Terence,
I doubt that it's the mic pres that you are hearing. At full gain, the
302's pres have noise below -90 dBFS. (I got this figure by recording
with a resistor across the inputs, and my results are consistent with
the published specs.) I think it's more likely that you're hearing mic
noise or even ambient noise.
My own practice when recording is to always set the levels as high as
possible without danger of clipping. Even if that brings the noise
floor up to an audible level, it is still an advantage in most cases.
When editing, a full scale wave form is easier to work with, and the
level can always be reduced after editing to obtain an acceptable
noise level. After some EQ, it is likely that the levels can be made a
bit higher than you might otherwise set while recording.
Ed
On Mar 19, 2009, at 7:50 AM, biv0uac61 wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> My current setup is a SD302 to a PCM-d50 and using a Sennheiser
> MKH-418s or Rode NT-1. My question is:
>
> When recording quiet ambient landscapes, what would be the best way
> (or your own method) to set the levels for this using the 302s gain
> and fader?
>
> The area is so quiet that it barely registers on the 302 meters and
> if i turn the fader or gain up a bit i start getting noticeable
> noise from the preamps. Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Terence
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