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Mottlefeeder

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Posts posted by Mottlefeeder

  1. Modern switching power supplies switch at high frequencies to avoid causing problems in the audio band.

    If the keyboard psu and yours are connected via the mixer, what you may be hearing is some form of beat note from the two psu's differing frequencies.

    Changing one of the PSU's may cure it.

    David

    • Like 1
  2. On 14/05/2024 at 10:40, Chienmortbb said:

    Some sound advice here but let’s look at the real world.

     

    1. You should never use 6.35 plugs (1/4”) for speakers,,,,, but some amps and speakers have them so… use the best you can and NEVER and instrument cable. 

    2. SpeakON 4 way connectors are close to a standard but on cables a 2 way works fine. It mates with a 4 way socket on +1 & -1. You cannot use a 4 way plug into a 2 way socket. 

    3 Cables.. You can use mains flex as long as the current rating is OK for your rig. The problem is it is not very flexible.

     

    4.Speaker cable is more flexible and more suited to stage use. You do not need 4mm cable unless you are doing high powered PA speakers over long distances. They are a pain to use in the old Neutrik speakons and way over specified for bass rigs. 

    5. Although Neutrik are the industry standard, both Cliff and Amphenol make fine Speakon compatible connectors. Switchcraft may also but they are not common in the UK.

    6. As a general rule I use 20 amperes as the maximum current (amperage is NOT a word) that 2.5mm cable can carry and 16 amperes as the max a 1.5mm flex can carry. Although commercial flex may be rated higher, that does not account for the  losses in the cables. For bass rigs this may be negligible when using a 50cm to 1m cable but PA cables are much longer and the losses add up. 
     

    7. So a 2.5mm copper cable, In my opinion, is good for in excess of 3000 watts continuous at 8 ohms. For 4 ohm use you must halve that rating to 15-1600 watts. For 1.5 mm cable, the figures are 1800 watts at 8 ohms and about 900 into 4 ohms. For longer runs I would debate those figures.

     

    Conclusion, 4mm cable is overkill for a bass rig. 2.5 and 1.5 are more than enough but buy a reputable make. Some cheap cables are CCAW or copper covered aluminium wire. It is rubbish.

     

    A good guide, but point 2 is not quite right. A neutrik/speakon NL4FX 4-pole plug will physically fit a neutri/speakon 2-pole combi jack/speakon socket. Presumably +1 & -1, but I can't check that.

    David

  3. On 07/05/2024 at 18:27, bremen said:

    Does anyone, since the invention of the excellent Speakon, still make amplifiers with xlr speaker outputs? Seems a bit risky, a connector offering big volts and amps on a connector most commonly seen on microphones.

    I think XLR connectors lack the creapage and clearance requirements to be legal at the voltages that a power amp could produce. 

    The Bulgin black mains connectors disappeared at the same time for the same problem.

    David

  4. 6 hours ago, Rosie C said:

     

    I use a Behringer P2. I run my bass into a Boss TU-3 tuner pedal - the 'output' jack goes to my amp, the 'bypass' jack goes into the P2. I'm not sure what's going on inside but there's a strong enough signal to drive everything. I use it with ACS ambient IEMs which are something like ambient less 17dB.

     

     

    Screenshot 2024-05-08 at 12.57.05.png

    I find 'loud' is a problem for me these days, even in a band that busks oudoors through a small PA.

     

    I usually use a small mixer to provide my monitor signal, but I recently borrowed an LD systems HP1, and tried it with my active bass plugged straight in via a jack to XLR adaptor. I found that I had to turn the volume control up somewhere beyond 75% to get enough volume in my Shure SE215 buds. At that setting, something in the monitor signal chain was distorting.

     

    David

  5. The behringer P2 and its rivals are designed to take line level outputs from a mixer, so your bass may not have a strong enough signal to give you enough volume, especially if it is passive.

     

    A cheap used mixer (2-3 channels) and a basic microphone would allow you to mix ambient sound and/or PA sound with your bass and would give you a headphone feed. When you decide what mix works for you, you can buy the gear you need and sell the mixer on, or you can use it for silent practice at home.

     

    David

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
  6. In the busking band I play in, the BL likes to have one PA speaker at the front corner and one PA speaker in the opposite corner behind him as his monitor, but just doesn't get the fact that the back line have to wear hearing protection as a result of having a speaker so close to them.

    Although we play at relatively low levels, we often get feedback issues when the next front-person plugs in with a different mic to the previous one.

    I've probably spent as much on IEM gear as I have on my rig, just to keep the noise level down, and to hear what I am doing.

    David

  7. 2 hours ago, MrDinsdale said:

    ... I’m guessing you’d want to pop a resistor in there to mimic the pots value but anything else to consider.

     

    Yes you would need something to mimic the pot. If you don't then you will hear pick-up (electrical) resonances that the pots usually damp down. 

    David

    • Like 1
    • Confused 1
  8. The P2 has a volume control but no blend or mix controls, so you will need to do the mix elsewhere.

