condenser mic

[terry A]

Hi all,
Is it ok to use a pre-amp with condenser mic before going into mic socket on sx700.

Thanks, Terry.

[travlin-easy]

Yes, but be sure to switch the input on the keyboard to Line-in and not mic.

Good luck,

Gary 

[terry A]

Hi
thanks Gary for your super quick reply.

Take care,
Terry

[BogdanH]

Depends on pre-amp used. But I personally wouldn't go that route... ok, depends on money you're ready to spend.

What I would suggest is, what I did: get an audio interface. It's probably more expensive at beginning, but it's much more flexible than simple pre-amp. To be more clear, usable (reliable) audio interfaces starts at about $100.. but if you wish something more universal (more inputs and outputs), it will be about $200.
In short: it depends what you need right now, and what you plan to do in future.

Bogdan

[BogdanH]

..be sure to switch the input on the keyboard to Line-in....

SX700 doesn't have that option: input can be either Mic or Guitar -neither is technically Line. That is, I have no idea if connecting pre-amp to Guitar input is good or bad idea (sound quality wise).

Just sharing my thoughts,
Bogdan

[terry A]

Hi Bogdan,

I have been using a Behringer mixer with the mic and going straight into the AUX socket.

I have an ART TUBE mic pre-amp and a Sennheiser E865 mic.
Just thought i would like to try using the keyboard mic settings.

Regards,
Terry

[BogdanH]

Yes, Aux input is actually Line. But if you connect ART TUBE (nice piece of hardware, btw) into Aux, then you can't use "mic" settings (on keyboard) for it...

Bogdan

[terry A]

Hi Bodan,
Thanks for your expert knowledge.
With that thought, I will stick with using the mixer or use an dynamic mic .

Thanks again,
Terry

[MarkF_48]

Hey Terry,

I think I would give the ART preamp a try into the SX700 MIC input. The MIC input will have a lower input impedance than the guitar input and setting the MIC input gain to minimum should allow use of a Line level signal into it. Worth a try anyhow  .

On the SX700.....
Set the MIC/Guitar switch to 'MIC'
Set the GAIN for the MIC input all the way to MIN

Connect the ART preamp to the SX700 with a 1/4" to 1/4" TS (tip-sleeve) cable

- I'm guessing on which ART preamp you have, but if it has an Input and Output control, set the 'Output' at full counter-clockwise (Infinity symbol).
- If the ART has a +20dB gain button, for now leave that button in the out position.
- Connect the e865 mic and enable the phantom power on the ART.
- While speaking/singing into the mic increase the input gain on the ART to where the clip LED just starts to flicker RED and then turn the input gain down just a small amount. If you can't get the LED to flicker RED, then try enabling the +20dB gain button.
- While speaking/singing into the mic, slowly turn up the Output control on the ART and see if the SX700 registers signal (level meter in the SX700 MIC setting menu panel).
- If you can't seem to get sufficient signal level with the ART output control, turn the MIC GAIN knob on the SX700 up a bit to see if that helps.

[terry A]

Hi Mark,

Wow! that is a really detailed answer, for which i am very grateful.
I will certainly give it a try.

Thanks again Mark.
Regards, Terry.

[GregB]

Hi all,

Not sure if this applies to the SX700 or not, but on my S950, the Mic/Line switch not only changes the input gain, it also changes the input equalization, introducing a low pass and high pass filter in addition to more gain when in Mic mode.  That probably results in somewhat fewer artifacts from the VH2, but isn't desirable in all cases.

Like Bogdan suggested here, for my mic preamp I use an audio interface, a Behringer UMC404HD.  That thing is seriously the swiss army knife of small audio devices, being able to act as a decent mic preamp (with phantom for condenser mics), 192kHz audio interface, and active direct box, all at the same time.  I paid about $100 for it new.

I have my S950 input set to Line with input from the UMC404HD's preamp, and that works well for me, though if I am recording in my DAW, I record the mic directly, not through the keyboard.

To use the UMC404HD as a mic preamp and still have mic audio pass through the interface normally, you'll need an insert direct out adapter cable (like Hosa DOC-106) to use in the TRS send/insert jack.  Other audio interfaces would be similar if they have TRS send/insert jacks.

I am curious whether the Mic/Guitar switch on the SX700/SX900 changes more than just the input gain - does it also change equalization like on the S950, or does it do even more and tell the keyboard to change its signal processing internally too (such as interacting with the settings on the Mic Settings (vocal/talk/guitar) page in the UI).  The manuals don't cover this detail, but I suspect it operates like on the S950 where the mic/guitar switch in the UI operates independently of the mic/guitar switch on the back panel.

- Greg

[terry A]

Hi Greg
Thats very kind of you to take the trouble to go into so much detail. I'm overwhelmed by everyone's response. I though it would be a yes/no answer.
As Bogdan says, the SX700 does not have a direct line in, as in the s950. Can only go through the AUX input, which bypasses the mic settings.

I'm afraid you lost me on the internal workings of the machine, but the suggestion is, from both of you, that an interface would be the answer.
Thank-you so much for your time.

Regards,
Terry.

[BogdanH]

Just in case you're considering to get audio interface (and maybe others who read this thread)....

As we can see, there's a plethora of audio interfaces (AI) and one really should be careful when deciding. Many times, the differences are not that obvious and quite often, they aren't even mentioned by so called reviewers on Youtube (or are not shown as important). But I think, those "forgot to mention" differences are actually deciding... or it can/will happen, we will buy twice.

In my opinion, first important question we need to answer is: will AI be used only (mostly) at home, or also at live events? Let me clarify...
Most AI's are just that: an interface. And the difference between them are only in number of inputs/outputs. That is, there are no audio adjustments possible (except mic gain and line/mic switch), no effects and no mixing. AI's output (usb) is meant to be connected to PC and there's where all magic happens. For example: if we connect a microphone, plus (stereo) keyboard to line inputs, that's treated as 3 separate audio channels coming in to USB on PC -and here we can mix them, add effects, etc.
We can, of course, connect AI (via Line out) directly to PA loudspeakers. But by having only two loudspeakers, we will only have keyboard sound (=two channels) on them. In short: in that case we need additional mixer between AI and PA speakers, so we are able to mix microphone and keyboard sound into two channels.
Now one might say: well, why do I need AI then? Exactly! -in that case (live events) you actually need a mixer (which also has all needed inputs).
Next question arises.. if a mixer can do it all, why (or when) is then an AI needed? Short answer: most (budget friendly) mixer only have two channel output. That is, you connect several microphones and instruments, which will come out (mixed) as stereo. That is, at mixer's output, your audio is considered as "finished result". And finally, most "normal" mixer have no AI built in -means, you can't connect them to PC (for recording). Of course, AI (alone) can also be used at live events, but we will also need a laptop.

I think it's safe to say, if for home use only and PC is nearby anyway, then AI is the thing to have.. for performing, for recording/mixing the performance, including for making video content.

Let's summarize...
-AI has no mixing built-in,
-mixer has no AI built-in.

Not necessary true. Yamaha has quite affordable solution: AG03 and AG06 -mixer with built-in AI. It's an almost perfect solution. I have AG03 and it's all I need: can be used as standalone or connected to PC. I said "almost" perfect... that is, AI (USB output) is two channel (stereo) only.
https://www.thomann.de/intl/yamaha_ag03_mk2_bk.htm

I hope I gave some valuable info,
Bogdan

[terry A]

Hi Bogdan,

That is some answer!
It's as you say, valuable info for future reference.

Many thanks for your time to give such a complete answer for audio interface and mixers.

Regards,
Terry.