Just a few additions to Walts post.
You may find as we did at our open nature recordists campout, big
problems in using a power inverter in the field. The negative post
from a battery before a power inverter does not have the same ground
voltage value as the negative voltage after the power inverter. Also
known as a floating ground. This leads to big problems with noise
while recording which increases as soil moisture increases. Only use
the inverter to charge batteries not to record from. We ended up
having to hang a car battery suspended from a tree to mitigate the
problem which never was eliminated completely. Consider motorcycle
batteries for a cheap solution and there are a bunch of spendy
solutions. Keeping things at DC means no AC hum problems.
On long cable lengths if a perm installation consider underground
irragation pipe to run your cable in. If a temp installation the
best cable for all-season work is Canare star quad low profile
cable. You can still coil it and un-coil it in freezing conditions.
For recording 2 channel only at 44.1khz, 16bit an old pentium
laptop "chunk-o-junk" is plenty good. If you use a better machine
make sure you get your insurance upgraded to a scheduled all risk
coverage for it. You need coverage than for flood, breakage, and
mysterious disappearance. I am one of those advocates of laptop
recording because a laptop is still the cheapest entry into this
field and it can double as your editing station. This is because a
computer is needed for editing sound anyway and both bases can be
covered with one unit this way.
I use Cool Edit 2000 in the field which was free after having
upgraded to Pro after getting 2000. I hope Adobe doesn't hurt
Cooledit with time now that they bought the rights. I also record
with a small program called AudioMagic 2.2. It is cheap, small and
gives you VOX and a completely programable length pre-record buffer.
Many laptop soundcards while running off batteries are surprising as
to what they can do. Many are Mono mic in. But then you can add an
external sound card or preamp with line level output if you want or
need.
Rich Peet
--- In Walter Knapp <>
wrote:
> Richard wrote:
> > What is the performance of Minidisc recorders vs. a PC soundcard
input?
> >
>
> Minidisc recorders are not a monolithic thing, there are quite a
few
> models of both consumer and pro level. Most minidisc recorders will
have
> better inputs for mic recording than soundcards do.
>
> >
> > Do the MD recorders have "real" mic inputs, or are preamps
required to
> > drive line inputs?
> >
>
> real mic inputs, real preamps.
>
> >
> > Many condenser mics require 48V phantom power. How is this
handled?
> >
>
> The pro recorders like my Portadisc have XLR inputs and supply
phantom
> power if needed. For consumer "walkman" minidisc a separate power
supply
> is necessary. Usually supplied in conjunction with a higher quality
mic
> pre like the recently discontinued Sound Devices MP2.
>
> >
> > How many of you have taken notebooks into the field as recording
> > devices?
> >
>
> I have used notebooks in the field, but not as recording devices. I
> strongly recommend a made for the purpose field recorder over using
a
> notebook.
>
> > To go mobile, I would need a 12VDC-to-120VAC inverter since the
Art Tube
> > MP's wall adapter supplies AC rather than DC. I would either have
to lug
> > a 12V battery or stay near a vehicle.
> >
>
> This is only part of the problem of going mobile with a notebook.
The
> notebook is really designed to be portable from desk to desk
indoors.
> It's very risky for the notebook and very inconvenient.
>
> > The notebook could run off its own batteries and charge off the
> > inverter.
> >
>
> If you go this route you would not actually have to cart the
inverter,
> particularly if you are going there in a car. Have enough batteries
for
> your portable periods, and use the inverter in the car to recharge.
>
> >
> > Since my home backs up to a bayou and wild area, I have gotten
some good
> > results just placing the mic in my backyard. I may experiment with
> > longer cables to get it further out.
> >
>
> I you hunted up Lang's comments on the hazards of long cables you
would
> discover that there are distinct limits there. His problem was the
> beaver would chomp through the cables.
>
> While I'm sure you can get quite a bit of stuff from your yard, you
will
> find there's lots more if you are fully portable.
>
> >
> > Has anyone ever used a setup at all similar to mine?
> >
>
> There are some in the group who advocate and have used notebooks as
> recorders. I use a HHb Portadisc minidisc field recorder.
>
> >
> > What are the preferred mics?
> >
>
> That's a endless subject and there are a large variety of good
choices.
> It contains within it how much you are willing to spend, what sound
> quality satisfies you, what sites you wish to record and what
sounds. As
> well as more. There is really no one preferred mic, or even one
> preferred type. Decide in some way the stuff above and then look at
what
> fits.
>
> For high quality recordings the mic is the most important piece of
> equipment, followed by the preamps and last the rest of the
recorder.
> Unfortunately very high quality mics are expensive. Most make some
sort
> of compromise and live with somewhat lower quality mics. Good
recordings
> can be made even with fairly low quality mics, but often with a lot
more
> effort.
>
> The most common mic types in nature recording have traditionally
been
> parabolic microphones and shotgun microphones. These are used
primarily
> to record calls. Parabolic microphones provide extra gain due to
the
> reflector, and the same reflector provides considerable rejection
of
> sounds off axis. They provide the sharpest directionality. Shotgun
mics
> provide rejection of off axis sounds, though not as narrow as
> parabolics. They provide no extra gain above that of a more normal
mic,
> so require more amplification than parabolics. I mostly use a
Telinga
> Pro V stereo parabolic for call recording. Others make different
choices.
>
> Recording of ambiance as opposed to individual calls is another way
to
> go. Here sharp directionality is usually not wanted. Stereo is a
big
> advantage. (Stereo is also a advantage in call recording). Natural
> ambiance contains times when the sound level is very low. This will
> reveal the self noise that all mics have, so very low self noise is
a
> requirement for a mic used for ambiance. This is a big cost factor,
low
> noise mics are more costly by a wide margin than more noisy ones.
The
> self noise of the rest of the recording chain has to be low too.
>
> In addition to the Telinga, I currently routinely use:
> Three different M/S stereo setups, all using Sennheiser MKH mics:
> A MKH-60/MKH-30 combo, the MKH-60 is a short shotgun mic.
> A MKH-40/MKH-30 combo, the MKH-40 is a cardioid mic, the MKH-30
is a
> figure 8 mic for the side mic.
> A combo of two MKH-80 multipattern mics.
> Two different modified SASS setups, again Sennheiser mics:
> A SASS with MKH-20's
> A SASS with MKH-110's
> I also have a pair of MKH-816 long shotgun mics that I've yet to
get
> kitted out with suspension and windscreens. And some other mics
awaiting
> setup.
>
> The Sennheiser MKH series is their top mics. They are very
expensive. I
> saved a large amount of money finding them on Ebay. Though that
used
> lots of my time. The Sennheiser ME series mics will work well, they
are
> the next step down, though there is no figure 8 mic in that series
to
> make up M/S combo's. A few mics of other brands will work. Many
mics
> won't, either being too noisy, or too sensitive to environmental
> conditions, especially moisture.
>
> Walt
>
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