I spent some time playing with powering the MKH-110's so that the pair
would not whine over the last weeks. Still not completely happy with the
result, but disconnecting the mics from the cable shield cured the
whine. If I find it's cured, I can always machine a shield to house the
mics without making electrical contact with them. They don't seem to
pick up any hum when touched.
With that I rebuilt the insides of the SASS and got the setup running
again. I'll post a new photo of the insides soon.
I've also now got the MKH-20's in hand and built up another housing to
fit them. Simpler to do, no electronics inside. Changed the design
slightly for easier machining. Photos will follow when I get around to
taking them.
And I have a original SASS-P Mark II, the unmodified mic. To compare.
Went skulking out into the darkness tonight. A quiet evening, just a few
insects (and a power pole transformer). Recorded with all three mics at
the same spot, one after another. Put a sound clip of each on my SASS page:
http://frogrecordist.home.mindspring.com/docs/sass_mkh110.html
There is also a composite sonogram of all three.
Compared to the MKH-20's, the MKH-110's are much more sensitive to low
sounds, check out the power transformer. And this is with the high pass
set on the MP2 and the Portadisc. And as expected, the SASS-P is pretty
noisy in comparison to either. And far less sensitive to all
frequencies, I had to drop 15 dB of attenuation out of the system to get
the same meter readings. And that with the Sound Devices MP2 cranked to
the peg. The other two I had the MP2 about 2/3 of the way up, their
sensitivity in general is pretty similar. Portadisc was on a setting of
7 for all. Set on mic with -30dB for the two hotshots, mic with -15dB
for the SASS-P. I was using a -15dB cable between the MP2 and the Portadisc.
The MKH-110's spec slightly noisier than the MKH-20's. This was not
easily detectable, the environmental noise was varying more than the
difference. There is a difference in the overall sound. Need a lot more
recording to characterize it. Both are very good.
And note at full gain on those two you have a hard time breathing
quietly enough not to be picked up, even directly behind the setup. If
you need that much gain, it may be tricky to hand hold the mics. At the
setting I was using and being careful I was not picking up the breathing
too much.
Do note, this was a evening most would characterize as quiet or even
silent. Only the loudest insects recorded were audible. That transformer
was also audible, but not loud.
Walt
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