WM55 "flat" schoeps question

[mihaelbele]

Hi,
years ago, I made few of these:

"R2 = 12k gives the basic Schoeps circuit an extra 10db of gain. R9 + C9 reduce this at mid & HF leaving LF boosted by 10dB"
It seems that this reduces max usable SPL compared to regular Zap's schematic. This is what the waveforms looks like in high SPL situation (floor tom ~15cm), top is "flat" bottom is "regular":

Is there a simple way to fix this keeping the same eq? I'd like to avoid reverting to regular circuit and applying correction eq in the post.
Thanks,
Mihael

 

[Khron]

Is there a simple way to fix this keeping the same eq? I'd like to avoid reverting to regular circuit and applying correction eq in the post.

Well... No.

Must you really use THIS particular mic for that application (that it's clearly not completely suited for)?

 

[mihaelbele]

Thanks Khron. Of course not, it's an experiment. I noticed that wm55 mic waveforms show very loud transients (compared to other mics), that can even be digitaly clipped without degrading the sound. So, first I used resitive pads to bring down the mic output level and compare digitaly clipped signal with signal brickwalled in the post and decided that I want to have that option without using resistive pads by reducing minimum mixer gain. Then I compared that with "flat" circuit variant and decided that I'd like to have an option with more low end. Also, I have 3xWM55 MS mic with "flat" circuit that I like to use on drums in crotch position (with resistive pads). When testing that MS mic in crotch position on mixer channels with reduced gain, I noticed that tom in the side mic ocasionaly produces waveform that looks like in my prev post. I ran through a recent recording of another drummer and drumset, and there were no such anomalies. I guess that I'm hitting the tom harder, the tom position is a bit farther away from the mic, and/or the tom itself is louder compared to what's on that recording. I used floor tom as an exaggerated example in my prev post, but what I'd really like is to have an option to use MS mic in crotch position more often.