    First question, how many of the outputs from the mixer have your bass signal on them, and secondly, what else do they have on them. With that information, you may be able to home in on the signal that suits your needs.

    David

  9. I was in the house band for an open mic night in Warrington, so we elected ourselves as support for Dodgy when their last / comeback tour included our pub.

    I was playing a 5-string acoustic bass at the time and my main recollection was that the local bought-in sound guy had no idea what to do with a bass like mine.

    Dodgy weren't impressed with the venue or the sound as I recall.

    David

    • Like 2
  10. I bought some IEMs on Alliexpress, and one earpiece was dead. 

     

    Seller refused pay for postsge back unless I sent him a video of the fault, which I could not do since the window of opportunity for uploading videos closes as soon the fault is registered. 

     

    Sent the earbuds back at my expense and the buyer chose not to collect them from the depot where they were taken because he was not in to accept delivery.

    He then refused to refund me because he hadn't had them back.

     

    I eventually got my full refund, partly through Alliexpress and partly through Paypal, as a goodwill gesture.

     

    Buyer beware...

    David

  11. This is possibly a niche review, but for those of us with hearing loss, it could be a game-changer.

     

    The Mackie OnyxGO is a rechargeable, battery-powered microphone, mixer, EQ and 3.5mm monitor output socket, in a box slightly smaller that a 9v battery.

     

    It is designed for podcasting, and the audio signal is fed to your phone by Bluetooth, so you can then record it using the companion App. The signal is also fed to the headphone socket on the device. Within the app there is separate EQ for the signal fed to the phone, and for the signal fed to the headphone output. Playing a metronome through the HiFi and listening to both the HiFi speaker and the OnyxGO through open-backed headphones, I was not aware of any latency, so it appears that the monitor EQing happens within the OnyxGO, and not within the phone. The microphone is designed to withstand close mic'ing of loud people, and I have not heard it distort when we are playing, or at HiFi volumes where my existing Tascam Bass-Trainer mics are audibly overloading.

     

    For my purposes, it clips onto my bass strap, and picks up the ambient stage sound, and feeds that at my preferred volume to the headphone socket. I use the EQ to boost the mid-frequencies that I have lost, so I am now getting better clarity when the front line remember to tell me what the next song is (we are buskers, we don't have a set list). This gadget is replacing a microphone feeding a dedicated mixer with 3 band EQ that I need to provide that mid-frequency boost.

     

    I am not sure if I would use it, but it will also play your Wav and MP3 tracks and mix them with the microphone signal - possibly a useful practice tool for singing or for acoustic playing.

     

    Pricing is all over the place - Gear4Music have it at £35, Andertons at £55 and several others at well over £100!

     

    So far, so good, but there is some less good news.

     

    The app is available on the Apple store, but has been withdrawn from Googles' Android PlayStore, apparently due to software bugs. It is however still available from non-authorised sites, eg https://apkpure.net/mackie-onyxgo/com.mackie.onyxgo/download . For what I need, whatever bugs are lurking there are not causing me problems.

     

    The battery life is given as 5-6 hours. This may be true if it is just used as a Bluetooth mic, but with headphones plugged in, I only got 3 1/2 hours of use before it shut down. However, it does function while charging from a USB C power source. So, it will cover your average pub gig etc, but if you are busking for 5 hours you will need a power pack.

     

    David

  12. I'm not sure that my experience will help, other that telling you to go a different route.

    I used a water-based tint to change the wood colour, followed by several applications of transparent glue that turned out to be water soluble,  and then peeled off, followed by several applications of superglue, which didn't stay put on the corner as it dried.

    I got it moisture- and dirt-proofed and stopped there.

    Looking at it now, it appears that the superglue is not sticking to the original finish.

    If you are planning to use an impermeable filler, a water-based stain may not work for you, and a dedicated product like Gluboost might give you better adhesion than superglue.

    David

    20240226_142730.jpg

  13. Vauxhall - our Astra broke a cambelt and cost us a lot of money. It was 2000 miles over the 50,000 limit to change the belt (we were running two cars with differing service intervals and I got confused) so their initial response was that it was not their problem. However, the cause of the belt snapping was a sensor bolt that had unscrewed itself and fallen into the path of the belt - a known problem with a modification kit to prevent it (if caught in time).

    After considerable argument Vauxhall agreed to pay half the cost, and I have not considered buying another Vauxhall since.

    David

    • Like 1
  14. 7 hours ago, zitherman said:

    ...Looks like converting existing columns is not feasible so ill look into constructing my own ,maybe along the lines of bill's picture.

    The picture is of one of Bill's designs - you could do a lot worse than buy his plans and build one of them.

    https://billfitzmaurice.info/SLA.html

    I have no connection to Bill other than having built several of his designs.

    David

  15. A multimeter does not load the battery, so you will get a slightly higher reading than when the battery is in use.  Also, the voltage droops as the battery discharges, but it will recover a bit if left alone for a while. Put back into service, it will not last long, but it may allow the circuit to operate again for a while.

    David

    • Like 5
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