At 12:31 PM +0000 12/18/08, colinbox wrote:
> With budget recorders like the R-09 you will
>probably be frustrated by the amount of noise ("hiss") produced as you
>inevitably find yourself turning up the mic gain - I know I was! This
>can be minimized in two (or more) ways, one which costs and one which
>doesn't... You can either buy a separate pre-amp to place in the
>signal path between a mic and the recorder, or simply experiment with
>EQ and filtering once the recordings have been copied to your
>computer. There's some great audio-editing freeware available such as
>Audacity which can remove most of the unwanted hiss - without losing
>much of the natural sounds. It's not a perfect solution but will
>hopefully prevent most of the frustration I experienced when I started
>nature recording - on a tight budget... The fact that I'm still using
>the old Edirol R-09 should give you an idea of how tight my budget is!
>I can't advise on the other items as I have no experience with them,
>but I hope this helps.
>
>Happy recording,
>
>Colin B.
>
Hi Colin--
Great explanation concerning the higher gain requirements of nature
recording and some of the drawbacks of built-in mics.
Your story brings back memories of many hours spent trying to remove
hiss from recordings made with my starter AT822 stereo mic with high
self-noise. I learned to discern the unnatural, consistent tone
elements in my recordings experimenting with EQ but my efforts to
remove noise this way proved to be far less effective than using mics
with very low self-noise. Folks investing in a starter kit today can
pick-up low self-noise mics for about $200 each and a "pro quality"
recorder with a very low noise pre for $450. That is thousands less
than I paid for my first comparable recording system. If one is
committed to making recordings in quiet locations that are not
saturated with "hiss," its hard to justify investing in gear that
will under-perform and still cost hundreds of dollars. Another trap
is too much focus on convenience. Extra effort is a good thing. Can
you imagine an artist saying he/she doesn't prime their canvas
because its awkward to do and takes too much time?
For ~ $150USD total, I'd consider buying a used MD or Hi-MD recorder
http://tinyurl.com/3ehlx8 and make 2-3 electret mics and stereo
mounting systems to explore my tastes and ever so important micing
judgements.
http://www.uwm.edu/~type/audio-reports/PanasonicWM-61A_OtherBinauralRigs/WM=
Message: 61A_Webpage_Caps_Mounts.
Subject: html.
For $280 total, one possible upgrade is to invest in Shure WL183
mics: http://www.uwm.edu/~type/audio-reports/Shure-WL183s/index.htm
Rob D.
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