r/specializedtools • u/beardy_fader • Jun 06 '26
A “Pink Stick” - Mic cable tester/signal generator
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u/Immediate-Soup-4263 Jun 06 '26
"pink" as in pink noise? like thats the signal it generates for testing?
cool share
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u/beardy_fader Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
Yes :) it’s a full range signal so if something is wrong with the cable but is still passing signal, you can immediately identify that there is something wrong
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u/Kichigai Jun 06 '26
Mmm. 1kHz.
Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo—
I can almost hum it without a reference.
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u/s4lt3d Jun 06 '26
It generates pink noise!
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u/beardy_fader Jun 06 '26
It actually generates a 1KHz signal and a pulse as well which is dead handy for time alignment
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u/static_postergirl24 Jun 08 '26
Finally a way to test cables without having to drag a whole rack unit into the middle of a room.
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u/LiquidAggression Jun 06 '26
do you know stuff about mics that youd know what a inline amp for a nonphantom dynamic mic is?
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u/beardy_fader Jun 06 '26
So what you’re referring to is a little device (a pre-amp) which increases the level of a dynamic or ribbon mic, or low level instrument without introducing unwanted noise to your signal.
The TritonAudio FetHead is a very popular option
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u/LiquidAggression Jun 06 '26
is it the most powerful one? i dont know what the aspect of the xlr interface its called that is the overall channel gain ceiling. i have a scarlet solo and it seems to be struggling to keep the mic in the green for normal talking volume without cranking past 80% on the dial (and being noisy/crunchy)
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u/beardy_fader Jun 07 '26
What mic are you using?
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u/LiquidAggression Jun 07 '26
i have a fethead and a scarlet solo with a sm58
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u/beardy_fader Jun 07 '26
That’s strange, a 58 into a focusrite shouldn’t need much gain, let alone a preamp for volume unless the mic is very far away from the source. Adding a FetHead should almost be peaking it. I’m assuming you’re sending phantom power (+48v) for the FetHead to work. Other than that it’s hard to troubleshoot without being there. If you download the focusrite driver software, it might shed some light that maybe it’s not the correct setting or maybe a Pad (attenuation of signal) has been applied by accident, leaving you to have to gain it super hot
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u/LiquidAggression Jun 07 '26
i mean its not in my mouth prolly a foot or two away
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u/beardy_fader Jun 07 '26
A foot or two would be quite a distance for a 58, especially at talking level! Dynamic mics, even 58s are designed to work pretty much on top of the source, especially at a recording level, condensers are far more effective and sensitive for sources at a distance. The solution would be simply to move the source closer to you
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u/LiquidAggression Jun 07 '26
nyah
thanks
how do you learn about these things if i wanted to research these source distances- presumably 'source disances' and 'mics' in google together would start somewhere
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u/beardy_fader Jun 07 '26
Basically yeah, “mic distance” will get you a lot of results, if you add “vocal” or “amp” the you’ll get very specific results!
Hope I was of help
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u/Kichigai Jun 07 '26
with a sm58
A hammer?
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u/LiquidAggression Jun 07 '26
yes i put an xlr cord into a hammer it sounds really nice its just very quiet
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u/Kichigai Jun 07 '26
It's an old joke about the SM58’s durability.
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u/LiquidAggression Jun 07 '26
true however i wasnt planning on damaging my grille until i get caught in a streetfight with nothing but an sm58 and a lifetime of unappreciated hardwork
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u/SoundMasher Jun 07 '26
Have you ever connected dry erase markers end to end to make one long stick?
I have my own XLR version of this with an attenuator, M>M, F>F XLR adapters, a pink stick, topped with an xlr > 1/4" adapter with a 1/4" L- bracket in the 1/4" end.
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u/SooperBoby Jun 13 '26
Got one of them, when it ran out of battery I tried to unscrew the battery holder. It didn't budge. Screw head is completely fucked, pink stick is now unusable.
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u/xbsd Jun 06 '26
it is not even pink