At 12:23 AM +0900 7/18/05, Mark R. wrote:
>Thanks Rob,
> Loved the variety of sounds, so rich in texture. Was that you getting in
>the water? Did you go skinny dipping? ;^)
I was washing my extra set of Rodes, I hate it when they get all
messed up with pine tar. After that, beavers? Does sound like a
smaller animal at times. You can hear fish surface too. Its fun to
guess but alot more happens when i set up in the late afternoon and
leave. Ironically, I get much better sleep when I'm recording all
night than when I'm in the city editing.
>This recording has me sold on the NT1a's ability for quiet ambiance and
>from your testing I feel it getting within my price range with the Rolls a=
nd
>a Hi MD.
I'd venture to guess that a large part of what many regard as
ambience has to do with clarity (more tones, better separation)
between 125 and 700hz. I seem to consistently get more of this from
these mics, so along with their lower noise, they have become my best
option. I'd love to have omni-directional mics for recording
ambience, but the NT1A's have provided important clues about some
characteristics that are productive. Their "wide cardioid" polar
pattern seems to grab a bit more below 1000 Hz from behind the mics
than the usual heart shaped cardioids. The siren is directly behind
the mics and there's a large hill (dam) between town and the river.
Most of the sound from the siren that reaches the mics is either
reflected from the hills to the west, north and east or has rolled
over the hill and come in from behind. I think certain species/events
feel more isolated on each mic than would be ideal if trying to
capture a fullness of the space. The river splashing is quite
detectable, but its exhibits less edge when its in the middle or off
to far sides. I can work with these polar patterns and guess what
critters are likely to show up more easily than I can judge how the
land will shape more distant sounds. Sections of this all night
recording have curious acoustic happening, but the same spot didn't
reveal much magic the night before.
If you decide to dive into NT1A's, it might be a good idea to tell
the dealer that you intend to take them out into the field and that
you have heard that some units can test to be more vulnerable to
moisture and handling noise. Take them to a swamp or steamy bath room
and give em a 100% warm or hot humidity test. A bad mic will produce
fizz and signal break-up after a while. For the handling test, I
guess you could gently vibrate them in your hands and see if this
creates about the same amount of signal disruption on both mics.(This
will sound awful, you're seeing if they respond about the same to
vibration). You're not taking a huge risk, but out of the eight I've
bought, I did sent one back that I felt should have performed better
and the dealer was fine with this.
It is mind boggling what could be possible with low noise mics, a
Rolls pb224 and consumer recorders. I love my 744 and I'm pretty
sure that the extra bits play a big role when it comes to coaxing
body out of quiet settings. The background ambience bottoms at about
20dB that night by the river. That said, the gain on the NH900 is so
impressive, its possible that the extra saturation one can pour into
the 16 bits initially (with a high sensitivity, low noise mic and the
rolls pb224) will also help one get more body, better local acoustic
etc. There are lots more mics on the list of options to consider now.
Your AKG could take on a new personality.
The more folks who get a Rolls pb224 and run tests with their
recorders and mics, the faster our compatibility list will grow. Klas
has suggested that we might experience variations in pb224 noise
performance. Makes some sense as all of the other brands/models of
phantom power supplies I tried did not work. If some Rolls units
turn out to perform badly, we can work with Rolls Corporation to see
what can be done to make them more consistent. Some recorders/pres
and mics may end up not making the list. I'm feeling pretty
comfortable that people willing to put in some research and
confirmation testing can get over the, "got to have an external pre"
hump quite affordably. With a sizable list of compatible
recorders/mics in hand, we'll be able to spread the word that low
noise recording is doable for many fewer bucks than previously
thought. Rob D.
>Up to now, I have been using relatively noisy mics... AKG C1000s,
>SM58's and Sonic Studio binaural EH series and M Series.
> Best,
> Mark R.
>
>
> On 7/17/05, Rich Peet <> wrote:
>>
>> Thanks for posting for both broad and dialup.
>>
>> I do like the large files but the days that I am broadband capable
>> may be limited so I understand.
>>
>> Glad I guessed close as to where you recorded. The Long-eared Owl
>> just before 18 mins was the proof for me. I suspect that the valley
>> has only the one bird and it seems to call from the same place. That
>> is based on only a few days observation. Maybe with West Nile virus
>> killing such a large number of our Great Horned Owls we will start to
>> see more Long-eareds.
>>
>> Keep up the good work Rob.
>>
>> Rich
>> --- In Rob Danielson <>
>> wrote:
>> > Sorry Mark, Walter and others. I forgot about this while working on
>> > the test. I uploaded the first 7 minutes:
>> >
>> > http://www.uwm.edu/~type/Temporary/7723EQ2TrimSparseRvrNiteSeq.mp3
>> >
>> > To save the mp3 to your drive without loading it in your browser,
>> go
>> > to the directory at
>> >
>> > http://www.uwm.edu/~type/Temporary/
>> >
>> > and right-click (mac: control-click) on the file
>> > name,"7723EQ2TrimSparseRvrNiteSeq.mp3" and use the "Save To Disk"
>> > option. This one is 10.8mb. I can email it to folks too; just ask.
>> > To avoid the QuickTime request silliness with PC, do not double-
>> click
>> > on the file, rather open it from the sound playing application of
>> > your choice using File->Open and selecting it.
>> >
>> > Rich was testing his ability to locate the spot. The rig was set-up
>> > about 25 yards from the Kickapoo River about 150 yards west of the
>> > parking area on old 131 highway going down the dam towards the new
>> > foot bridge. Yes, its facing the Star Valley ponds where we camped
>> > with the left mic facing southwest and the right, west-north-west.
>> > The siren at the start originates is in the town LaFarge, Wisconsin
>> > (pop 700), not quite 2 miles away. Rob D.
>> >
>> > =3D =3D =3D=3D
>> > ,
>> > At 11:10 PM -0400 7/16/05, Walter Knapp wrote:
>> > >From: "Mark R." <>
>> > >
>> > >>
>> > >> Hey Rob,
>> > >> I didn't get as far as these guys did, due to the size of
>> that file. Is
>> > >> there any way you can give us a shortened version? :^)
>> > >
>> > >In three tries, the best I got before losing the connection was
>> 11megs
>> > >of the 44megs. And that took 4 hours. Of course when the download
>> is
>> > >broken, you get the internet prize, you start over.
>> > >
>> > >I'm frozen out of this.
>> > >
>> > >Walt
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >"Microphones are not ears,
>> > >Loudspeakers are not birds,
>> > >A listening room is not nature."
>> > >Klas Strandberg
>> > >Yahoo! Groups Links
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Rob Danielson
>> > Film Department
>> > University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Microphones are not ears,
>> Loudspeakers are not birds,
>> A listening room is not nature."
>> Klas Strandberg
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
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>>
>>
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>> ------------------------------
>>
>
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>"Microphones are not ears,
>Loudspeakers are not birds,
>A listening room is not nature."
>Klas Strandberg
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
--
Rob Danielson
Film Department
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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