Hi Dave and welcome to the list--
I'll try to lay-out some references for you. A "quiet" yoga studio in
the country and typical remote natural settings have similar
background sound levels. Low-noise recordings of soft sounds in such
settings pushes the capabilities of sound technology to its limits.
One needs a very low noise mic preamp and mics with very low
self-noise and high sensitivity. The RH-1's mic pres are within the
realm of what most would consider low-noise, the mics should have
self-noise rating of 10 dB(A) or less and (all?) of these mics
require phantom powering.
How much noisier (hissy) will other options like the 183's sound? To
my ears, quite a bit. To get an idea, take a listen to the below
video that uses Rode NT1-A mics -> Rolls PB224-> HiMD as a reference
and includes WL-183 -> Hi-MD
http://www.uwm.edu/~type/audio-art-tech-gallery/pages/page_38.html
Whether the noise performance difference merits the additional gear
investment is entirely up to your budget and ears. If you are happy
with your MS907, you should be happy with the WL-183's.
To clarify the use of the exploratory chart I made:
http://ad2004.hku.nl/naturesound/RobD/Table3_RaneNotes148_-124dBU.gif
The mics in the pink area should detract from the noise performance
of the Hi-MD recorder _when high gain is used_. This last phrase is
an important qualifier. Nearly all mics will have very good noise
performance when close-micing robust sounds like voice and musical
instruments.
In the realm of audio production, recording soft sounds in quiet
settings is a rare, some would suggest, crazy objective. There happen
to be some obsessives on this list, but the practices need to be
understood as exceptional. Recordists who focus primarily on animal
vocalizations are very happy with mics that have 16dB(A) and
considerably higher self-noise. Low noise demand increases when
attention shifts from recording foreground calls to the setting-- to
what some call "ambience." Rob D.
=3D =3D =3D
At 4:07 AM +0000 1/5/09, Dave Brocklebank wrote:
>Hello,
>I have just joined this group and would like to introduce myself.
>
>I am a yoga teacher from Ireland, and own a Sony minidisc MZ-RH1 which
>i have used in the past to record my yoga classes and burned onto CD
>for my students.
>
>So far i have only used a Sony ECM MS907 placed in a Mic stand about
>10 inches from my mouth, and have recorded in a very quiet
>environment. And have been amazed at the really good quality with
>minimal or no self noise.
>
>I have just spotted a chart which probably explains why the MS907
>works so well with the RH1, but i don't understanbd it yet ;-)
>
>Chart of compabable mics for RH1 by Rob Danielson
><http://ad2004.hku.nl/naturesound/RobD/Table3_RaneNotes148_-124dBU.gif>htt=
p://ad2004.hku.nl/naturesound/RobD/Table3_RaneNotes148_-124dBU.gif
>
>My current areas of interest and motivation in joing this group is
>that I am now hoping to find a mic i can attach to my t-shirt when
>teaching a class and feed into the RH1 minidisc.
>
>Needs to have minimal self noise, and this is what led me to your forum.
>
>There are many pauses and periods of complete silence during a typical
>teaching of a gentle yoga or meditation class. Any Lavaliers i have
>used previously have quite bad hiss or self noise and when i use noise
>removal in Audition, it either affects the voice, or does not remove
>the hiss sufficiently to what i would like.
>
>And i am hoping the frequency response will be reasonaly flat to
>achieve a 'life-like' recording.
>
>Now considering a stereo setup using two Shure WL183 mics.
>
>I am also looking for a larger mic which will give improvements in
>quality over the ECM907, and am considering a Rode NT1-A or an AT2035.
>Hopefully to find a mic which can record very good human voice in a
>quiet environemnt, but also one which could be used outdoors in
>Nature. Again to be used with RH1 either with or without a portable
>phantom power supply.
>
>An other area i would really like to record is the surrounding nature
>where i live. This would include bird song, streams, waves breaking,
>small waves lapping on the beach.
>
>So i have enjoyed reading about parabola mic setups, the apparently
>amazing Telinga mic, and self noise, good phantom power supply which
>won't introduce noise, and much more.
>
>I am only learning about the downfalls of Auto Recording levels, and
>Automatic Mic Gain, and am hoping that much of the hiss i heard
>previously was due to these settings. I am on holidays and don't have
>my RH1 to check or experiment with.
>
>I use Adobe Audition 1.0 (upgraded from the old Cool Edit), but
>consider myself a beginner as i have only used very few functions
>within this tool.
>
>Looking forward to learning more, and thanks for the help i have
>received so far.
>
>Best Wishes,
>Dave
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