Wanted: Soundcraft Series 200 manual

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Brent Casey

Active member
Joined
Jun 10, 2004
Messages
41
Location
Gardena
Howdy People,

As the subject implies, I am looking for the series 200 manual/circuit drawing.
I coulda swored that this was available on the SoundCraft site and that I had downloaded it at some point, but a quick search turned up el zippo.


Brent Casey
 
Well, I found the manual on the Soundcraft site right after I posted here.
:oops:
Well, I guess to make this post more interesting: I got a cool prototype microphone up and running on Friday. Its operating principle is based on the somewhat rare Neumann QM69, which is the SM69 body and capsule arrangement, but with four discrete in-phase outputs. So far, it sounds really cool for what I've used it on - which is me in the bathroom playing guitar. I consider this a big step in fidelity and maturity as compared to stuff I recorded in the bathroom when I was in the fourth grade. As soon as I get a snake made up for it and there aren't four xlr's hanging out the bottom, I'm going to try it out around town, hopefully on the CalPhil.


Brent Casey
 
Hello Gus!

For the QM69 there are two dual-diaphragm capsules - the same capsule arrangement as the SM69. The difference is that there are discrete outputs for each diaphragm. So, yes, there are four cardioid capsules in a 69 body.

Brent
 
Brent

If I am understanding. By having 2 amps one for each side of the capsule you get two cardiods patterns intead of an omni? So if you sum or sum and invert you can get omni to fig8. Was this made before the soundfield type microphones?
 
Gus,

You are correct.
The QM69 I believe was first manufactured around 1971 and billed as a quadrophonic microphone. Therefore, the "QM" designation.

Brent
 
Sounds cool. Are these normal LD dual diaphragm capsules or something smaller?
I think an SD dual diaphragm capsule mic would be cool. Nobody seems so build multipattern SD mics anymore. And with today's low noise electronics and capsule designs, a mic like that could be more interesting than ever.
 
[quote author="Rossi"]Sounds cool. Are these normal LD dual diaphragm capsules or something smaller?
I think an SD dual diaphragm capsule mic would be cool. Nobody seems so build multipattern SD mics anymore. And with today's low noise electronics and capsule designs, a mic like that could be more interesting than ever.[/quote]


The capsules I am using are 34mm. I do like the idea of using sd's for multipattern/multicapsule microphones. In fact I have some SP C4 capsules that I made for this very purpose, but I have not had a chance to build anything up with them as of yet. I think you can get spectacular results with this if it's done right. And I have also found that low noise circuits can be designed to sound pretty damn nice. But in the pursuit of making a mic dead quiet, I think it is also adviseable to play around with the overload characteristics of the circuit. Having the lowest achievable distortion seems logical, but is 'not always' sonically pleasing overall.
No distortion may be better than too much, but there is space to work between the two extremes and I think that this is where the really pleasing results occur. One man's opinion...
Then again, there are mics like the Gefell M930 which are low noise and low distortion and just Kick Ass.


Brent Casey
 
I have a C4 set, and I like it a lot. I think a multipattern SD would be cool. There's hardly any figure 8 SD mic out there.
Or maybe a coincident stereo version like the LSD mic but with small diaphragm capsules. If you could get the noise down to C4 level or maybe even a little lower, you'd have a real winner.

A guy at the Microtech Gefell booth in Frankfurt told me their photoelectric voltage multiplier is part of the reason why the 930 is so low noise.
 
I had repaired an older km86. Yes SD multipattern microphones can sound very nice. I was suprised that two small capsules(look kind of like 84 cardoids) spaced apart like in the 86 could sound so good.
 
So you're saying the KM86 capsule is not a "real" dual diaphragm capsule but a compound of two single diaphragm capsules?

BTW. I read that Stevie Wonder used the KM86 for vocals on many of his classic tracks.
 
Rossi

The km86 had two sd capsules that looked like 84 cardiod capsules. After I fixed it I was suprised at how good it sounded with voice. I was most suprised because of the distance between the two capsules skins. Fig 8 and omni settings seemed to have a good pattern (testing with my voice and shaking keys walking around the microphone).
 
Interesting. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to build a similar construction out of chinese SD capsules. Wouldn't be the same as a real Neumann, but it could be a very usable mic nonetheless. How close were the capsules? Did you measure the distance?
 
It might not be so easy with other SD capsules. A real KM84 has a nice cardiod pattern. The 012 and china made cardiod SDs I tried were more wide cardiod omni than cardiod to my ears. I have not tried the C4 or SE3.

For summing or summing and inverting for patterns needs good capsules to work correctly.
 
Yeah, you're right, the usual chinese 3/4 inch capsules aren't very tight. The C4 is tighter, I think. I have to check, though. Unfortunately I only have some spare 3/4 inch cardiods. I need my C4 mics with both the omni and cardioid capusules, can't sacrifice them in the name of science.
 
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