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Re: what is "shrill"

Subject: Re: what is "shrill"
From: Walter Knapp <>
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2004 13:34:50 -0500
From: "Jim Morgan" <>

> I have found from experience that when I am very close 15 feet or so the
> sound is better if I point my Telinga slightly off axis. Now I think I know
> why.

At very close distances it's real easy to have tiny transients overload 
and or clip. Shifting off axis can reduce the gain to help this, if you 
can find a quieter spot to point the axis at. Or, if it's in the 
recorder, turning the gain down a little more may do it too. Meters are 
not very good at showing all the really short transients.

I often use slight axis shift to control volume on adjacent callers. 
Just a degree or two can shift something out of the point of focus and 
make a big difference, often with little if any change in frequency 
response.

> Of course I try to keep the distance around 50 feet or so but when something
> is talking up close I usually don't risk moving back for fear of flushing
> the subject.

For a 15' subject I would normally use one of my other local mics. 
Unless I needed the sharp selectivity of the telinga to pick something 
out. Local mics, even shotguns are not too good at that. Then I'd have 
to tolerate the fact I was using the Telinga outside of it's best 
performance, which is at well over 50'. The very high gain of any 
parabolic at higher frequencies is a real liability for close recording. 
You don't have distance to tone those frequencies down.

Walt






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