From: "Martyn Stewart" <>
>
> Anybody have an idea what the Crown SASS-P MKII set up is like?
> I like the look of this setup and may just buy the casing and use my own
> mics,
> What do you think?
I have a unmodified Crown SASS-P MKII that sees very little use. In
comparison to the modified SASS, it's got much more mic self noise, and
is not as sensitive. 20.5 dBA self noise, 6 mV/Pa sensitivity is Crown's
specs. It is very sensitive to handling. The mics are glued directly
into their plastic holders, which are bolted directly to the plastic
boundary face. That transmits any vibration to them easily. Even
brushing against a mic cord connected to it ten feet down the cord will
be picked up. Not a easy mic to hand hold. Not in the same class as the
MKH-20 modified SASS that Lang and I (and others) use.
In contrast, my design of the modified SASS supports the mics in silicon
O-rings inside the support tubes, which prevents much mechanical
transmission of vibration from the housing. It's easy to hand hold. I
use it either hand held, or on top of my high tripod:
http://wwknapp.home.mindspring.com/tall.tripod.1.jpg
And, of course there is the 10 dBA self noise and 25 mV/Pa sensitivity
of the MKH-20. Sensitivity is increased a bit over that by the boundary
effect. If anything it's too sensitive. You have to have pretty good
soundfields for quite a ways, it will find that truck several miles away...
It's a excellent wide field stereo mic. While it will pick up from
considerable distance, I consider it a mic for more local recording.
Like a whole pond a couple hundred feet across or such like.
My SASS pages have photos of my modified SASS, and other info:
http://frogrecordist.home.mindspring.com/docs/my_mod_sass.html
Read Crown's Boundary Mic Application Guide for a intro into using
boundary mics and some more on using the SASS (for music and such,
nothing on nature recording). They also have pdf's of the owners guide
for the SASS on their site.
http://www.crownaudio.com/
Walt
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