# PCC 160 vs. TM-125 boundary mics



## baribuneo (Jul 9, 2009)

Has anyone experienced the TM-125 made by Bartlett Microphones? I wonder how they compare next to Crown's PCC 160? My main application for these would be stage for dramas and musicals. Thanks.


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## FMEng (Jul 12, 2009)

Bruce Bartlett was a microphone design engineer at Crown for many years, and is well known in the industry. Since he has gone out on his own, and he is gambling the company on that mic as his first product, chances are it is competitive in terms of performance and price. I would say give the TM-125 a try. Both mics are probably his design.

A few obvious differences that I can see from the specs. The Crown has a broader high frequecy boost, which will give it a slightly brighter sound. The Bartlett has a better behaved polar pattern, which might give it an edge for less feedback.


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## Jonrob (Jul 27, 2009)

Is there any practical limit on the distance from the mic to the sound board for any of these? We have a procenium stage with no mics. We are going to try to solve our sound issues by the opening of our show in October. Can anyone recommend what sound board to use with any of tehse boundary mics? Thanks. Jonrob


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## Chris15 (Jul 28, 2009)

You need a balanced input with phantom power, minimum 12v according to the specs on the Crown.

Beyond that most things will work...

Distance will depend on a variety of factors, chiefly conductor size of the cable between the two and the phantom voltage supplied to the mic... But by the time those things start to become an issue, the overall noise floor will be a problem in substandard cable and good cable will have no problems with the voltage drop. What sorts of distances are you looking at? If <100m and in reasonable cable you'll be fine.


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## gpforet (Jul 28, 2009)

There is no one right "sound board" for these or any other mics. As a condenser, it's always a bit easier of you can get 48v phantom power from the console (sound board is really a misnomer since it doesn't produce any sound). Nearly any console on the market should support these mics, but if you're looking for criteria to use when selecting a console, here's mine:

1. Fexibility in signal routing
If an analog console, number of sends/channel as well as possibility of matrix routing
2. Reliability/Company reputation for support
Can I get a replacement power supply on saturday
3. quality of channel pre-amps
The reason this is not number 1 or two is that most analog consoles today other than the bottom of the price barrel, have pre-amps of adequate quality for theatrical work. If I need something really nice, I can always run that channel through an outboard channel strip.

And that's about it. Typically, you're looking at a minimum cost of about $80 to $100/channel for anything I use in a critical application such as live theatre. $200/channel will get you into some of the big boy toys in the analog world.


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## gafftaper (Jul 29, 2009)

Jonrob said:


> Is there any practical limit on the distance from the mic to the sound board for any of these? We have a procenium stage with no mics. We are going to try to solve our sound issues by the opening of our show in October. Can anyone recommend what sound board to use with any of tehse boundary mics? Thanks. Jonrob



Jonrob, please don't take this as an insult, but the questions you are asking in this and the other thread suggest to me that you know very little about sound systems. This leads me to wonder if perhaps your issues come more from the operator than the equipment. Fear not! We can help but we need more information. 

So please tell us what equipment you currently have makes and models would be very helpful (Sound board, amps, speakers, dsp, eq, effects processing, etc..). Describe the room size, shape, are there lots of hard surfaces bouncing sound around or are there lots of big soft fluffy curtains absorbing sound? Finally, what sound issues are you trying to solve? 

Once we have a clearer picture of your situation we'll move on to advising on purchasing anew console.


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## brubart (Oct 14, 2014)

baribuneo said:


> Has anyone experienced the TM-125 made by Bartlett Microphones? I wonder how they compare next to Crown's PCC 160? My main application for these would be stage for dramas and musicals. Thanks.


The TM-125 is now called the Stage Floor Mic. It is available at www.bartlettaudio.com


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