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Re: Yet another beginner gear question

Subject: Re: Yet another beginner gear question
From: "Philip Tyler" macmang4125
Date: Sat Apr 14, 2007 1:46 am ((PDT))
Hi Paul

Take a look here:

http://www.wildlife-sound.org/equipment/himd/rh1.html

This is a review of the MZ RH1

And here:

http://www.wildlife-sound.org/equipment/himd/himdmyths_meas.html

This looks at the noise performance in greater detail.

As regards microphones there are quite a few 'bird song recorders' out ther=
e who use 'shotgun-mics' and in particular the Sennheiser K6/ME66, as this =
has low self noise and a high output, plus it can be battery powered which =
makes for a neat set up for field use.

I recently purchased The Birds of Brazil recorded by Peter Boesman, I think=
 virtually all his recordings were made with a K6/ME66, they are great reco=
rdings.

I would suggest having a look on ebay, I managed to pick up two K6/ME66's f=
or the price of one! I bought them at different times you just need to keep=
 an eye out and keep doing a search for K6/ME66.

Initially you can get away with hand-holding the K6/ME66, but if you have s=
ome 'foam pipe lagging' put some of that around the barrel of the mic and i=
t really cuts down the handling noise. You will need a windshield as on any=
thing but the stillest of days the wind will effect the microphone. There a=
re some DIY versions you can make, there was one recently that used a fitre=
 cartridge which looked quite good. Rycote make 'Softies' which are not too=
 expensive. For a shock mount Rode make some for the NTG mics which will fi=
t the K6/ME66 and cost a lot less than the dedicated Rycote one, you will n=
eed to DIY a handle. Rode also make a 'dead cat' windshiled for the NTG whi=
ch might even fit the ME66 and is again cheaper than the Rycote, just check=
 the diameters of the mics first and that they are the same.

Regards

Phil


----- Original Message ----
From: Paul Jacobson <>
To: 
Sent: Friday, 13 April, 2007 11:44:12 PM
Subject: [Nature Recordists] Yet another beginner gear question

Hi All,

I'm looking at buying a fairly cheap setup to get started in nature
recording. I'm mainly interested in recording bird calls for purposes
of making sonograms and id purposes. I know that further down the
track I'll probably do some ambient/soundscape recording.

I've read as much as I can of the list archives and various nature
recording websites so hopefully I'm on the correct track with this
selection.

I should be able to stretch the budget to a Sony MZ-RH1, but having
seen the various discussions about motor noise and pre-amp noise I
wondering if this is the best choice at the price? Or should I be
looking at some of the NH-*00 units or a PMD-650? I've also
considered picking up a sony portable DAT unit, say a TCD-D100 or I
could probably stretch to a PCM-M1. My concern with the DAT units is
that they are getting old, and I'd need to source a digital cable and
a spdif->usb convertor to allow digital transfers.

Is it worth putting a mic preamp in front of any of these portables?
I was considering building something like this INA217 based preamp
and phantom power supply:

http://www.celestia l.com.au/ %7Erosswood/ diy/dualmicpre/ dualmicpre. htm

My budget won't stretch to the widely recommended k6/me6* mics (well
I could but would't be able to buy a recorder!!), so I'm looking at
something like an NTG-1, NTG-2, AT897 or MKE300, plus shock mount and
wind protection. I have read that a parabolic dish would be better
for what I have in mind but I need to take the setup on bushwalks, so
I suspect a shotgun is going to be more practical. At this stage I'm
leaning towards the NTG-2, as it seems to deliver good performance vs
dollars but would welcome any advice.

cheers
Paul




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