Let me try to re-state Klas' message:
1. Each mic has a self-noise level, produced by the components in its
design.=20
2. The recorder pre-amp cannot cancel or compensate for the mic
self-noise level. This mic noise level will always be part of the
recording.
3. The recorder pre-amp has a self-noise level of its own. This noise
is also added to the recording.=20
4. If the mic output signal is strong (i.e., has high mV/Pa), it can
over-ride the noise of the recorder pre-amp.
5. If you use a mic with low inherent self-noise and strong output,
you can achieve good quality recordings with a recorder that has a
noisy pre-amp.=20
In practice, this seems to be true. The Marantz PMD670 is a prime
example of a recorder with noisy preamps (Marantz claims s/n -65dBA),
but Martyn Stewart's recordings using Sennheiser MKE and Telinga mics
sound great.
I guess the place I'm having trouble is in the notion of "over-riding"
the recorder preamp. Klas, do you mean that when a mic has a high
mV/Pa, you don't have to turn up the volume of the recorder pre as much?
--oryoki
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
|