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Re: newbie: problem with distortion

Subject: Re: newbie: problem with distortion
From: John Campbell <>
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 18:04:39 +1100
>hi all
>
>i'm a musician/composer who's very new to nature recording, and i've
>run into a distortion issue.  i'm using a sony d8 DAT with a straight
>line in from my rhode nt4 condenser stereo mic, a dedicated XY
>cardioid coincident pair.
>
>i did some recording recently with this setup, just walking around
>with cans on, mic in hand.  now, when i use this setup and manually
>increase the record levels to greatly "magnify" the ambient sound i
>get an odd distortion:  not clipping (the levels are clearly fine,
>between -24 and -12 db and it doesn't *sound* at all like clipping),
>but a quick, stuttering momentary dropout.  you can find an example
>here:
>
>http://www.hadal.org/misc/distortion.zip
>
>it's especially pronounced when using the high sensitivity preamp
>setting on the D8.  i'm assuming this has something to do with
>cranking up the levels so high; i've certainly never had the levels
>set so high for music recording, and i've never heard this sound.  i
>just want to confirm that my gear is not somehow defective....
>
>any ideas?
>
>thanks
>
>hawkeye


It sounds like intermittent connection rather than distortion.  I'd
start first by checking cables and connectors.  Can you borrow some
to do a test?  What are you using to physically support the mic?



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