EAE stompmix 4 some tests

[Cuki79]

Hi everyone,

I just received the Elite Acoustics stompmix 4.

This thing is SO SMALL and so full featured!!

I was afraid about the noise problem people reported so I made some tests



The 2 outputs go to a Focusrite 2i2

00:14 Test with a shure SM58 increasing gain: NO NOISE
01:19 Test with a HD28 + TA Amulet + Torpedo CAB M IR pedal : NOISE from the IR pedal
02:14 Test guitar + vocals. All the background noise comes from the Torpedo CAB M.
03:10 Test with phantom power (Shure Beta 87a): Digital whinning/hissing noise
05:01 Test without the IR pedal: no noise on the guitar.

Not illustrated on the video. I had great signal/noise ratio with the NUX solid studio NSS5 pedal (40€ second hand) instead of the torpedo CAB M (277€ new...). Note that I loose 6dB because the Torpedo output is symmetric (TRS) whereas the Stompmix only takes asymmetric signal (TS jack)

Conclusion: Only the phantom power is noisy. The rest works great in a great package. I can also power it (anf the NUX IR pedal) with my Falken battery unit.

A compromise can be found with the condenser mic... LIVE through a speaker the hiss is not a problem. But honestly I think I am going to buy upgrade for a better dynamic mic to avoid struggling with the Beta 87a, I want to be able to use headphones too.

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

Hi everyone,

I just received the Elite Acoustics stompmix 4.

This thing is SO SMALL and so full featured!!

I was afraid about the noise problem people reported so I made some tests



The 2 outputs go to a Focusrite 2i2

00:14 Test with a shure SM58 increasing gain: NO NOISE
01:19 Test with a HD28 + TA Amulet + Torpedo CAB M IR pedal : NOISE from the IR pedal
02:14 Test guitar + vocals. All the background noise comes from the Torpedo CAB M.
03:10 Test with phantom power (Shure Beta 87a): Digital whinning/hissing noise
05:01 Test without the IR pedal: no noise on the guitar.

Not illustrated on the video. I had great signal/noise ratio with the NUX solid studio NSS5 pedal (40€ second hand) instead of the torpedo CAB M (277€ new...). Note that I loose 6dB because the Torpedo output is symmetric (TRS) whereas the Stompmix only takes asymmetric signal (TS jack)

Conclusion: Only the phantom power is noisy. The rest works great in a great package. I can also power it (anf the NUX IR pedal) with my Falken battery unit.

A compromise can be found with the condenser mic... LIVE through a speaker the hiss is not a problem. But honestly I think I am going to buy upgrade for a better dynamic mic to avoid struggling with the Beta 87a, I want to be able to use headphones too.

Cuki, is it possible you could perhaps record a song using the EAE showcasing your Martin HD28 and your Beta 87A? I actually use a Martin HD28, and the Beta 87a is my live mic of choice! So I would love to hear it in a practical application, and less under scientific scrutiny.

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

Cuki, is it possible you could perhaps record a song using the EAE showcasing your Martin HD28 and your Beta 87A? I actually use a Martin HD28, and the Beta 87a is my live mic of choice! So I would love to hear it in a practical application, and less under scientific scrutiny.

It would require me to actually play "music"...

Do you want with or without backing tracks? My goal is to use a BOSS RC-3 looper to play tracks. For once I decided to avoid the DIY way as much as possible.

If you don't want backing tracks, I will try to do it this week-end... If you want backing tracks, I will wait the BOSS pedal to arrive (ordered at my local shop... It can be long with the covid situation)

Cheers,
Cuki

[rockabilly69]

No backing tracks, just straight up. I am very interested in hearing it that way. BTW I always enjoy your posts!

[Cuki79]

As requested, here are some recordings.







The song is "Je t'aimais, je t'aime, je t'aimerais" from Francis Cabrel (French song)

The rig is
EAE stompmix 4 straight into Focusrite 2i2
CH 1: Shure Beta 87a
CH 2: Martin HD-28 (2014) + Trance Audio Amulet > NUX solid Studio with DIY custom IR (acousticir.free.fr)

In this take, the stompmix is powered with the wall wart while the NUX IR pedal is powered with the falken battery. (small noise, no hiss)
At the beginning, I unmute each channels so you can hear the noise from each channel)


In this take, the stompmix and the NUX IR pedal are powered with the falken battery. (hiss noise)
Again, at the beginning, I unmute each channels so you can hear the noise from each channel)



Note that the first recording was actually made after the second one. I noticed my vocal was too loud so I decided to re-record and when I set back everything up I had a MASSIVE noise. I found out it was the falken battery going crazy. I guess the step up converters went oscillating or something... So I used the wall wart for the EAE stompmi and everything got normal. I might have to buy a Beta 58 mic for safety.

At some point I got some crazy noise...

[rockabilly69]

Thank you for that, I think the mixer sounds pretty good, and the noise levels didn't bother me. Nice demo song.