Transfer Tape Chronicles of a type

battery-box / pre-amp ... what's the point?

Many are asking questions the usefulness of a battery-box (or a pre-amp) as part of a concert recording. It must first know the current operation of microphones in order to get an idea.

audio preamp church

The vast majority of microphones used by tapers (particularly the microphones so-called 'stealth', hence relatively small) are models for electret or condenser, ie with the electronics and not a membrane that vibrates by moving a magnet compared to another to create an electric field as one might think.

These materials require constant tension to function properly and sustainably; off power from the current digital recorders is relatively low and unstable (the 'Plug-In Power' that you can find for example on The Edirol R-09) which allows to feed the mic to use "basic". Whenever you need a microphone capable of holding a large number of decibels (which is generally the case for rock concerts) then you have a stable supply and good behavior, such as that provided by a Battery- Box or a pre-amp.

Typically a battery-box is a small box, powered by a 9v battery which has an input and an output via a mini jack, sometimes they are also equipped with the possibility of the Bass Roll-Off, this who will actually filter the input signal to remove frequencies below the user-defined choice (it usually allows to reduce the frequency too serious that can make a recording a bit messy).

A Pre-Amp to him has a potentiometer for varying the intensity of the output signal, either by amplifying or diminishing, thus providing a finer adjustment of the volume. The sound output of a pre-amp is usually 'hot' with a simple battery-box, the capacitors used in its composition 'smoothing' the sound and making it more pleasant to listen.