I once watched my entire SASS unit (on a tripod), including two MKH 20's ti=
p
and fall into about two feet of water. It took me maybe a minute or two to
traverse the 600 feet between me and my mikes, before pulling them from the
drink. I carted them back to my van, turned on the defrost, and dried the
mikes on the dashboard. They recovered splendidly and I still use them. I
sent them back to Sennheiser to have them checked and they gave them a clea=
n
bill of health. You don't want to drop them into saltwater, but a freshwate=
r
immersion will not harm them if you dry them quickly.
Lang
From: "Eric Benjamin" <>
>
> One way of looking at what Walt says is that, if you can afford a
> good mic, then you should buy a good mic. And if you can't then you
> investigate less pricy alternatives. Good omnis like the Schoeps MK-
> 2 and Sennheiser MKH-20 have a self noise of about 10 dBA, which is
> about 20 dB quieter than most of the small capsules that we
> micBuilders fool around with. And that's a lot. But then they cost
> a 1000 times less, too.
I would agree, but only partway.
The problem with the idea that you cannot afford the good mics is that
it tends to become self perpetuating. I see people who clearly could put
together the money over time for the good stuff using it as a excuse. No
matter how clever you are, it's near impossible to make a cheap capsule
perform like the expensive ones. I spent most of my life using cheap
mics, I know the difference. By sticking in the cheap stuff you do need
to realize that you limit the scope of your recording. Even things you
can record are more difficult.
I've a set of mics that no way I could afford at any particular time, if
bought as a group. By putting together money one at a time and looking
for good used ones I have a set of mics that I "cannot afford" if I took
the approach of many. And no way I'm going back.
> But there is another reason why one might wish to use a small
> inexpensive capsule. You can look at it as a disposable microphone.
> I have a friend who records frogs and she places the capsule very
> close to where she believes that the frogs will be vocalizing, which
> means the microphones are very close to the water. If a capsule
> falls in the drink, it just gets replaced. Only a dollar's worth of
> material has been lost. And some very good recordings can be
> obtained in that way.
>
> I happen to be interested in recording the sound of surf, and there
> is no way that I want to take even a moderately expensive microphone
> into the surf, no matter how well protected it may be.
My first experience with hugely expensive field gear was my digital
camera. At more than $5000, it was really scary at first taking it out
and using it. But I realized eventually that I'm not hard on equipment,
protect it better than most, so it was pretty safe. That camera has been
into all sorts of risky places since, a real asset to my photography
efforts.
Mics are the same thing, you can cart them into risky situations and use
them. But you have to think how. The protection of the mics deserve
careful planning. I treat even my most inexpensive mics with about the
same care as my good ones. But even the expensive stuff get's to get out
and record.
I do understand the concept of disposable mics. I just say that it's
possible to record without ruining mics, pretty rare that disposable is
needed.
Btw, I've recorded with my SASS/MKH-20 where the Y cable coming off the
mics dipped the bottom connector in the drink. And that connector hangs
just a few inches below the SASS and the two MKH mics. My hand holding
the handle was in the water. All the while maintaining balance in water
at the top of my hip boots and with a soft irregular bottom. And with my
Portadisc hanging from my shoulder in it's PortaBrace pac. It was frogs
too, Gopher frogs. A note from that, while the fabric covers on that Y
minimize handling noise, they also wick water into the waterproof XLR
connectors I use. Had to wade out and take them apart and dry them when
I started getting interference. Put on a spare Y then back in and tied
the connector up on the SASS to avoid a repeat.
Walt
"Microphones are not ears,
Loudspeakers are not birds,
A listening room is not nature."
Klas Strandberg
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