Dan Dugan wrote:
>
> Walter Knapp, you wrote,
>
> >I'm typically setting the rec level at mid to high. Though sometimes I
> >get frog chorus' that are really loud. In which case I may only be 1/3
> >up or so.
>
> That might be getting too close for comfort. On Nagras there's a
> black line around the lower third of the input pot rotation. That
> means "if you're getting full meter level with the pot this low,
> you're probably clipping the preamp."
>
> With a 'scope to see the waveform, you could make a mark on your control.
The Portadisc is not a Nagra. So I'm not sure it's behaving like that.
At least not at the same point. It's certainly true that at some point
turning down the gain will get you in trouble.
It's not clipping at that level, at least I'm not finding it in the
waveform at the settings I use. At about that point the Telinga
overloads on the peaks if I don't watch my aim. I do have a headphone
monitor for the Telinga, so I can check it separately, so I have a
pretty good idea what it will take. With all the gain from the reflector
it can get a whopping bunch of energy thrown at it sometimes. For the
survey work I'd usually just aim so the loud stuff was off axis. But
that's not necessarily a good idea for listening recordings. This is a
situation where using a parabolic makes sense only in that I can pick
out the quiet species better. The loud stuff is better recorded with
something less sensitive.
I can easily just switch in some attenuation in the Portadisc. That
seems to come in before the pre, though I'm not positive on that. That
won't help if it's the mic that's in trouble. Some of these sites it's
loud enough to be painful and only my headphones protect me.
I'll see when I get some of my newer mic setups running. I do have a
good 'scope, but it's hardly portable even though it's called that. I
think that means it does not take a forklift. I can check the recording
waveform on the computer. And what I'm hearing in the headphones on the
Portadisc has been a very good indication of what I'm getting.
For these loud chorus situations, I'm kind of hoping the SASS setup I'm
making may be a option, though it also has gain before the mic. Or a M/S
stereo setup with the MKH-80/MKH-30 combo. Or even the pair of Marshall
MXL 2001's. And a pre is probably going to be the next important
addition to my stuff, most likely the MP-2 we have been discussing.
Partially to do M/S and monitor the stereo field, but also to deal with
some of these combos I'm setting up. Some of them will definitely work
better with the pre.
The other option I'm more or less on track for is setting whatever mic
I'm using up high. This should help a bit.
Walt
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