Greg Winterflood wrote:
> --- In "Rich Peet" <>
> wrote:
>
> Rich
>
> Yep, got there. Tried multiple combinations.
>
> When the System makes enquiries of the HardDisk (HD) the noise gets
> worse. Audition 1.0 suggests recording some 'silence' and then
> using Noise Reduction to remove sound-card internal-noise. However
> the noise I hear is so loud that I doubt that that kind of fix is
> going to work.
A computer is not set up to worry about analog noise in it's electronics
as long as the digital pulses are recognizable it's happy. It rarely has
good filtering to take care of that. The power supply passes it
everywhere. You often have to get the analog stage outside the computer
and preferably with it's own filtering of the power. Then feed a digital
signal into the computer.
Laptops are even worse as the power conservation means things are
constantly being powered up and shut down.
> I need to play some more; but the idea of taking the Laptop into the
> backyard and recording directly to the HD is appealing. Except that
> I am going to have to find out whether I have a 'top of the shelf'
> soundcard in this machine ;)
If backyard recording is all you wish to do, then you could spend money
to record with the laptop. But as you move into more mobile recording
that money could have been better spent elsewhere.
It does not sound at all like your laptop has even a second rate
soundcard. Not uncommon in the windows laptops, though it's been getting
better. Your best bet is a USB based mic pre. You'll need the same thing
for transfers from the field recorder if using the laptop for
processing. Or at least a line level unit.
> Like (as the adolescents say), what advantage is there in recording
> to an MD (or DAT or cassette) and then transcribing to a PC, instead
> of recording directly to the HD of the PC at CD sampling rate?
>
> My Laptop weighs about the same as the Marantz PMD222. I admit it
> is a bit more difficult to manage in the backyard; and I wouldn't
> like to trip and let it land in the garden, but shouldn't it, in
> record mode, outperform an MD (or tape recorder) given that there is
> direct input from the transducer - via the soundcard and audio/wave
> software - to storage??
The performance of a recorder is a function of the entire electronic
train. A laptop provides very little more than a storage medium, the
rest of a quality chain will have to be provided elsewhere. So you are
into a kit tied together with cables. Mobility is severely compromised.
Try moving beyond your back yard, or think about doing so.
You maybe should be aware that MD records at CD sampling rate and bit
depth. And stores using a method the CD spec does not have, i.e. bit
shifting to get a 24 bit dynamic range. There are even a few who say
that MD outperforms CD. I just say you can't tell the difference at the
same quality level of equipment.
Just how well can you see the screen in bright sunlight? Just how
durable is the hinge in the laptop? You saw the thin plastic inside the
cassette recorder, things are often thinner in laptops. Those and many
more points are why a laptop is a second rate recorder to a good field
recorder. You see, you will end up moving while the machine is up in
record. It's not a static business to do nature recording. Laptops are
portable, but in the sense of closing them down, carting them in a
protected way to a new desk and setting them up. Not near so much in
portable while running.
Think about moving through the bush and hearing something you want to
record. Take your laptop out of your carry case that's protecting it.
Set it up somewhere, hook up all the pieces, boot it up. Start the
software, then set it to record. Meanwhile the animal has left laughing,
or has shut up while it enjoys the show. I, on the other hand would have
my Portadisc on a shoulder strap in it's PortaBrace case, hit the power
button, hit record (if in a hurry, otherwise record/pause to set
levels). I can be recording in moments in that situation. I'm quite
certain about who's going to get the greater variety of good recordings.
The guy with the field recorder and associated kit.
In my field survey work on frogs, I can stop at a site and go through
the entire process in well under 10 minutes. That includes listening to
what's there, recording several minutes worth, and filling out a field
card. Even time to just enjoy listening. That time is cut in half if I
have someone to fill out the field card while I record. And note that
this is all done during the night, almost entirely in the dark (except
for filling out the card)
We are looking at a new laptop for my wife's work. I discovered one of
the problems of the new ultra thin designs in researching that. To make
it as thin as possible the keyboard contacts the screen when it's
closed. At minimum this marks the screen with oils and etc. from our
fingers, and under bumpy conditions can do far worse. You also end up
with a slot loading CDR. drive, which is going to be vulnerable to dust
and dirt. They are making laptops less rugged. Fortunately for her work
it's not a big issue, but I'd be even more worried taking one of the new
ones out on a field biology foray.
We have also had a little discussion in the group on the problem of all
your eggs in one basket. The laptop is vulnerable, so is the hard disk.
A single accidental drop, particularly while running, can loose
everything. Not so important if it's something common in your backyard,
but think about spending a few weeks on a expensive recording foray to
some exotic local. And dropping the laptop or other hard disk recorder
at the end. Or just having the system corrupt the disk. It has happened
to folks, though I've not heard of it being a laptop as few use those
for field recording. With something like MD you have a disk with a
archival life expectancy. And you will have a trip's recordings
distributed through a number of them. You can still loose the
recordings, but you will have to be more creative than just dropping
them on the ground and picking them back up.
Computers are highly useful tools, but are not the only tool, or even
the tool of choice for a lot of things.
> Ever ready to think about spending more money - Greg
> Still in Alice Springs, NT, Oztralia
It's a good hobby thinking about spending more money. It's the actual
doing that gets us in trouble.
Walt
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