Topic: UA-5...how the heck would i use it?

[George]

 

Ok, i have a M1 and am expecting a njb3 soon, now i own a pair of sound pro at853's and will eventually buy a better pair of mics for open taping.  Now my question is, what kind of cable(s) do i need to connect the UA-5 to my recorder(s) and current mics?

Also, how would this rig be set up?   I'm assuming the mics *must* be XLR terminated to work with this preamp, right?  From there do i run the preamp's optical out to the M1's 7 pin optical in?

What's the usb used for?  Laptop tapers?  Just curious...i have this wacky urge to spend money  

tia!  

[George]

oops, i'm an ass clown, can a mod move this thread to the Pre's, A/D's and Processors forum, thanks!

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

Ok, i have a M1 and am expecting a njb3 soon, now i own a pair of sound pro at853's and will eventually buy a better pair of mics for open taping.  Now my question is, what kind of cable(s) do i need to connect the UA-5 to my recorder(s) and current mics?

Also, how would this rig be set up?   I'm assuming the mics *must* be XLR terminated to work with this preamp, right?  From there do i run the preamp's optical out to the M1's 7 pin optical in?

What's the usb used for?  Laptop tapers?  Just curious...i have this wacky urge to spend money  

tia!  

I'm guessing the 853's terminate into a 1/8" mini. If so you need to make (or buy) some sort of adaptor that goes female mini > RCA, and then plug into the RCA ins on the UA5. From the UA5 you can run the optical out into the JB3 and if you want run the coax out of the UA5 to the M1 via a coax > 7pin.

I'm thinking about getting a DAT to run as a backup to my JB3 (and also as a better stealth rig / deck I can run at festivals without recharging).

Get your ass over to Guitar Center and buy some of those $99/pair MC012's. Best rig for the $$ = MC012 > UA5 > JB3. Seriously this can be had for about $650!? That's nuts. 2 years ago you'd be patching with a D8 for $650.

MIKE B

[Brian Skalinder]

I think this is an okay spot for the thread - it deals with cables, preamps/ADCs, and recording devices so doesn't fit perfectly in any of the others, either.

The UA5 has both a S/PDIF 75-ohm coax output using RCA connector and a S/PDIF optical output using toslink connector.

You could connect your M1 one of two ways:

[1] UA5 optical output > optical / 7-pin cable > M1
[2] UA5 coax output > coax / 7-pin cable > M1

To connect a JB3 to the UA5:

[1] UA5 optical output > toslink / mini optical cable > JB3

Check the Archival Info section for threads related to optical cable options and part numbers / retailers for the specific Sony 7-pin cables and/or third party cables.

Mics may be run physically into the UA5 two different ways:

[1] Mics XLR out > UA5 XLR-in
[2] Mics RCA out > UA5 RCA-in

Option [1] gives you the option of running phantom power for your mics, or not.  Option [2] will not provide phantom power to the mics and probably won't sound as good as running the XLR-ins due to differences in the analog input stage.

Yes, USB would be used for running to a laptop.

From there do i run the preamp's optical out to the M1's 7 pin optical in?

And just a nitpick:  for clarification, preamps are analog devices.  You would be running the ADCs optical or coax output to your recording device.

[Brian Skalinder]

Two things.  Yeah, this probably should live in the Pre/ADC forum, I'll move it momentarily.  If you're running mics that terminate in a stereo 1/8" plug, you have two options:

[1] Run the mics into XLR input with phantom power OFF
[2] Run the mics into the RCA inputs on the back of the UA5

In both cases, you would need the necessary adapters to change the 1/8" stereo plug > dual XLR or dual RCA.

[George]

I'm guessing the 853's terminate into a 1/8" mini. If so you need to make (or buy) some sort of adaptor that goes female mini > RCA, and then plug into the RCA ins on the UA5. From the UA5 you can run the optical out into the JB3 and if you want run the coax out of the UA5 to the M1 via a coax > 7pin.

I'm thinking about getting a DAT to run as a backup to my JB3 (and also as a better stealth rig / deck I can run at festivals without recharging).

Get your ass over to Guitar Center and buy some of those $99/pair MC012's. Best rig for the $$ = MC012 > UA5 > JB3. Seriously this can be had for about $650!? That's nuts. 2 years ago you'd be patching with a D8 for $650.

MIKE B

Ok, this makes a lot of sense  

I went over to guitar center and cannot find these damn oktava's listed anywhere, i'll buy em if i can find them listed.   Thanks for your help.  

[hoobash]

Sell the mics and buy some oktavas or superlux. Both are cheap and better to run with ua-5

[George]

Sell the mics and buy some oktavas or superlux. Both are cheap and better to run with ua-5

The Oktava's look good for what i need...gotta be stealth...most shows i attend do not allow taping.  Those superlux look rather large unless you know of a stealth-type mic.  As for the at853's, eh, i'd still like to toy around with them a bit more before selling them off.

[Nick's Picks]

more cheap mics (cheap, as in under $250 / pair)

- GLX 1200 cardioid condensor

- Marshall makes a realy cheap cardioid condensor that is supposed to sound much better than the price suggests.  

there are others...if you want to be creative.

the list opens up dramaticly once you look at the $4-600 price class.

- Beyerdynamics m201 dynamic hypercard

[George]

more cheap mics (cheap, as in under $250 / pair)

- GLX 1200 cardioid condensor

- Marshall makes a realy cheap cardioid condensor that is supposed to sound much better than the price suggests.  

there are others...if you want to be creative.

the list opens up dramaticly once you look at the $4-600 price class.

- Beyerdynamics m201 dynamic hypercard

ah, my kind of post...best bang for the bucks.  I'll look into these models, thanks for the rec.