Millivolt Meter Recommendation for Audio

[March Audio]

Is there a better way to measure than attaching alligator clipped probes to the #2 and #3 pins of the male XLR line out jack?

Make a cable. Or chop a xlr to xlr in half and clip to bare ends

 

[March Audio]

Oh another thought is record a 1kHz sine signal at 0dB on the VU meters, play it back and see what you get on the VU and voltage out. We know it should be about 1.23 volts and this would tell us if it's close or way out (as the +2.74dB 355nW signal at 2.25V would imply)

 

[watchnerd]

Make a cable. Or chop a xlr to xlr in half and clip to bare ends

I have a Monoprice XLR cable I wouldn't feel bad about sacrificing.

 

[carlob]

I have a couple of friends with the reel to reel mania, easy to be ripped off if you are not an expert.
Have you seen this: http://mrltapes.com/choo&u.pdf

 

[sergeauckland]

I have a couple of friends with the reel to reel mania, easy to be ripped off if you are not an expert.
Have you seen this: http://mrltapes.com/choo&u.pdf

Dear me, that takes me back!

My first job after University was working with tape, designing high speed tape duplicator electronics and making secondary test tapes for calibration of the duplicators. I used to be able to recite the spoken introductions to Ampex and BASF test tapes, which were the ones we used....Badische Analin und Soda Fabrik Ah Geh. About the only time one heard BASF spoken out fully.

I could also mentally convert the NAB and IEC standards so could use a different test tape to whatever the EQ was. Happy Days! Long lost skills now certainly for me, although I've recently been playing with a 50 year old Ferrograph and getting some decent results.

S

 

[watchnerd]

I have a couple of friends with the reel to reel mania, easy to be ripped off if you are not an expert.
Have you seen this: http://mrltapes.com/choo&u.pdf

Have I seen it?

I've read it so many times I think I could recite it.

See pic up thread of one of my MRL calibration tapes.

 

[watchnerd]

I used to be able to recite the spoken introductions to Ampex and BASF test tapes, which were the ones we used....Badische Analin und Soda Fabrik Ah Geh. About the only time one heard BASF spoken out fully.

The narrator on the MRL tape has an American English accent from a different era.

He sounds like an old time news anchor, like Walter Cronkite.

 

[mansr]

This other DAC doesn't have the erratic output level of the iFi:

 

[watchnerd]

This other DAC doesn't have the erratic output level of the iFi:
View attachment 83940

That's more what I would expect over a two hour period.

I can see the voltage being unstable for the first 5 min while things heat up, or maybe even 15, but the hours of the iFi is puzzling.

It should have reached thermal homeostasis much earlier.

 

[mansr]

That's more what I would expect over a two hour period.

I can see the voltage being unstable for the first 5 min while things heat up, or maybe even 15, but the hours of the iFi is puzzling.

It should have reached thermal homeostasis much earlier.

You'd think so. The meter manual specifies a 30-minute warm-up, as is typical for lab gear. I'll have to try it again and see if the behaviour recurs.

 

[mansr]

iFi again. Why behave sanely when you can do this?

 

[watchnerd]

iFi again. Why behave sanely when you can do this?

View attachment 84128

What happens if you leave it going for 24 hrs?

Will it deteriorate further? Start oscillating?

 

[restorer-john]

I used to be able to recite the spoken introductions to Ampex and BASF test tapes, which were the ones we used

One of the first things I could recite as a very young child was the spoken introductions on my father's test record! I can still remember them all, in order with perfect timing- both sides. Especially the tracking tests where a stylus would jump out of the groove and replay the same piece. I tell him my HiFi/electronics life journey was imprinted into me by that test record.

 

[mansr]

What happens if you leave it going for 24 hrs?

Will it deteriorate further? Start oscillating?

Let's find out.

For the first 10 hours or so, it did this:

Then this happened:

Followed by this:

I think the volume control may have gone mad. It's a rather idiotic design, after all.

 

[watchnerd]

Let's find out.

For the first 10 hours or, it did this:
View attachment 84246

Then this happened:
View attachment 84247

Followed by this:
View attachment 84248

I think the volume control may have gone mad. It's a rather idiotic design, after all.

WTF

It's haunted.

 

[Audio1Man]

Then he's got to keep an ancient PC (286/386/486) alive for the System One! (ISA slots or a really expensive USB 1.0 breakout box IIRC) Trust me, keeping a PC alive that wanted to go to PC heaven 20 years ago gets rather tiring.

I Service & Repair older AP Systems, I also have APIB USB ADAPTERS so they can be run with USB under XP, Vista, Win7, 8 & 10 No old PC's NEEDED.
[email protected] or http://sound-logic-la.com/
Duke

 

[restorer-john]

I Service & Repair older AP Systems, I also have APIB USB ADAPTERS so they can be run with USB under XP, Vista, Win7, 8 & 10 No old PC's NEEDED.
[email protected] or http://sound-logic-la.com/
Duke

Good to know you are keeping those perfectly useful and classic APs alive and compatible.

 

[Jack B]

If you don't mind the idea of buying something that is no longer supported by the mfr., an excellent meter available on the used market is the Fluke 8060A. 4 1/2 digits, flat frequency response to something like 50 Khz, a dB scale, and the manual is still available on line for free. Audio performance better than any subsequent Fluke handhelds, as far as I know.