Rob D. wrote:
> Vlad wrote:
>
>
>> The Shure
>>VP88 MS still looks good.
>
>
> A surprisingly good package for the field recording especially for
> close to medium close sounds.
It's a pretty old design. Can be had fairly cheaply as a result. I
assume you mean close to medium close on the scale of music recording.
On the scale of nature recording it's pretty much going to be limited to
just very close to close. The self noise will prevent using much gain on
it for getting greater distance.
>> My inspirations for
>> nature recording are the geese that stop over here on their way
>> north, and the frogs in our backyard which sound wonderful in the
>
> springtime...
>
> Seems like the VP88 could work for this. But if this is the main
> situation you want to record, the pond is so close, you could run mic
> cable. I'd consider a pair of good Crown PZM's (P6's?) and spread
> them apart 20-200' right on the water edge. Make a little cover to
> keep the rain from hitting them directly and you can leave them out
> and monitor/record from the house whenever you want. Try different
> spots. The PZM's are almost entirely immune to wind as is. On eBay
> pretty often too. But I would be leery of leaving a VP88 out
> overnight.
One should note that Crown's PZMs are almost universally fairly noisy
mics. Otherwise you might get some things close to the mics. I doubt
that you could get 200' of separation covered by the PZM's. Though 20'
might be ok. At 200' separation you will be recording two mono circles
with little connection to each other, not stereo.
> Walter wrote:
>
>>The spec you will find is more important than that, if not the most
>>important, is the self noise spec. Because we are so often working at
>>considerable distance.
>>
> Below is a web page listing quite a few condenser mics ranked in
> terms of self noise. Higher sensitivity in conjunction with low self
> noise is a generally a promising combination- esecially for ambience
> and very distant sounds. You might want to sort the list by pickup
> pattern first (e.g. omni, fig 8) and write down some model numbers
> and then sort by self noise and look for matches. Smaller condenser
> mics are the most popular for field recording. The list is a few
> years old and doesn't have all brands including Telinga, MBHO, Crown,
> Sony and others.
>
> http://www.microphonereview.com/miclist.asp?F_Sensitivity=3D&F_Noise=3D&F=
_SPL=3D&F_LLF=3D&F_ULF=3D&order=3DMicrophones.%5BNoise+Level%5D%2C+
This table is interesting in what it does not include. Like the MKH-60
and MKH-70, both of which would be right up there at the low noise end
of the table. The ME mics seem to be missing too.
It also does not include the VP88. As I've noted it's a pretty noisy
mic. Here's the specs from Shure's pdf on the mic:
Self noise: 24dBA
Sensitivity (1 kHz, MS mode)
Open Circuit Voltage: =9666 dB (0.5 mV) Mid. (Side level 1.6 dB
higher than Mid level) (0 dB=3D1 V/Pa)
Before doing specs or looking at mics you need to evaluate what you
might be recording in the next few years. Pick mic types that will cover
that and compare them. Going with a VP88 is limiting yourself to
recording things close. It could be part of a set several mics for
recording at various distances, but if you wish a single mic with the
greatest range of capability it's probably not the way to go.
Walt
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