Excellent suggestions Chris and Raimund. However, putting them
together, I would not invest $2500UK in mkh30/40 pair and then invest
in a Marantz 671. Raimund's recent tests suggest the ME series mics
are a good match for the 671 but his assessment on his web page that,
"Consequently, there is no relevant noise added by virtually any
professional recorder as long as a sufficiently sensitive (hot)
microphone is being used" may not hold true in cases when low noise,
high output, mics (like mkh's and Rodes) are used with maximum pre
gain to record ambience in quieter locations. Granted, these
recording circumstances are not typical, but they may be useful for
some recordists to consider who are very interested in
communications, capturing context and roles of local acoustics. A
recorder's overall mic pre gain can also play a role in final quality
in terms of generated bit depth saturation when ambient sound levels
are low. This said, it is important to distinguish that recording a
fore-grounded bird call, as an example, does not usually present
these demands!
Its my experience that if the "effective" or performed self noise is
of the recorder's mic pre is not 7-10dBA lower than that of the
mic's, the recorder's mic preamp will definitely introduce noise if
higher mic preamp gains are used. I agree that field performance can
be significantly different than what specs suggest, but in this case,
side by side listening tests may be the best guide for these
demanding situations. If a long-term recorder investment is the
goal, the HD-P2 or Fostex FR-2 _might_ make a better match for mkh's
or Rodes, but side by side tests at this point are lacking to the
best of my knowledge. I wholly agree that powering options can be
very important to look at. CF, for example, may not the best choice
if one wants to leave the gear in a location for long periods of time.
Understanding the basic concepts behind condenser capsule high
humidity performance should help us make better mic choices; but one
thing we can do on a list like this is compare whether the theories
are consistent with field experiences before making general
recommendations. This is important because innovative field recording
is quite dependent on finding and exploiting exceptions because the
demands on the gear are very high. For example, I believe the high
serial number NT1A's are externally polarized large condenser mics
and the two I use regularly under very humid conditions have
performed flawlessly including several times when my mkh 30 and 40
have failed. The AudioTechnica AT3031 with its fixed-charge back
plate as Raimund predicts, has also not failed but I've only run it a
dozen times for long periods in high humidity. A single failure
recording on a special trip can turn a recordist sour. Through a list
like this, we can access community-generated "best odds" and this
dialog is perhaps behind the mkh suggestions-- especially for a
"pack-up and head-out situation." After a pair of mics has proven to
perform without failure, repeatedly under known conditions, one's
forecasting gets much more meaningful. I am not confident that
there's a mic one can recommend that is 100% immune to high humidity.
Rob D.
=3D =3D =3D =3D
At 11:26 AM +0000 1/8/06, Raimund Specht wrote:
>I think that you are on the right track.
>
>Both the Marantz PMD671 and TASCAM HD-P2 are easy-to-use and rugged
>recorders. Both have a pre-recording buffer (which is not available
>on the MicroTrack2496) and can be operated from
>8 AA-type rechargeable batteries. Unfortunately, these battereis
>cannot be charged within the recorders. So, an additional NIMH or
>NiCD battery charger is required (I would recommedn a model than can
>charge all 8 cells at once - most are designed for 4 cells only).
>The advantage of the Marantz PMD 671 woudl be that there is a
>dedicated NiMH battery (model RB6151) that can be charged within the
>the recorder (in this way, you could save the weight of an external
>battery charger).
>
>The directional Sennheiser microphones ME66 or 67 are also a good
>choice. The slightly less directional ME66 is more compact, which is
>in my option an important advantage in the field. NOte that you
>could save some money (and 4.5 cm of the total microphone length) if
>you purchased the K6P phantom power powering module instead of the
>(optionally battery operated) K6 moduler.
>
>In Costa Rica it is important that your microphones are immune
>against high levels of humidity. The Sennheiser MKH series would be
>slightly better in that regard. In any case, I would avoid any
>common condenser microphones that are externally polarized.
>
>As far as I understand from the Rode NTG-1 specifications, it uses
>a "condenser transducer". Such a true condenser transducer is
>polarized with a relatively high voltage of more than 50V that might
>break down (and cause loud noise and/or loss of sensitivity) under
>humid conditions. However, I still have no practical experience with
>the new Rode NTG-1.
>
>On the other hand, any fixed-charge back plate, permanently
>polarized electret condenser microphone (as the Sennheiser K6/ME
>series or AudioTechnica AT3031, AT815b) should (theoretically) be
>less sensitive to humidity as externally polarized microphones.
>
>An additional mic preamp is absolutely not required. Even the
>preamplifier of the MicroTrack is good enough for the hot Sennheiser
>ME66/67 microphone series. I recently prepared some hints on
>microphone/preamp noise myths:
>http://www.avisoft.com/tutorial_mic_recorder.htm
>
>Shotguns are usually held in the hand. Therefore and because such
>directional microphones are very sensitive to even slight handling
>noise, I would strongly recommend a good shock mount or pistole grip
>(eg. Sennheiser MZS 20-1). You should also consider a zeppelin and
>hairy wind cover:
>
>http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheiser/icm_eng.nsf/root/products_microp
>hones_accessories_outdoorprotectionmkh60mkh416
>
>Regards,
>Raimund
>
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