The ability to "plant" 3 recorders on 3 people
for 7 hour stints $700USD and at a media cost of
$15USD/day and still have $1300 USD to spend on a
nice ambience rig would have me thinking that
solving the pc/mac "boot problem" is easy. Check
the HiMD forum link on the page for linux
solutions, you never know. I bought a 233MHz $100
laptop running SS version 3.2 that I use just
for uploading. Sounds like a fun project there.
By golly, the outdoors is a large, complex room.
Have fun getting people turned onto sound. Rob D.
>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).
>>=A0
>>
>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.=A0
>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.=A0
>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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>=A0
>>
>
>
>
>
>
>"Microphones are not ears,
>Loudspeakers are not birds,
>A listening room is not nature."
>Klas Strandberg
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
--
Rob Danielson
Peck School of the Arts
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
http://www.uwm.edu/~type/audio-art-tech-gallery/
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