 Phantom Power (and Microphone Interconnect Basics) ...................... From the "Ground" Up! By Eddie Ciletti. With properly designed balanced gear, output polarity equals input polarity, so it doesn’t matter whether Pin-2 or Pin-3 is designated as "hot," so long as the input and output wiring is consistent — with regard to polarity — throughout your system. You will occasionally have to interconnect unbalanced gear, in which case the tip (of a quarter-inch plug) or the center-pin (of an RCA connector) are always "hot." However, be very careful when interfacing unbalanced gear that uses XLR connectors. If one is designated pin-2 hot and the other as pin-3 hot, all you will get is NOT! more Level Headed—Nominal Level (explained) plus an SV-3700 modification, by Eddie Ciletti. Interfacing a DAT recorder with a mixer, a piece of outboard gear or a cassette deck isn’t always quite as easy as it should be. In the analog-only daze, it was simply a question of "plus4," "minus10" and 0VU. This month, a gain structure modification for the Panasonic SV-3700 (post D-to-A converter) will help you understand — and manipulate — the "nominal" operating level. But first, a word from our sponsor… more Saying "No" to Death, by Eddie Ciletti. Lots of people are predicting the death of digital tape. Analog tape is still here and so are vacuum tubes. Like mashed potatoes and medical coverage, many audio enthusiasts make choices based on "comfort and insurance." Linear tape provides both, in analog  and
digital form. In
my opinion, all of this newer technology should be used in parallel
with the "older stuff" as a way of passing the torch without
fear of losing the flame in a sudden downpour. more
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Grinding The Axe, by Eddie Ciletti. Everyone knows how easily electric guitar and bass pickups can "find" hums and buzzes. The fast fix is simply to re-position the instrument to minimize noise reception, demonstrating how directional electromagnetic fields can be. Power-related noises radiate from cabling and power transformers; more noise is radiated as power consumption increases. The key issue is gobs of Gain, making 
it easy to understand how any noise - hum, buzz, hiss or nearby
radio station - gets amplified along with the more musical and desirable
string vibrations. moreImpedance 101: Part Two—Pumping Up the Volume on Vectors, by Eddie Ciletti. Research for this two-part series reinforced the value of experience. My math skills might have been better in college, but impedance is one of those multidimensional “concepts” that I organically understand and better appreciate now vs. then. Using carefully chosen analogies along with three interface examples, I hope to demonstrate the common, everyday effects of impedance. more
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last updated: Thursday, March 01, 2001 14:39:00