claudio chea wrote:
>
> ok let me rephrase how much sound in terms of herz can u get of a minidisc?
> and of a dat?
You should probably first ask what frequencies you need. You definitely
don't need all, the calls will be confined to a narrow frequency band.
In theory, if everything is in perfect phase match, 44.1 khz can record
at max 22.05 khz. 48 khz can record 24 khz. However, that's if it's
exactly phase matched, which will never happen recording a natural call.
Actual usable, half way decent reproduction really is only up to 15 khz
or so for either. The rest is mostly hype.
> how much does this portadisc costs? do you have a link? would love to take a
> look??
I believe current list price is about $1500. You can get it cheaper,
lot's of places carrying it now.
The company is at:
http://www.hhb.uk.com/ or for the US it's http://www.hhbusa.com/
Their products page will lead you to the HHb Portadisc MDP 500, the best
portable MD for nature recording.
> as for good microphones for nature recording, recommendations please?
No mic is a do all for nature recording. Start with what you will
record, what sort of access you will have to it. Then what you will be
doing with the recording. It can range from a simple mono instrument mic
all the way up to highly calibrated research setups. It can range from
poking the mic in the animal's face to trying to pick up the faint calls
from a mile away. Or maybe you just are trying to record the whole environment.
For most getting close is not something they start with, it's not easy.
So they look for mics with reach. The mic with the most reach will be a
parabolic. And, in that, for nature recording the mic that stands our
way above the others is the Telinga, specifically designed for nature
recording by a nature recordist. It's also the only production parabolic
to offer stereo recording. I own a Telinga Pro 5 with the DAT Stereo and
the Dual Science mic elements. It's my mainstay mic.
Parabolic mics tend to boost high frequencies more than low, simply due
to their small size relative to the wavelengths involved. The frequency
boost will also vary depending if the sound is on or off axis. So some
are not happy with that. The second choice in mics with reach is a
shotgun mic. These mics don't have a reflector, and don't actually
provide gain over a regular mic. What they do provide is fairly good
directivity. They only pick up a fairly narrow field of view, thus less
unwanted sound, allowing you to amplify their output more. Since all of
your gain occurs from the mic onward down the signal path, it's very
important that the mic itself and the preamp used to get the gain
produce the minimum inherent noise. The group of shotguns that are best
at this are the Sennheiser MKH series. They vary in physical length,
which is related to their pickup angle, and there are also other
variables involved. The longest MKH shotgun (at about 2') is the MKH
816, which is no longer made but still available used or rarely a new
one turns up that's been sitting on a shelf. It has probably the
narrowest field at about 60 degrees. The current models are the MKH 70,
MKH 416, and MKH 60. These are shorter, and thus pick up a wider field,
I think that's the correct order of field width. The widest being the
MKH 60 with about a 120 degree field. I recently acquired a pair of MKH
816's that were new, off the shelf. I plan to use those several ways
including as a stereo pair.
Below the MKH is the ME series Sennheiser's. These are not as quiet as
the MKH, but cost a lot less. There is a series there in shotgun style
mics. The ME 66 and ME 67 being the short and long shotguns
respectively. These mics share a common powering module making it a
little cheaper if accumulating a series of them.
There are also other brands of shotguns. Not sure which ones compare. At
best they are about the sound quality level of the ME series.
If you can get closer, then you would look at a number of mics. Again
the Sennheiser MKH & ME series have mics for this. Though you choice
does widen as quite a few studio mics will work.
Then if you get into stereo, or even deeper, surround, it's a new
ballgame. You can use pairs of mono mics if they are oriented right. You
can also get the MKH 30 figure 8 mic, combine it with any other mic
including the shotguns and do M/S stereo. (I recently got one of these,
yet to use it) You can even do stereo or probably surround with just two
of those. You can get a SASS mic housing, a pair of MKH 20's and have
Lang's setup for close work. (after a bit of sawing and fitting) You can
get the things that look like you beheaded a store clothes dummy. Or
look like various kinds of UFO's. With unbelievable prices to match.
On the other end of the money scale, you can build a mono parabolic
fairly cheaply that will work well. You can use a number of directional
mics if close. Those designed for generalized mics for instruments work
best. It's tough to build a good shotgun from scratch.
And that's only a very light brush over the subject of mics. It's a area
that's a major focus in discussions in this group. Do not rush out and
buy mics without studying. Unless your name happens to be Bill Gates,
then you can buy a truckload of each and decide. You will find the
recorder was the cheap part, even a pro one.
Walt
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