Hey Gang,
I know there are professional devices out there for purchase but I figure it might be fun to do this myself. I am not sure the best way to do this but I need an AB switch and quiet is the only requirement. It's for our singer/bandleader to be able to hit a switch with his foot and redirect his mic signal to a different channel that is only heard by the band. So one input, and an "A" output and a "B" output.
My first thoughts were to use Jfets as switches and some transistors in a flip flop arrangement like the Boss and Ibanez pedals. So there is one non latching momentary switch that controls everything.
Is this too complex of an approach? Will some caps and resistors be just as quiet? I just can't have any popping noises.
Thanks
-bird
I know there are professional devices out there for purchase but I figure it might be fun to do this myself. I am not sure the best way to do this but I need an AB switch and quiet is the only requirement. It's for our singer/bandleader to be able to hit a switch with his foot and redirect his mic signal to a different channel that is only heard by the band. So one input, and an "A" output and a "B" output.
My first thoughts were to use Jfets as switches and some transistors in a flip flop arrangement like the Boss and Ibanez pedals. So there is one non latching momentary switch that controls everything.
Is this too complex of an approach? Will some caps and resistors be just as quiet? I just can't have any popping noises.
Thanks
-bird
Does the mike need Phantom power?
It really may be easier, for a band-talk-only mike, to get a $1 mike dedicated to talkback.
It really may be easier, for a band-talk-only mike, to get a $1 mike dedicated to talkback.
It doesn't need to have phantom power.
He doesn't want to have two mic's, that was already suggested by me. I don't know why, maybe so there isn't two mic stands setup and he gets them confused or whatever, honestly I have no idea.
I found this while scouring the internet. Thoughts?
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I tried this once with hydrophones for a TI data aquisition system. I used relays driven by a timer and a transistor. There was a max value pop when the relay switched. Shorting output to ground with another relay didn't help.
Studios etc use light dependent resistors to avoid the pop, with a RC (resistor capacitor) ramps to do the switching. Thus one light ramps on while the other light ramps off. LDR are about $8 apiece at newark, but if you are doing more than one electronicgoldmine was suggested, they sold in 100's. Ooh, cool, the price has gone down: http://www.newark.com/advanced-photonix/nsl-32sr2/optocoupler-resistor-2000v/dp/71C0279
Alternate solution, a mixer with humans sliding the pots up and down. I bought one from e-bay with a bad volume pot for $30 last month.
Studios etc use light dependent resistors to avoid the pop, with a RC (resistor capacitor) ramps to do the switching. Thus one light ramps on while the other light ramps off. LDR are about $8 apiece at newark, but if you are doing more than one electronicgoldmine was suggested, they sold in 100's. Ooh, cool, the price has gone down: http://www.newark.com/advanced-photonix/nsl-32sr2/optocoupler-resistor-2000v/dp/71C0279
Alternate solution, a mixer with humans sliding the pots up and down. I bought one from e-bay with a bad volume pot for $30 last month.
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This is simpler than all that. Just turn that mic up in a monitor channel, but not where you don;t want it. Say MON1 is the main vocal monitor. MON2 can be just that mic. MON1 prefader, MON2 post fader.
I also like the two mics approach. You don't need a fancy mic. THis sounds like just a cue mic. Tape a tiny cheapie to the main mic.
I also like the two mics approach. You don't need a fancy mic. THis sounds like just a cue mic. Tape a tiny cheapie to the main mic.
Cheap mics intended for karaoke can be bought at music and department stores, but if something even more basic is wanted, here is an extremely not-fancy mic that I've used for similar tasks: Electret Microphone Amplifier - MAX4466 with Adjustable Gain ID: 1063 - $6.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits
The actual microphone capsule on this board is a typical electret mic, about the size of two aspirin tablets stacked on top of one another. This a very small circuit board!
I stuck the mic board in a little plastic project box along with a pair of AAA cells, and on-off switch, and an XLR connector. It only puts out an unbalanced signal, but that works well enough for non-critical applications like this.
This actually turned out to be a good enough mic to use for harmony vocals at our jams, the only negative being a tendency to feedback (it's omnidirectional.)
When a USB mic will suffice, I keep finding $4 USB mics from Rock Band and similar Disney kids video singing games at local thrift stores. I have no idea what chipset is on board these mics, but whatever it is, it is immediately auto-recognized by Ubuntu Linux. Just plug it in, it's ready to go, no driver installation necessary.
-Gnobuddy
Hi enzo, i was going to advice the same thing! Post fader auxes are not just for FX 😀
I have to say i'm interested in the mic switch for some other purposes i can think of, did you build it? how is it working?
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