> the fly recording. (i tend to record while backpacking.) my biggest
> problem is that the user interface is pretty terrible. unless you
> leave 'hold' on you'll be knocking buttons while recording. but what
> really bugs me is how the device monitors levels.
You don't say what mics you use. Anyway, set them up in a quiet
environment and find at what level the Microtrack records a clear
increase in background hiss with the mics switched on as opposed to
off, but still plugged in. Set at that and try some street recording.
Unless your mics are unusually good you may find you have enough
headroom to run like that and adjust levels after upload. You are not
losing dynamic range because the mic noise is setting the noise
threshold. It isn't the ideal way to run a cheap recorder as noise is
often not the only low level distortion, but it beats ugly over-
recorded peaks.
Crap metering is one of the downsides of cheap gear. I recorded a log
fire over Xmas with crackling etc with a NH700 HiMD recorder. I lined
up peaking at what I thought was -12dB (half scale on a HiMD). The
crackling of the logs is still waaay overrecorded. This doesn't sound
too bad, but a rematch is in order. The metering does better on most
sounds, but recording up to halfway (-12dBFS on tone) is the way I
usually run this.
Changing one piece of gear for another in a similar price bracket is
a depressing way to burn $$$$ IMO. I found this the hard way - after
my second set of $100 mics I learned why Sennheiser cost $1000 even
on ebay. It might be worth learning to work with the limitations of
your gear rather than switching to something similar which has
probably got different limitations you'll grow to hate...
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