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Air Corp 500PH

J

jefflaurence

A few posters have menioned that the 500PH from AirCorp sounds crappy...It has a lot to do with how it is set up. I found that there are at least two jumpers that need to be re-positioned different from the factory settings. One is the EQ-LOW end default freq. It should be replace to the FLAT position if it is not already there. The other is the symmetry jumper. It comes from the factory sounding rather "dull" you can fix this by moving the little jumper under the top cover. I can tell you exactly which ones..let's see..okay here's my op manual..

The Low Freq Rolloff jumper J105 needs to be set to FLAT by putting the jumper on pins 2 and 3. (in the middle)
The Symmetry correction (little plastic jumper) should be on J106 and not on J107 as it is set from the factory.

Makes a pretty dramatic difference. Also be sure your mic cable is in phase..that can produce a "hollow" sound on your headphones (not quite so noticable on the air) By the way I have an e-mail going out to Jim Loupas who is the brains behind this unit. Former CE of the amazing WCFL back in the "day" He is a genius, and this mic processor is IMHO the best for broadcast and voiceover..it just needs a little tweaking. I'll get some more info from him, and post it here.

Just something to try..

and CHUCK..I ordered an ISO yesterday from Sweetwater..I hope my room is quiet enough to not need an expander or gate..
 
Jeff, you might like the ISA 430...It has all the toys, and goes for about $2700.

Emmett
 
Thanks Emmett..the lack of the expander akes me nervous..I'll change the order. Paul Lea at Sweetwater is used to me doing this stuff to him..He probably waits for a few days anyway just to see what I'll change to.. 8)
 
I'm with you, Jeff. I can't imagine trying to work without a good expander, even in a really quiet room. A lot of voice processors don't get it right. That's a large part of the reason I don't the the Symetrix 528E, and also a large part of the reason I chose the Focusrite Voicemaster Pro. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the 430!
 
Jeff,
I'd love to still have an AirCorp to play with to try out those tweaks. That's amazing. For the record, the model I was referring to wasn't the same as yours. Maybe that was part of the problem.

Also, count me in as someone who wouldn't work without a gate. Here's an idea... Go ahead with purchasing the ISO, but couple it with another box that has just the gate engaged. That should make a nice chain.

Joe
 
A buddy uses a 416>Avalon M5> LA-4. No expander/gate. Sounds great.

His room is equipped with Auralex and the like. He says it's pretty dead.

I've emailed Joe Cipriano about his chain/room, which one can see on his video blogs. The room is quiet. All gear is in another room. Helps to have FOX engineers design it ;)

Cip runs a u87 to an Avalon M5 for promo. For radio he adds the LA-4.

No gate/expander. Again, quiet custom designed room.

Contrastly...for the budget VO's like me

I use a finished basement.. with Auralex, and a booth I concocted (hangling towels via a drop ceiling, etc). I do use the 416/Symetrix 528 (orig) straight to Adobe 1.5

However, I have tried the 416 with just the Mackie 1402 pre-amp to Adobe. No gate/expander. Remarkably quiet with the Auralex/booth I made. Tweaking with a C1 plug most noise is eradicated.
 
The expander/gate does more than oust the room noise. I like a gate or expander BEFORE the compressor, and the gate helps the compressor punch with a cleaner sound because the compressor doesn't try to "compress" the backround noise. An expander also eliminates a lot of little "mouth" noises etc. MOST mic processors place the gate AFTER the compressor which makes the gate/expander try and guess wheather or not the sound it is needing to clamp down on is intended sound or room noise..goofy.

I got a note from Jim Loupas' wife today. He will be back in the office on Monday and will give me a tweak-by-tweak rundown of some tings to do to make the 400PH or the 500TV sing!

More later.

JL
 
I agree totally. I'm not at all suggesting that you can't get a good sound without a gate. Cipriano is a perfect example of how you can. But I don't like "open mic" noise. Even in a very quiet room, there's still the open mic sound, which is broadband and sounds unclean to me. Of course, the less noise that enters in the first place, the better the end result will be. Gates sound best when you don't need one. I'm notorious for softly shuffling my feet as I work. With a gate, not an issue. Without one, you'll hear a faint scratching in the background.

Unfortunatly, an improperly set up gate can do more harm than good. Much like a properly set up compressor or EQ, you should never hear the gate working...It should just be a little polish to help a little.
 
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