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Re: Minidisc recorder and noise floor

Subject: Re: Minidisc recorder and noise floor
From: Walter Knapp <>
Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2002 20:19:35 -0500
cgorgen wrote:

> I went out this Easter morning in the wetland area by my house at
> about 6:30am and started to play around with different settings on
> the recorder as far as input levels were concerned. I found a
> combination that sounds good but not great. I think the more I record
> the better I will get.

Yep, every combo of equipment has a sweet spot where it gets the best
it's going to. Now you can work on how to get that combo in the best
location for recording.

One of our area's nature recordists has a trademark that looks at first
glance like someone casting a fly. Until you realize the creel is a
recorder, and the fly is a microphone. I'd love to have that trademark.
There are a lot of parallels between fly fishing and nature recording.
To be a good fly fisherman you have to really understand your quarry and
his environment. You need to know a lot about how flowing water behaves.
The same applies to nature recording. Sound really flows through a
environment. Yes, some comes direct, but a lot more does not, and other
parts are absorbed in passing. When we develop a sense for how to place
a mic, this is what we are really learning.

> My background is in elecronics and the company I work for, for the
> last 25 years, makes the lowest noise level operational amplifiers in
> the world. I think I will take a trip over to our applications
> engineering department and get some ideas on building my own pre-amp.

If you come up with a good design, let us all in on it. 

Walt



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