Says some good things about the built-in mic stereo imaging doesn't it?!
Did the hill by the road behind you have quite a bit of relief
compared to the other features? Reflections can usually be traced to
the surfaces that are most vertical with the closer/higher ones being
louder. The temporal and color characteristics of the echo can
reveal shapes of the landforms and vegetation in the mind's eye. In
this case, the possibility of valley straight ahead. When its quiet
(and it must be quiet to detect these qualities) the "tail" of
echoes become masked in the self-noise of the mics or other low level
background sound(s). These are very low sound levels that push the
abilities of the quietest mics and most optimized stereo arrays.
I also enjoy the portrayal of the human in your recording as detected
through the soft, low frequency bumps that are subliminally audible
before you shift the recorder in your grasp and reveal everything.
To put these "valued qualities" into a more realistic frame of
reference, I can hear sounds with my NT2000 mics [ 7dB(A) self noise
] that I simply cannot hear with my naked ears when standing next to
the mics. This doesn't happen with my Shure WL-183's [with 21 dB(A)
self noise] and begins to happen with my MBHO 603's [14dB(A)
self-noise]. I'd guess that the built-in mics on the LS-10 have
around 30 dB(A) self noise. However, if you play LS-10 recordings
soft so the background sound in the room masks the noise (hiss etc)
of the mics, the recording will still portray most of what you heard
on location, accurately. The quieter the mics, the louder one can
playback the recording and still retain the illusion of transparency.
Recording technology has advanced to the point of us acquiring
"bionic ears" as Dan Dugan's partner, Sharon, aptly describes. But
then, one could also observe that low noise gears gives us hearing
more like most other mammals enjoy. Rob D.
At 11:09 AM +0900 7/3/08, Greg Peterson wrote:
>Rob, thanks for the analysis:
>
>At Wed, 2 Jul 2008 13:18:35 -0500, Rob Danielson wrote:
>
>> Great example of the virtues of the recorder and event, Greg!
>>
>> I believe the background at the beginning of the recording is quiet
>> enough to reveal a good deal of the character of the self-noise and
>> color of the built-in mics. As with Vicki's test, the low frequencies
>> are attenuated and there seems to be a lower-mid-range boost. The
>> mics' self-noise is "warm" - spreading under 3K. There seems to be a
>> bit more audible noise in the right mic and (understandably) LF
>> handling noise throughout.
>>
>> Of general interest, Vicki has demonstrated that one can
>> significantly improve the noise performance, stereo imaging and
>> probably the handling noise with Shure WL183 mics ($170 USD) and most
>> likely, Klas's EM-21's or EM-23's.
>>
>> There seems to be a bit more echo coming from the right and from the
>> deep center. Do you happen to recall if that is consistent with the
>> setting? Rob D.
>
>Yes. I was facing a valley. Uphill narrowed quickly on my left and
>wound around behind me a bit, with low hills on the other side.
>Downhill spread out on my right, with rice paddies about 100 meters
>below and a higher mountain either in front or just a little to my
>right. Behind me and a little to my right the hill behind the road
>was pretty close, and it leveled out to the left (up). Right in
>front was a very low hill (1.5-2 meters), and the bird was in a tree
>there, about 15-20 meters from me.
>
>Later I realized that I should have taken a few photos of the scene,
>but I was too exhausted from cycling to think clearly.
>
>I'd like to try WL183s, too. I made a pair, following your
>instructions, and they seem to be a little quieter.
>
>Thanks again.
>
>- Greg
>
>> At 1:02 AM +0900 7/3/08, Greg Peterson wrote:
>> >Here is a 3-minute recording of a Japanese bush warbler (uguisu):
>> >
>>
>> ><<http://www.notredame.ac.jp/~peterson/audio/nature/20080608/20080608-konze1.mp3>http://www.notredame.ac.jp/~peterson/audio/nature/20080608/20080608-konze1.mp3><http://www.notredame.ac.jp/~peterson/audio/nature/20080608/20080608-konze1.mp3>http://www.notredame.ac.jp/~peterson/audio/nature/20080608/20080608-konze1.mp3
> > >
>> >On June 8th I took a bicycle ride up in the hills near my home in
>> >Shiga Prefecture, Japan. I took an Olympus LS-10 in my saddlebag.
>> >As I was struggling up a steep mountain road at about 4 p.m., I
>> >heard this caller, got off my bike, grabbed the LS-10, and started
>> >recording immediately. Wind screens were attached, and settings were
>> >24-bit, 44.1KHz, mic sense high, record level 7, limiter ON. I had
>> >no idea how high to set the input level. It peaked between -7dB and
>> >-6dB, so I could have set it lower with no limiter.
>
>Greg Peterson <<peterson%40notredame.ac.jp>>
>
>
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