Re: [Harp-L] Re: cord for crystal mic

["Vern Smith" <jevern@xxxxxxx>]

You are comparing apples and oranges.

A mic cable is essentially a shielded piece of wire.  The 
tiny current flowing through the electrical resistance of 
the wire can cause part of the energy from the mic  to be 
converted into heat.  A portion of the current may be short 
circuited through stray capacitance.  It is "passive" 
because it has no tubes or transistors for amplification of 
the signal. When the voltage at the amp end is so low that 
there isn't enough volume with the amp gain at 10, then you 
notice the loss. Even if there is enough anp gain to restore 
the level at the output, you may not like it.  You might 
hear more stray noise (like AC hum) from the cable at the 
higher amp gain.

If you connected your mic to a battery-powered pre-amp on 
your belt, then you could use a very long cable.  Then, it 
wouldn't really be a "mic cable," would it?

Your wireless mic is an FM radio station that transmits 
radio signals to the radio receiver at the amp.  It has 
amplifiers in both the transmitter and receiver.  It will 
most likely send the signals in all directions for hundreds 
of feet and through walls.  The information is transmitted 
by means of shifts of frequency and not by voltage levels as 
in the cable.  As long as the radio signal is strong enough 
for the receiver to know the frequency, there is no loss of 
signal.

The same general explanation holds if your wireless mic 
sends digital codes instead of frequency shifts.

Vern


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "robert mcgraw" <harpbob@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Greg Heuman" <greg@xxxxxxxxxxx>; "harp-l harp-l" 
<harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <geoffatkins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <bluzeharp@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 5:28 PM
Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Re: cord for crystal mic



> For me, a good
> microphone cable is soft and flexible, uses relatively 
> large gauge
> wire (to minimize signal loss)

---I suspect this is a dumb question, but do the various 
wireless set-ups [i use the Samson Airliner] experience 
signal loss? I don't notice any, but what do i know :-)

WVa Bob

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