Dear Recordists:
The "input" equipment advice, I re-state, all comes down to this:
YOU should decide about noise floors for yourself. You take your best rig=
to wherever it is most quiet that you would be likely recording, and you
crank all the gains up and RECORD and then LISTEN, repeatedly, if
necessary. I do this nearly every place I go, usually while companions are=
asleep, and nature sounds have quieted down. Low sounds are invariably
world-generated; high bands of hiss are usually water or an insect chorus,=
you will have to listen for the wide-band hiss typical of pink or white noi=
se.
IF you DO hear a hiss that is NOT background, locational noise, it is
either coming from your mic or pre-amp:
There are simple tests to check which: turn off the mic switch, for
example, and
IF the hiss goes away, its the MIC (or, might have been locational
after all). Then ask about or buy a lower noise MIC.
IF the real sounds go away, but the hiss remains unaltered, its the
pre-amp. Then ask about or buy a lower noise pre-amp.
(The same (almost) can be tested by unplugging the mic from the pre-amp or=
shorting across the pre-amp input, but there are technical complications
here, where results will depend on pre-amp designs.)
IF you can hear NO hiss, that you cannot ascribe to the location itself,
then you are all set. Then you do not need the advice of experts. You do=
not need to spend more money on lower noise mics or pre-amps. Go outside,=
and DO IT.
My findings:
When I do this with my Sony Cassette recorder and ME-67 pair, I hear NO
hiss except the blank tape background.
So I bought a DAT, then bought an MD recorder.
Now, when I do this with the HHb Portadisc and ME-67 pair, I cannot ever*
hear any hiss, so I don't buy anything else but batteries and blank MDs.
Marty
Marty Michener
MIST Software Associates
PO Box 269, Hollis, NH 03049
coming soon : EnjoyBirds - software that migrates with you.
* Historical note: back a year or so (Feb 10, 2001 12:52 PM), I posted a
note that said I actually heard a hiss in the bg. of a recording at Cana,
Darien, Panama. I then miss-spoke. I later realized, listening to the
same recording, made as I walked along the path south of camp, that it got=
louder and then softer, and was IN FACT the rushing river a few hundred
meters away from the path. Other recordings made the same day elsewhere
had much lower locational noise floors, and ALL were always well above
that of the ME-67 mics themselves. I see no earthly reason so far to ever=
triple my mic investment with MKH mics, but you should decide for your
locations and equipment, based on your own listening.
At 09:13 AM 10/17/02 -0400, you wrote:
>Vicky:
>
>I'm not sure, but I think it's probably not worth the added expense to
>purchase an expensive preamp unless you're using the MKH series mikes.
>
>Lang
>
>on 16/10/02 8:19 AM, Lang Elliott at wrote:
>
> > Vicki:
> >
> > The onboard preamps in the TCD-D10 are not high quality preamps. I use =
a
> > Sound Devices MP2 preamp (www.sounddevices.com) for providing phantom p=
ower
> > and preamplification before inputting into my TCD D10 using the line-in
> > jacks. This results in a lower noise floor and much better preamp
> > specifications. Is the difference audible? Yes, especially when you use
> > really good mikes such as the Sennheiser MKH series mikes.
> >
> > Lang
>
>
>Lang, Walt and All,
>
>Thanks for your comments on this. I am using Sennheiser ME series mics wi=
th
>the TCD-D10, those mics are not as good quality as the MKH series of cours=
e.
>Would I still be likely to get a lower noise floor if using these mics wit=
h
>a pre-amp?
>
>Vicki Powys
>Australia
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