>
> I've built many contact pickups over the years from inexpensive
piezo
> buzzers from Radio Shack. It's a very simple matter of soldering a
> 1/4" lead onto the piezo element, & it is an unbalanced connection.
I
> use the instrument DI input on a Sound Devices USBPre to get into
the
> laptop. Any sort of balancing device will get you into a suitable
mic
> pre input. A passive transformer, such as the inline Shure or
Sescom
> units will do, however there is usually an insertion loss with any
> transformer, a drop in volume which the mic pre must make up. An
> active DI will properly bridge the high impedance unbalanced
output
> of a piezo element. Before doing any of that, though, I would
> recommend trying an XLR connector on one of your pickups, wired
hot
> (tip) to pin 2, & shield (ground) to pins 1 & 3. You should also
try
> it with no connection to pin 3 on the XLR, since, with some
circuits,
> this will give a perfectly fine noise-free unbalanced to balanced
> connection, without the several db signal drop caused by tying pin
3
> to ground.
>
> Scott Fraser
>
thanks Scott, although I actually have been making my own for years
too (contact & hydrophones). I was actually asking about the
specifics of the SD inputs given that they state that they accept
unbalanced inputs, combined with the Cold Gold mics. I got these to
research for elements of the 'in place' project that involves
establishing supply routes for establishements & interested
individuals here in the UK.
>
>
>
|