I think we can get so involved with what is our own 'niche market' we
lose sight somewhat of what a lot of these recorders / equipment is
intended for.
Most of these recorders are not designed for nature recording they
are aimed at a completely different market. A market who probably do
not notice many of the 'faults' we find with these machines.
If we all had the money we may go out there and buy ourselves a Sound
Devices unit, a couple of Sennheiser MKH microphones and a Windpac
and have done with it. Unfortunately we have not all won the lottery
and have to use semi-pro or even domestic equipment. Plus we
manufacture things ourselves to save money or tailor items to our own
specific needs.
I for instance use a Sony MZ-NH900 which I bought off ebay, I think
it is amazing that something so small packs so many features. So OK I
have to keep selecting manual record level each time I go into
record, and yes it's a pain as I have to wear glasses to read the
display. But it produces amazing results none the less and it is what
I can afford.
When recording with it, once gain is set, I put it into my pocket to
stop any extraneous noise. It's mic amp coupled with my second hand
K6/ME66, also from ebay, can produce some very low noise recordings.
OK the K6/ME66 may not be in a Windpac but my 'cheap' Rycote Softie
does a good job.
I am currently wiring up small electret capsules in order to produce
for myself a 'stereo pair' of mics which I can use to record
ambience's with. OK they will not be a match for a pair of Sennheiser
MKH's but they will cost pence as opposed to several months salary!
So yes there is a lot of unsuitable equipment out there, but we
either pay the big bucks or make do it seems to me. As I can't afford
otherwise I make do and still amaze myself with what one can achieve
with such 'domestic' equipment. Especially as I work with some of the
most expensive sound equipment for my day job.
Phil
--- In Klas Strandberg
<> wrote:
>
> Okay, suppose the new firmware will solve the whining sound.
> Suppose the balanced input and the phantom power is okay.
>
> Then, still:
>
> To adjust the recording level you have to
>
> 1/ click the menu button once,
> 2/ select "level" with the toggle switch,
> 3/ use the toggle switch to select which channel you want to adjust
> and press the toggle switch,
> 4/ adjust the level with the toggle switch and press it again,
> 5/ then select the next channel, with the toggle switch, press it,
> and set the level with it.
> 6/ finally click the menu button twice.
>
> With good eyes and not holding a mic or parabol, I think it is
> possible to do this in perhaps 45 sec to a minute. The display is
> very small, with small letters and numbers. What a near sighted
> person can do except changing glasses, I don't know. What the
display
> looks like in sunshine, I don't know either.
>
> And - Anders - I still don't find any instructions how to link the
> two channels together.....
> They are only linked when the internal mic's are used.
> Or is that changed with the new firmware?
> Does the new firmware also include a shortcut to the level setting?
>
> Of course one can argue that one doesn't need to set the recording
> level so many times, during a normal excursion. That the dynamic
> range is good enough anyway. But when using a parabol you often
need to.
> With the Edirol and the MT24/96 you just press a + / - button to do
> the same thing.
>
> Try to understand, Anders, why I am upset about those things: Only
> four years ago, almost all recorders were just fine! I argued on
this
> list that that mic preamps were not needed, as most recorder inputs
> were good enough! Then, for reasons which has nothing to do with
> sound quality, it all changes to the worse! Take the Edirol R09 -
> there is NO "quality" reason why the mic input should be that bad!
It
> is not difficult to design a good enough mic input! There was
nothing
> wrong with the Edirol R-01!
>
>
> Klas.
>
>
>
>
> At 00:24 2007-01-13, you wrote:
> > > Hej Anders och v=E4lkommen till listan! (Swedish)
> >
> >tack! (swedish)
> >
> > >
> > > You are right - releasing a million (??) recorders with "a
whining
> > > sound" is not a joke, it's an insult.
> >
> >i had to download a new firmware to my philips (610) dvd-recorder i
> >bought, as it made *awful noise* when playing dvd's. that's an
insult
> >too.
> >
> >i am not saying that zoom h4 is perfect. it has disadvantvages. you
> >have to cope with that. but you still have to name the perfect
> >recording equipment that everyone praise and no one saying: 'don't
buy
> >that', 'the preamp sucks', 'lousy specs', 'internal mics are
bad', 'my
> >thumb is too thick for the buttons', 'bad interface', 'old
technology
> >and low resolutions', 'can't transfer files to my computer', 'not
worth
> >the heavy price tag', 'doesn't support this i/o and that
i/o '...and so
> >on
> >
> > > I would have accepted it if I had found a note on red paper
with the
> > > manual: "This product will not work properly unless you
download the
> > > newest firmware", but there was no such note in my package.
> >
> >no note in my package of my philips (610) dvd-recorder either
> >
> > > I didn't
> > > know there was a new firmware to solve this problem and neither
did
> > > JAM, the biggest dealer in Sweden, from which I bought it. They
> > > didn't even know about the error.
> > > I will download and hope it solves the problem.
> > >
> > > But how to connect two channels into stereo, setting the gain on
> > > both, simultaneously?
> > > I have read the manual, but....
> >
> >see page 31 and further on
> >
> >/anders
> >
> >http://wwww.andersostberg.net
> >
> >
> >"Microphones are not ears,
> >Loudspeakers are not birds,
> >A listening room is not nature."
> >Klas Strandberg
> >Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
>
> Telinga Microphones, Botarbo,
> S-748 96 Tobo, Sweden.
> Phone & fax int + 295 310 01
> email:
> website: www.telinga.com
>
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