately, this may or may not give good results. The 1/4" > RCA
>>> adapters he mentions short out the ring connection to ground. On
>>> some preamps this causes no problems; on others it causes severe
>>> distortion, even on the tip connection. Try it and see, but if you
>>> get distorted-sounding results, try the stereo-1/4">dual RCA
>>> adapters I mentioned.
>>
>>
>> God dwells in the details here, ...

The details may be discernable by means of logical induction - the schematic
for the predecessor SX-201 can be found at
http://www.symetrixaudio.com/tech_ [...] 02_1A1.pdf .

My experience with this kind of balanced output says that the ring can
probably be grounded with good results in typical use, even though the opamp
that drives the ring and the tip amplifier will be loaded by only 300 ohms.

>> Strange as it may seem, the answer to the OP's seemingly simple
>> question is difficult to know without knowing some deeper details.

Given that a consumer CD recorder is the load, there is no need to provide
the full Monte +22 or whatever. I don't think that the opamp used can do a
full +22 or so into 300 ohms, but it will most likely do +4, or the -10 that
it will can be called upon for in this application.

Additional advice, keep the level controls on the preamp down, and keep the
input level control on the CD recorder up.


> Based on the fact that the output Z of the preamp is 300 balanced and
> 150 unbalanced tells me that it's most likely just what it seems - he
> needs the usual stereo cable with 1/4" instead of RCA at one end, and
> he should try it before he needs it.

Thanks.