Too much gain issues

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This topic contains 46 replies, has 9 voices, and was last updated by Profile photo of Dado Dado 4 years ago.

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  • #89470
    Profile photo of Dado
    Dado
    Participant

    Hi,
    I just bought an Earthworks dm20 condenser microphone to use it on my snare. Long story short, the mic is way too sensitive and when playing my snare drum hard(er) it starts to peak unbearably (even when at 5-6 inches above the drum head) .
    Now, my qu16 only goes down to -5db per channel, which is not enough for the snare not to distort.
    I also have an a&h zed12fx, whose gain goes down to -10db and with that mixer the earthworks dm20 mic works great at 3″ (as it is supposed to)…
    Any thoughts about this? , since qu16 is my band’s main mixer and we use it for IEM when doing rehearsals… Thanks

    #89472
    Profile photo of volounteer
    volounteer
    Participant

    @Dado

    Use a dynamic mike, and choose one with a pad switch.
    Choose one with a higher peak pressure spec.
    Buy a pad to insert in the cable path.
    Move the mike back farther.
    Put a scrubbie pad in front of the mike.
    Tell the drummer not to hit so hard.

    Is the distortion in the mike or is it in the Qu?
    If it is in the mike initially nothing AH can do in the mixer to help you.

    #89473
    Profile photo of Dado
    Dado
    Participant

    I am the drummer 🙂 and playing softer is not an option. The mic is Earthworks dm20 and it can withstand 150db of abuse. There is no distortion in the mic as it works ok with an extra -5db less (when using a&h zed12fx, since that mixer can lower the gain by -10db,while qu-16 goes as low as -5).

    #89474
    Profile photo of Mike C
    Mike C
    Participant

    Never used an Earthworks drum mic but I’ve had one person carrying
    their own Earthworks vocal mic, can’t remember the model but it did sound good.

    Try a inline pad, check that the pad passes phantom power.
    Try the 20db.
    Whirlwind PAD

    I doubt the mic is distorting, according to the specs it’s rated to 150db.
    The ZED does have a lower gain setting on the mic input trim that and that the analog ZED
    would be more forgiving to input saturation may be the reason the ZED sounds better. In digital when you run out bits your out of headroom and that can sound really bad.

    At times on my Allen Heath analog boards I had to use the pad on the snare channel even with a dynamic mic on a loud snare with a hard hitting drummer.

    #89475
    Profile photo of Dado
    Dado
    Participant
    #89476
    Profile photo of volounteer
    volounteer
    Participant

    @Dado

    That would give you attenuation so if it is enough then that is a solution.

    Playing softer is always an option. You just dont want to do it.

    #89477
    Profile photo of Mike C
    Mike C
    Participant

    The Shure pad would work.

    I would not plug the pad directly into the back of the mixer, use a short cable between the pad and the mixer. Having something that long stick out of the mixer is an accident waiting to happen in getting the connector broken.

    I carry a couple of the Whirlwind pads but have just used then to interface to the inputs
    of other equipment a few times.

    So far I guess by just chance the times I’ve had to pad down a really hot input I have been using one of my stage boxes and when using a stage box as the input there is a pad selection on the input pre-amp.

    #89482
    Profile photo of Dado
    Dado
    Participant

    Mike, I guess I can plug the pad directly into the mic and then plug the cable into it?

    #89483
    Profile photo of MarkPAman
    MarkPAman
    Participant

    Many (most?) condenser mics have a built in pad switch – seems rather odd this one doesn’t if it’s that hot.

    #89486
    Profile photo of Mike C
    Mike C
    Participant

    Mike, I guess I can plug the pad directly into the mic and then plug the cable into it?

    You could plug it directly into the mic if that does get in the way of anything.

    Many (most?) condenser mics have a built in pad switch – seems rather odd this one doesn’t if it’s that hot.

    No pads on Earthworks mics but Earthworks makes inline pads. But at $100 a pad I would go with the Shure or a Whirlwind first.

    #89490
    Profile photo of Dado
    Dado
    Participant

    Thanks a lot everyone, I ordered the Shure one.

    #89500
    Profile photo of Mike C
    Mike C
    Participant

    Let us know how it works out.

    For what it’s worth I normally use the Audix D series mics on drums,
    D1 or D3 on snare, D2 and D4 on toms and D6 kick, unless the drummer is carrying
    their own mic kit.
    No one has been through with an Earthworks drum mic kit yet.

    I’ve used the earlier mentioned vocal mic, some of their measurement mics and a lectern mic.

    #89517
    Profile photo of Dado
    Dado
    Participant

    I got audixes on all other components, d2, d4, d6, adxes…
    This Earthworks beats i5 by far…
    When playing ew dm20 vs i5, in order for them to sound the similar, I need to add overheads to the i5.

    #89519
    Profile photo of Mike C
    Mike C
    Participant

    I got audixes on all other components, d2, d4, d6, adxes…
    This Earthworks beats i5 by far…
    When playing ew dm20 vs i5, in order for them to sound the similar, I need to add overheads to the i5.

    Depending on the type of show for overheads I’ll use either Audio Technica 4033’s, Audio
    Technica Pro 37’s, Shure SM81’s, or CAD95’s.

    Sometimes under cymbal micing works well depending on the kit or sonetime you don’t need
    overheads at all!

    What do you use on hi hat? I’ve found a lot of times a dynamic mic works well and can tame down an overly splashy set of hi hats, the older Electrovoice PL95 works well or I’ll put up the classic SM81.

    #89540
    Profile photo of Dado
    Dado
    Participant

    Both of my cymbal setups, on my left side, have a crash cymbal that is way louder than hihats. I have experimented with my left overhead about 30-40″ directly above the hihat, so that it is offset in relation to the crash.
    So far the sound seems balanced enough and I’m not using mics for the hats. I do have an extra i5 now, who knows maybe it can be used for the hihat, but that would be like.. the 8th mic for the set 🙄

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