Handy: increasing Mic level without preamp or mixer

yek

yek

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Input 2 operates on line level. When you connect a low impedance microphone, the volume will be much too soft (mic level). You can boost it on the grid, but that may not be enough and may add noise. Normally you would put a hardware mixer inbetween with a dedicated mic input, or use a mic preamp, to solve this.

Or use this: Shure A85F

prod_img_a85f_l.jpg


Recently I came across this in a thread. Thought it deserved more exposure. :)

Simple and cheap. Makes it much easier for me to connect a mic, for ex. monitoring, for my Talk Box preset, Vocoder, and stuff like that.
 
Last edited:
yek said:
Input 2 operates on line level. When you connect a low impedance microphone, the volume will be much too soft (mic level). You can boost it on the grid, but that may not be enough and may add noise. Normally you would put a hardware mixer inbetween with a dedicated mic input, or use a mic preamp, to solve this.

Or use this: Shure A85F

prod_img_a85f_l.jpg


Recently I came across this in a thread. Thought it deserved more exposure. :)

Simple and cheap. Makes it much easier for me to connect a mic, for ex. monitoring, for my Talk Box preset, Vocoder, and stuff like that.
Click to expand...
I will have to see how well that works. I have a couple laying around
 
Just tried it with a Beyerdynamic M160, it seems to work ok. Plenty of level.

Does this reduce the dynamic range of the mic though? Nothing is for free and as you bump up the output level by changing the impedance, the voltage will go down.
 
I don't know. Gotta be a trade-off. For my goals it doesn't matter though.
 
yek said:
Recently I came across this in a thread. Thought it deserved more exposure. :)

Simple and cheap. Makes it much easier for me to connect a mic, for ex. monitoring, for my Talk Box preset, Vocoder, and stuff like that.
Click to expand...

I think that would be my thread!

(And yes, I have yet to actually buy one...but thanks for reminding me!)

I ended up running my MIC through Logic and out through my Monitors...but I'd still want one of these 'just in case' I want to put it through the Axe II.
 
I would think you would see an increase in every way compared to plugging a low Z mic into a hi Z source with no Z matching. Some of the "best" mic pre amps in the world see the input of a transformer, just like the ones used in this device, before the signal sees any active circuitry.
 
I am not sure what the differences are, technically, I can only say that I've had a few of these in my tool kit for years (decades, actually), but that once I started running my mic (Sennheiser 441 Dynamic) into a mixer, and then into the Axe, the quality JUMPED. I used to plug the Mic into rear panel left, with one of these, and my guitar cord to rear panel right (used with guitar and viola), and had patches to suit. I now have a dedicated vafam panel to a Rane rack mount 4 channel mono mixer (with kinda pathetic EQ). Guitar, Viola, and Mic. go in there, with a spare channel for whatever, and thence to the back panel input of my Axe-FX II. I would suggest that anyone who runs a mic through the Axe with any frequency A/B a mixer of with decent quality preamps etc. against one of the Lo-Z to Hi-Z converters. It's like a layer of crunch and gauze is removed.

Rane mlm42s
 
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