Charles Deenen (home) wrote:
> What have people found to be the quietest Mic / Pre combo ? (i.e. Very l=
o
> self-noise)
You probably want to identify type of mic first. Identify what you want
to record, what types of mics will work. Then you can make self noise
one of the things you consider to narrow the field.
Quietest I have by specs is the Sennheiser MKH-60 at 6dBA, a short
shotgun mic. Next quieter are the MKH-20's (omnis) and MKH-80's
(multipattern) at 10dBA.
The Sound Devices MP2 pre I have should be slightly quieter than the
Portadisc's pre. Both are very quiet.
But, at this level you rarely get to push the self noise a lot. The
environment is generally noisier. Self noise that's high in a mic is a
problem, as you go lower and lower in self noise it gets less of a
problem until it almost ceases to exist as a problem. Almost any of the
Sennheiser MKH mics, and even some ME mics fall into the category where
you will choose based on other criteria. It is a issue with some of the
less expensive mics that people consider. Unfortunately most mic reviews
you find are based on music recording, where self noise is far less of a
issue. Often I read reviews of mics that don't even say anything about
it. And some manufacturers also may not even provide specs. Particularly
in less expensive mics.
In one of the early discussions when the group first was formed a rule
of mic self noise below 20dBA as being a pretty good cutoff for high end
nature recording was proposed. Some would make it lower, few would argue
for much higher. Above that level the self noise will often intrude in
your recordings, below that it will be less of a problem, or no problem.
So much depends on what you are recording and how you are recording it.
And how much you will tolerate. The lower your self noise the quieter
environments you can record. But really quiet environments are rare. If
recording loud things, or in environments with covering noise like surf
or wind through the vegetation it hardly matters.
The other character associated with self noise is how it sounds. A
smooth hiss is far less intrusive than irregular sputtering or whatever.
It pays to listen to the actual self noise amplified. Sooner or later it
will be audible in some of your recordings.
Walt
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