From: hugo daniel robles <>
>
> Hello to all ! here in Tucum=E1n, in the Northwest of Argentina, in South=
America, there is a great diversity of birds in the subtropical forest at =
the mountains.
> In the last years, I was interested more and more in doing recordings of =
these birds, and really is my plan in the next years.
> So I would like to receive your recommendations about what rig did you ex=
perienced as the best in terms of being very silent (self noise) and faithf=
ul for this job.
> I have a pair of Sennheisers MKH, luckily, so my interest is in first pla=
ce your recommendations about preamplification , AD conversion, and recorde=
r.
It might help to know what MKH you have and how you plan to use them.
Do you wish to record individual isolated birdcalls, or do you wish to
record them in their natural audio setting? The equipment needed and
techniques are quite different between those two methods.
How far afield are you going to go? Will you have access to power for
charging batteries? Either AC, or from a car battery? Or how often would
you have access to charging power.
I use a Telinga Pro 6 with DAT Stereo, several MKH based M/S stereo
setups, two different modified SASS (also MKH). I sometimes use a Sound
Devices MP2 preamp, but it's not necessary a lot of the time as I use a
HHb Portadisc. I do virtually all my recording in stereo. I do most of
my recording where I have fairly ready access to a car battery for
charging batteries. I can go anywhere up to a week or more without
access, depending on just how many hours I record. And can go on a long
foray in my Ranger for very long periods without needing to come in to
copy recordings or anything.
The big trick is to make your kit as portable as possible without making
too many compromises. It's much better to use a quality recorder so you
are not having to juggle preamps and so on. You should be mobile with
your equipment, ideally have a setup that you can pack in a operable
state and mics that are hand held. Every interconnect you have will be
that much more to snag on the brush and so on.
I prefer minidisc because the recording media is cheap and is archival.
I don't have to worry about immediately copying the recordings
elsewhere, in fact I always record on new media and archive it. The
sound quality is excellent from my Portadisc.
Solid state recorders are new and still a bit of a problem. The memory
cards are too expensive for a use once and archive system, so in
extended field forays you will need a alternate storage system and time
to use it, and power for whatever that is. Hard disk recorders put all
your eggs in one basket, and that one that can be too easily damaged
under field conditions. Of all that's appeared so far in these new
recorders I lean toward the Sound Devices offerings, or would when they
become available. There are quite a number of relatively inexpensive
recorders in this sort of stuff, mostly designed primarily for the mp3
users rather than original field recording. I'm not planning on a new
recorder anytime soon.
DAT is still recommended by some, but you should be aware there is only
one factory left making the tape, and no new replacement mechanisms are
being produced. If you have one, use it, but it's much more of a risk
buying into it now.
Walt
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