wrote:
> Dear Portadisc Savants,
>
> I am considering using an MKH20 with the Telinga Parabolic dish and
> connecting to my HHB MDP-500 Portadisc. However, I do not want to use the=
> external power supply (MZA14) for the MKH because it will not fit in the=
> Telinga handle and thus makes another external connection to worry about.=
> Anyhow, I have some questions pertaining to this decision:
>
> 1. The Portadisc has phantom power capabilities and I assume that this sh=
ould
> work with the MKH20 so that I would not have to use the external power
> supply. Is this correct?
I've run my pair of MKH-20's off the Portadisc with no problem, you
don't need a separate power supply. There is, of course, a slight
decrease in battery life, but that's been no problem. I've run a variety
of MKH and other mics off the phantom power of the Portadisc and all
have run fine. The power off it is clean even under full load.
Note in my experiments with the Portadisc's phantom power when I first
got it that at the full current of the phantom power spec running two
mics the Portadisc supplies about 36 volts. So, if you had a mic that
used lots of current and absolutely would not run right unless it got
the full 48 volts, the portadisc could not supply it. Some studio mics
are like this, but the mkh are well below max current and not as picky
as their spec would lead you to believe about voltage.
> 2. Also, for my purposes, I find the HHB is slightly underpowered even wh=
en I
> record in stereo. I did send the machine to the factory and they increase=
d
> the gain as much as possible, but for me, it is still underpowered. Will =
the
> Telinga with the MKH20 using the Portadiscs phantom power give me any bet=
ter
> gain than I get with the ME66-67 I am currently using with the K6 power
> supply?
Since I've not tried a ME66-67 with the portadisc I can only address the
MKH-20. The MKH-20 works well with the portadisc. There is a recording
of rain with the SASS/MKH-20 plugged direct into the portadisc on my
SASS/MKH-110 page.
http://frogrecordist.home.mindspring.com/docs/sass_mkh110.html
Because they are so low in self noise, you can get a little more gain
from the MKH-20 by using a external mic pre like the Sound Devices MP2 I
use. I use a 15 dB attenuating cable between the pre and portadisc and
then use the mic input settings rather than line in. Generally with
another 15 dB attenuation set in the Portadisc. By fiddling around with
the portadisc's and pre's gains you can find a sweet spot that will get
all the gain you can get without hearing the MKH-20's self noise. The
same SASS/MKH-110 page has a couple recordings from the SASS/MKH-20
recorded this way.
My own feeling is that buying a complete Telinga would make more sense,
however. The price is about the same, you can get the DAT Stereo element
and record in stereo, and the entire package will be better balanced and
probably lighter. And the Telinga has a pretty hot output. The DAT
Stereo element is not only getting the gain of the parabolic, but is a
pzm design with the extra gain from that. It's mics are optimized for
working with the parabola. I've got quite a bit of good recording out of
my Telinga. I would definitely not even consider changing to a mono with
a mkh and I have the mics and extra reflector.
> 3. If I use a Sennheiser ME62 with the K6 power supply with the Telinga w=
ill
> this give me more gain than if I was using an ME66 or 7 without the Telin=
ga?
Considerable more. A shotgun mic is just a regular mic with a restricted
view of the world. It has no extra gain for being a shotgun. To get
anything like the gain of a parabolic you have to amplify it to the
point the mic noise is evident. The parabolic reflector does give you
considerable gain and that occurs before the mic, so it's gain without
increasing the mic noise. Then you can still amplify the mic some if
it's a quiet mic.
The original purpose of shotgun mics was to pick up voice dialog from
what to us is extremely close distances, no more than about 20' for a
outside limit. The pros that use them for the original use talk like
they can pick up distant things, but that's the distance they are
talking about, and they prefer just a few feet. For nature recording you
really have to push the shotgun mic to get significant reach in our
scales. The true long reach still belongs to parabolics.
Using a parabolic will help you a lot. I expect part of your problem is
a expectation of more reach than your mics can give you. The Portadisc
is not underpowered. There have been numerous reports in this group of
problems with low gain from ME mics with several different recorders.
This appears to be impedance mismatch as some have fixed it with
matching transformers.
Do note that a parabolic is not unlimited either. It just gives you a
little more reach.
Walt
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