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Re: recording rig advice

Subject: Re: recording rig advice
From: "Bruce Wilson" bruceumba
Date: Sun Aug 20, 2006 4:48 pm (PDT)
I use two free mics like you mention. It's true, you have many more options=

for placement and control of the stereo field. But set up and moving them i=
s
a total pain! Also, there are many times I don't want the entire stereo
field. If the source is in one direction, the (relatively) narrow field of=

the MS setup helps isolate the sound of interest. True, sometimes I'll use=

Blumlein or XY to get an entire room (or canyon, or cavern), or ORTF when I=

want a 180 degree soundscape, but when I want one sound it's always MS.

So I go for two separate mics because I rarely want just a single sound. My=

recording mirrors my photography-I shoot rocks and trees, and I listen to
rocks and trees, things which tend to still be there in the five minutes it=

takes to set up. The many who try for animals and birds are FAR better off=

with a portable, fast-in-the-field MS set.

Bruce Wilson KF7K
http://science.uvsc.edu/wilson

On Aug 20, 2006, at 11:58 AM, evs wrote:

 i=B4m not a so big fan of MS. maybe i=B4m not
> experienced enough, but i got a few reasons:
> i find other stereo recordings are more easy to handle (other wise i
> got to have the ms plugin in sound miner on... well, its not soo
> hard;-)),
> but its maybe just a thing i have to get used to.
> the other thing about ms, is that i thought is that the recordings
> are not so wide like A B Stereo, which is beside ortf another way i
> would do with two cardioids.
> also i thought that with two "free" microphones you are more flexibel
> in doing different stereo recordings (ortf, ab, xy...) which is a
> plus...
> when i did some ms recordings, (which is a while ago,) they never
> sounded as wide as a AB recording.
>
> on the other hand you can tweak the ms signal if it should be wide or
> not so wide. and you have it both in one suspension. thats a plus for
> MS. hm. a lot to think about.
>
> right at the moment i have a mkh 416 here. theres a option that i can
> have it cheaply. but i guess the mkh 40 or 50 is way better, and less
> noisy?
> or is the combination mkh 416 / mkh 30 also a good way?
>
> i just was on the web site from walter kanpp (http://
> frogrecordist.home.mindspring.com/docs/samples.html) and the
> combination mkh 60/mkh 30 sounded for me much better than the mkh 40/
> mkh 30 combination. i guess the mkh 50/ mkh 30 combination sounds
> more like the 60/30 than the 40/30...? the mkh 80/mkh80 combination
> sounds the best. oh my good. but thats too much money right at the
> moment. but this is sounding incredible!
>
> maybe there is another mic option which are as silent as the
> sennheiser? maybe a little more cheaper that them?:-) anyone any
> ideas?
>
> opinions more than welcome!
> evs
>
> Am 20.08.2006 um 19:38 schrieb Tim Nielsen:
>
> > Welcome to the group.
> >
> > Get the 722. The mic preamps are absolutely superb, among the
> > quietest I've ever heard. I had previously used a Grace Design
> > Lunatec V2, considered probably the best portable preamp ever made,
> > and the 722's preamps were close enough to that, I have never used
> > the V2 again. The 722's preamps are quite transparent, and very very
> > quiet.
> >
> > As for mics, I recently did a test between my Schoeps MS rig, and a
> > friend's Neumann MS rig, using the KM100 series mics. What we found
> > was that they were sonically so similar, that they could be intercut
> > with almost no difference. So I think between them, it's just
> > preference. The Neumann's are slightly cheaper.
> >
> > But I would strongly suggest you consider an MS rig using the
> > Sennheiser MKH series. They're noticeably quieter than the
> Schoeps or
> > Neumanns. If you're really trying to record gentle wind in leaves,
> > the Neumann's and Schoep's noise of the mic is very possibly
> going to
> > be audible. The Sennheisers are much quieter. I think the Schoeps
> > sound has more 'character' than the Sennheisers, but the Senns are
> > amazing mics. As others have and will point out, incredibly rugged,
> > nearly immune to humidity problems that may or may not plague
> Schoeps
> > and Neumanns (depending on who you ask).
> >
> > Also, if you haven't recorded in MS, I think you'd find the stereo
> > image excellent, and at least as good as ORTF, especially when using
> > good mics.
> >
> > So my suggestion:
> >
> > 722 Recorder
> > Sennheiser MS combo of either MKH30/MKH40 or MKH30/MKH50
> >
> > On Aug 20, 2006, at 7:12 AM, evs wrote:
> >
> > > hello everyone,
> > > i=B4m new to this great group, this is my first posting, but i read
> > > some postings on the website and did some searchings there,
> > > but now i have a question, some need for advice...:-)
> > > i=B4m planning to build my own recording rig.
> > > i will record mainly ambient. like very quiet wind, air, wind in
> > > leaves and so on, but my goal is to record quiet sounds, as i=B4m
> > > missing those things and because i love them.
> > > (and because i need them for my work. i=B4m into post production in
> > > film)
> > > for that i think i need good equipment which will give me results
> > > without (much) noise...
> > > i thought about the sound devices 722 or the fostex fr-2.
> > > i like the 722, i allready had it in my hands and it feels well
> > build
> > > and strong and its handy, which is important to me. and i=B4ve heard
> > > just good things about the mic pre amps.
> > > the fostex fr-2 looks (on pictures) not so handy, but i=B4ve read
> > > somewehere in the internet that the mic pre amps and a/d
> converters
> > > are as good as the 722. and the fostex cost a 1000,-euro less...
> > > anyone compared this too recorders against each other? which
> got the
> > > better sound quality? any advice which would you take?
> > >
> > > coming to microphones, i=B4m thinking of buying a couple of
> neumann KM
> > > 184. cardioid is fine for me because i like to record most of the
> > > times in ORTF.
> > > the shoeps mics are more expensive and as far as i know its a
> matter
> > > of taste if you prefer shoeps or neumann.
> > > beside from that there are some cheap mics like the oktava MK-012,
> > > but i think maybe they will have a little bit too much noise
> for my
> > > application and would not be so perfect for recording subtle
> > sounds...
> > > is this right? what would you advice me to buy? maybe you have an
> > > option where i did not even think about!
> > > any advice is welcome!
> > > all the best
> > > evs
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>






"Microphones are not ears,
Loudspeakers are not birds,
A listening room is not nature."
Klas Strandberg
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