jonnykontroletti wrote:
> Hello Walt!
> Thank you very much for your detailed info. You are right, ebay
> sometimes tends to be strange when it comes to the final price. Did
> you ever see a Portadics for sale elsewhere? The strap and carrying
> case do not matter much to me either. However, I was hoping not to
> spend more than $900 for the recorder.
I've given up trying to accurately predict a auction. I usually research
the item, decide what I can and want to pay and bid accordingly.
Typically I make two bids these days, my first goes in about 35 seconds
from the end, my 2nd, if needed at about 5 seconds. I don't like to get
into bidding wars, give people a minimal chance to see my bid. I went to
the double bid because there are those using automated software that
responds by upping you one bid increment at a time. The first bid is to
smoke them out. The second is so close to the end to prevent them
finding out from ebay and bidding in time.
I've seen maybe a couple others for sale, it's rare. Most folks spending
that kind of money think carefully about it.
Best you can do is figure your price and watch. If it stays within your
price, bid. Can't really say to wait for the next one as they are so
uncommon. It could turn up tomorrow, or a year from now. I think you
would be extremely lucky to get it for $900. Just remember you can
probably buy a new one around $1400 if you hunt around.
You will want a strap, this is not recorder to be trying to hand carry
in the field. I made mine, pictures here:
http://frogrecordist.home.mindspring.com/naturerecordists/strap01.jpg
Next, I have to look for a
> good microphone that is suitable for nature reccording. The same
> seller also offers a Sennheiser 816T on ebay (currently at $1!). Do
> you happen to know anything about that mic?
I have two of the MKH-816 P mics. Those take regular 48 volt phantom
power (the kind the portadisc supplies, as does most modern pro
equipment). The T mic has a special connector that's more common in
Europe, and takes a different powering system that's 12 volts and wired
differently. The T model mics tend to go cheaper as a result. Both mics
are excellent, results once powered are good. But for a T Powered mic
you either need to get or make a power supply, which is a extra thing to
be carting around and feeding batteries.
The MKH-816 is one of the finest shotgun mics. Excellent sound, very
good directivity. It was replaced by the MKH-70, which is a little more
sensitive, a bit quieter mic noise. (and almost never turn up on Ebay,
and if do are hard fought over) The MKH-816 is 2' long, needs a good
suspension and wind protection. In Rycote gear the suspension and wind
protection full kit will cost as much or more than the ebay price of the
mic. Even on ebay Rycote stuff is bid fairly high so many auctions have
to be passed up for each one bid. One of the places where building it
yourself can really pay off. Take a look here at one of my MS setups to
see what's involved, though this setup is mostly Sennheiser parts:
http://frogrecordist.home.mindspring.com/docs/ms_mkh30+60.html
That's 5 different ebay auctions and many months to accumulate.
Is there any other mic
> you could recommend? I also looked at the Sennheiser K3 with various
> heads (ME 80, ME 40, ME 6?). I liked that you could basically
> change the characteristic of the mic by simply changing the head.
The K3's are a older powering module, the batteries can be hard to find.
The K6 series are the current ones.
I
> don't know anything about the quality though.
ME mics are a step down from the MKH mics. It's not a huge one in sound
quality, but it is a step. ME series are good mics. Better than most pro
mics for the price. If you have only been around consumer mics they will
be fantastic.
> Sorry to bombard you with all of these questions. I would just love
> to get the equipment worries out of my head, be content with what I
> have and finally start to focus on recording ;-).
Don't worry, you will always have new equipment to lust after.
Concentrate on getting a minimal setup, then get out and record and you
can start drooling over new goodies. Like all such things nature
recording is a sinkhole for money. The equipment lasts well, however, so
you can think in terms of near lifetime on some of it.
I just want to
> make sure that I will not ourgrow my investment in the near future.
> I guess thats why I liked the Portadisc.
I generally don't recommend the Portadisc for beginners. It's a fine
recorder and easy to use, probably easier than cheap ones. But it is a
lot of money. My usual advice is to know you are into this for the long
term before sinking big money into it. That said, the Portadisc is a
very good investment in your recording. It will take you a long time, if
ever, to outgrow it's capabilities.
Before running out hog wild on mics it might be well to think about what
you want to record. How close it will be to you, how loud, individuals
calling, or whole environments? There is no universal mic, and it would
be good to start with one that will cover a lot of your basic interests.
As you gain experience you can then add capability buying new mics.
Another question is Stereo or Mono? Stereo requires two mics that are
well matched to each other. They are not always the same models,
depending on the technique used. Even if not buying a whole mic system
at first it's well to think about how things will fit together. For
instance, if going into MS stereo setups as I have, there is no figure 8
mic in the ME series, and it's essential for MS stereo. The MKH series
does have one, the MKH-30. It's characteristics match the rest of the
MKH series well. It matches a ME series mic less well as far as sound
quality. This was one of the reasons I went into the MKH mics.
If your aim is to record environments, soundscapes, then stereo does it
better than mono, is virtually essential. If your aim is to record
individual calls from single animals, stereo is very nice, but not as
necessary. Stereo is obviously more money, more complex.
If you will always be recording close, there are a wide variety of mics
that will do fine. As the distance increases it quickly becomes two
choices. Shotgun mics or Parabolic mics.
Shotgun mics don't actually pick up the sound directly in front of
them any better, what they do is cut out more of the side sounds. This
allows you to amplify the front sound more, and thus pick up from
farther. However, as you increase amplification you run into the noises
produced by the mic's own electronics, or your mic preamp's electronics.
So you have to invest in high end low noise microphones and preamps to
gain reach. Such equipment is expensive. The interference tube
technology in a shotgun mic is somewhat frequency dependent, so each
design colors sound it's own way. There is a lot of what you like, or
what you are used to in choices. Shotgun mics are the common mic in
films, so people are pretty used to their sound. There are stereo
shotgun mics, but the quality ones are unbelievably expensive, so for
stereo either two are paired, or you use the MS technique.
The alternate, parabolic mics, use a reflector to provide sound gain
before reaching the mic. You gain distance by this even before you start
amplifying. The reflector's shape also makes it's pickup highly
directional. On top of this built in gain you can go into amplification
and so on for even more distance. A parabolic mic is going to ultimately
give the greatest distance for the money spent. I have picked up barking
treefrogs from distances as great as a mile with my Telinga Pro V.
Faint, but still usable for identification purposes. The Telinga, BTW is
available as a stereo model, which is what I use most of the time with
it, the DAT Stereo mic for it. Parabolic mics, because of the nature of
sound, tend to increase higher frequencies more than lower ones. Not a
big issue recording calls, but can become a issue using one to record
soundscapes.
Note there is another reason why Sennheiser mics are so common in Nature
Recording. They have a deserved reputation for being rugged and pretty
immune to moisture. Some other brands of mics last minutes out in humid
environments (though most recover if brought into a dry environment and
allowed to dry out).
Note that each mic will color the sound, put it's own signature on it.
So will the environment you record in. A mic that one person hates
because of it's sound may be loved by another for the same reason. Try
not to let others choose your mics. Get advice, opinion, sure, but if at
all possible listen to the output from the mics recording the sorts of
things you are interested in.
Mics and mic choices are a endless subject.
Walt
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