I appreciate the advice Allen and Rob and the offer of further
assistance Rob. A nice welcome to the list!
>My guess is that with either the 660 or the 670, a "better" mic
>won't help. The NT4 is nice, but a matched pair of NT-1As might
>be cheaper and better.
>
>Also, I've found that the addon noise reduction tool in
>SoundForge does a wonderful job of removing about 10dB of preamp
>noise with virtually no detectable side effects. I just sample
>the preamp hiss in a silent environment at the planned recording
>level, and use that to prime the noise reduction tool. You can't
>use outdoor "silence" as a noise sample, because it's not
>silence -- it's room tone. You CAN sample noise with the mics
>disconnected, but I think it works a tad better with them in
>circuit.
>
Allen, the NT-1A and 670 combo looks like it will fit my need and
budget- albeit with several hundred dollars of stretch marks on the
wallet for 'fur', stands, a 2GB flash card and possibly a breath
screen. 2 NT1a's will be more flexible and only slightly more expensive
than the nt4 from what I can see.
Sounds like I will need to look into the AT-3032's too. I haven's noted
any references to the use of these with the various marantz models but I
will keep looking.
As far as software noise reduction goes I have been playing with this
feature in Audacity using the samples posted from this list. They
cleaned up okay but with the occasional burbling musical tones emerging
during the process. I appreciate knowing that better is possible by
using a sample from a silent environment that is indoors. The outdoor
silence you call, paradoxically (to me), "room tone"?? I'll have to
google that.
>spls, excessive moisture, etc. Of course, for outdoor recording,
>any big diaphragm will want lots of wind protection (fur, not
>mere foam).
>
>
Rob I will check out all those kits and set-ups. Especially nice to see
car-wash mits reused this way.
As far as the Hi-MDs go, I appreciate the opportunity to get a really
good quality result for within my budget. But... the propietary Sony
audio formats are a killer for me. I use all Linux software and
machines. It would be just too painful for me to go back to Windows.
Even using windows 'dual-boot' is no good as it wrecks the workflow. I
recently attempted to get a Sony device (network walkman) going within
linux by running Sonic Stage in a Windows emulator. That was a
time-consuming failure. No doubt some linux gurus have solved this but
long experience has taught me that duplicating such solutions can be too
time consuming to be worth it.
It is a shame as you seem to have described a kit which would take me a
lot further than I thought possible (in terms of quality) within my
budget. I will do some further research into whether anyone has got the
Hi-MDs going within Linux because I do like the ideas you suggested and
especially the possibility of a walking interview where the interviewer
and subject aren't tied together with cords or by needing to stay in mic
proximity.
For a bit of background: I am being asked to develop audio tours for a
sculpture walk which is being set up in the forest here on a 1.2km
walking trail. I will be interviewing the artists and I am hoping to do
these interviews in the forest. I will also be trying to intercept them
while they are working in-situ and installing their pieces. There is
also the possibility of capturing audio at various community events
where art will be created. The audio tours will include some
story-telling pieces (I have a budget for readers) into which I will
throw some forest "foley effects" - such as the sound of Western Grey
Kangaroos hopping off, cockatoo screeches and the like. And there is
some music being especially commissioned (and profesionally recorded)
which I might also use in the mix. To me the concept of such audio
tours sounds potentially hideous so there lies a challenge.
I don't want to hire the equipment as I have my own use for it in
future. Also the audio tours will be delivered by MP3 players and if we
have the recording equipment in the community we can adapt and change
the tours over time and perhaps do some 'pod-casting' (although I'm not
sure I understand that term 100%).
anyway - thanks again for your help. It sounds like no one is going to
recommend the pmd660 to me - my cheapest option as far as I can see.
Other than the edirol etc. It seems, correct me if I'm wrong, ambient
noise recording with the type of equipment described requires "hot"
mics. These allow the gain controls to be set low enough that pre-amp
noise doesn't become a problem. The stock pmd 660 is reported to have
problems dealing with such hot mics. Whereas the 670 has a bit more
headroom. I have seen it quantified in one place as 3.3V max (for the
660) versus 5.5V (for the 670), but that doesn't mean anything to me
other than that the two models behave differently.
Hopefully the 670 will also cope, using these mics, with recording sound
at a slightly higher level than 'ambient' ie. spoken word in a studio
situation. If you are using the gain set at one Rob, it can still go
down to zero right. I have heard that, beyond that, the internal 'pads'
on the Marantz devices are very noisy.
I will keep at my homework.
thanks again
Graham
>Message 18
> From: "Allen Cobb"
> Date: Wed May 17, 2006 10:25pm(PDT)
>Subject: Re: technology choices for gathering ambient nature noise
>
>Hi Graham,
>
>I'm running a pair of NT-1As into my 670, and the hot signal
>seems a good counterbalance for the 670 preamps. I record a lot
>with the input gain set at 1, and the noise level is pretty
>decent. Obviously, one can do better, but I've also found the
>NT-1As to be very forgiving of weird recording situations, high
>spls, excessive moisture, etc. Of course, for outdoor recording,
>any big diaphragm will want lots of wind protection (fur, not
>mere foam).
>
>I kind of prefer the larger form factor, too, since I'm using
>fairly big mics and XLRs and "serious" cables. The feature set
>on the 670 is nearly perfect for my use, although of course it
>has no sync. I'm not sure how vital sync really is nowadays...
><d,r>
>
>My guess is that with either the 660 or the 670, a "better" mic
>won't help. The NT4 is nice, but a matched pair of NT-1As might
>be cheaper and better.
>
>Also, I've found that the addon noise reduction tool in
>SoundForge does a wonderful job of removing about 10dB of preamp
>noise with virtually no detectable side effects. I just sample
>the preamp hiss in a silent environment at the planned recording
>level, and use that to prime the noise reduction tool. You can't
>use outdoor "silence" as a noise sample, because it's not
>silence -- it's room tone. You CAN sample noise with the mics
>disconnected, but I think it works a tad better with them in
>circuit.
>
>There are several people in the group who are much more expert
>in selecting mics than I -- but I wanted to offer some feedback
>on actual use with the 670.
>
>ac
>
>
>Allen Cobb
>http://timbreproductions.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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