From: Rob Danielson <>
> Most balk at a $700 pre; Jeremy is definitely an exception. Too many,
> like Jeremy, find themselves immediately wanting to "upgrade" what
> they just bought' It behooves us for folks to be out there enjoying
> their gear.
>
> Here's the typical under-informed starter package: $250-$300 MD
> recorder and $80 for a Sony MS907 mic. With 30 dB(A) self noise and
> 1.5 mV/Pa sensitivity, its easy to see why many recordists find their
> field recordings too noisy. Is the MS-957 significantly better at
> $200? I'm not sure it is,... its really not that hard to test. We
> should be able, with all of the experience on this list, to give
> better guidelines. A short list of self-powered or p-i-p (power in
> plug) mics that won't add noise when used with a typical MD mic pre
> noise and cranked-up for quiet, natural settings would go a long way.
> Rob D.
Most will balk at a $700 pre, but a lot will buy the lower priced ones
and it's those I was talking about. Often they will spend nearly the
price of the minidisc.
I've been reasonably happy with the MS-957. As I noted I've not tried
the MS-907, but those that have tried both claim a significant
difference in sound quality. Most are not doing things where self noise
is a big issue.
I'm of a opinion that testing has to include recording in natural
situations, if not be entirely based on that. Lab tests just are not
predictive enough. That makes it much tougher to test and requires
experience to interpret. There is no cut and dried formula for all this.
I would not limit mic choices to plug in power ones. Those that can run
from a onboard battery should also be included. The MS-957 runs off a
internal battery, not plug in power. That would allow consideration of
virtually all mics except phantom powered ones. Though small phantom
power supplies can be had fairly cheaply, so it's still possible the
best choice costwise might be phantom powered.
I also think we have to be honest, you cannot get into the lowest noise
sites without spending some money above the most basic gear. That does
not mean you cannot do nature recording, the average site is much
noisier. If anything we need to help to clear up what of the noise in
recordings is in the environment and what's equipment. Equipment gets
blamed for far more than it produces.
Walt
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
|