RNPQuickstartV050 Page 3 of 10
FMR Audio, +1-512-280-6557 www.fmraudio.com
the clip LED trips at 1dB below actual clip and stays on for 3 seconds to make sig-
nal-chain troubleshooting easier. The metering is digitally-calibrated and driven
by the internal microprocessor.
•
Flexible power supply requirements —
The RNP will run off of either AC or
DC as long as the voltage range is within 9-12V (and has a current capacity of at
least 1.5Amps). Polarity of the wallwart connection is unimportant so that you
don’t have to worry about that detail either! In addition, if you happen to connect
a wallwart that doesn’t have enough “OOMPH!” to power the RNP (like the
RNC’s wallwart), the RNP will tell you by periodically flashing it’s front panel
LEDs!
•
Geek stuff —
An internal microprocessor provides control and monitoring of
many RNP internal activities: power supply operation, source (mic/DI) selection,
precision metering, push button control and phantom voltage control. The
preamp itself is a unique, full Class A self-biasing-fully differential-DC servoed-
trans-impedance-100MHz GBP-instrumentation amp with an input impedance of
5k
Ω
. The RNP’s maximum level is +28dBu (differential mode) with an EIN of -
120dB. High common-mode impedances help reduce the effect of interfering
noise sources. Both phantom coupling caps and gain port voltages are indepen-
dently servoed.
What Sucks!
All right, I’m now going to violate a very important marketing/sales rule by telling you what I think sucks
about the RNP. Why? First, because any piece of studio gear is only a tool and
because nothing is perfect and
compromises always have to be made
. By giving you my perspective on the RNP’s shortcomings, at least you’ll
have some insights into the “Whys and Wherefores” about my choices. Let your ears and application
requirements be the ultimate guides:
•
The RNP uses a wallwart —
As I explain on our website for the RNC, the RNP
also uses a wallwart to: (a) reduce internal noise induction, (b) to make the
national/international regulatory compliance less costly, and, (c) to permit easy
adaptation of the RNP to countries other than the U.S. The upside is that we’ve
designed the RNP to use a range of wallwarts (see “What’s Cool!” above) instead
of the pain-in-the-ass one used on the RNC.
•
The RNP is relatively noisy when evaluated by lab measurement —
Many
micpres these days (including the cheap ones) have very low noise floors (EINs of
-127dB or better). The RNP’s EIN of -120dB is obviously not as “good” as these
others, BUT, I decided that the sonic character (or lack thereof)
and
a decent price
point were more important than the absolute noise floor. Why? First, many of the
