At 7:47 PM +0000 7/1/09, picnet2 wrote:
>Hi,
>I'll chime in here with my "Holiday Mic test" - not intended to be a
>scientific test and wasnt intended for release but I think others
>may find it interesting. - Im just debating which (air) mics to take
>on holiday.
Hi Mike--
re:
>Avoid the H2 if you can its mic-pre's are hiss factories. (i own
>one) - line in is reasonable, LS-10 is a much better choice.
If one is going to use low-noise mics? Your test seems to provide an
example of the importance of this distinction (see below).
>
>Heres a quick test where all mics are normalized to roughly the same
>level. - This may give some indication of a lower noise mic (NT4 at
>around 16 dBA) vs multiple Electrets in a DIY mic costing < 80
>dollars. Its noise figure is perhaps around 18-19dBA. The sphere has
>~13 dB more output than the NT4 under the same conditions.
>
><http://urlme.net/audio/fr2le-nt4-sphere-r09hr-sphere-nt4.mp3>http://urlme=
.net/audio/fr2le-nt4-sphere-r09hr-sphere-nt4.mp3
>
>Not a brilliant time to recording in the garden due to the traffic
>noise - I wanted to get some impression of how the different rigs
>sounded as Ive never tried this combination.
>...
>Recorded Sequence as follows:-
>
>FR2-LE with NT4 from its battery.
>FR2-LE with DIY Sphere Mic (Polyethylene Marine Buoy + 3xEM158
>capsules on each channel) - running via a DIY battery -> XLR box.
>plus me moving around to orient the sphere towards the birds.
>Edirol R09HR with NT4 from its battery -> Mic / PIP OFF / Gain High
>& Max level.
>Edirol R09HR with Sphere via the same battery box.
If performing to the manufacturer's self-noise spec of 16 dB(A)
(which I doubt based on this test ands other comparisons I've made:
http://tinyurl.com/6zhyxx) the NT-4 _should_ be on the cusp of
revealing some input noise difference in the pre performance of the
recorders.
I took the closest matching segments from your four gear combinations
and approximately matched the playback levels:
http://tinyurl.com/kn596f
This "hiss" is fairly well matched in segments 1,2 and 3 suggesting
that these three mics/powering conditions have similar noise
performance that is audible above the recorders' pre noise,...
HOWEVER, what happened to the "hiss" in section #4?
This discrepancy suggests to me the "hiss" in tests 1, 2 and 3 is
environmental and not mic-self noise audible above the pres. (Or
another, yet accounted for change in the results Test 4).
You'll probably need to do such comparisons in a much quieter/more
controlled location and, better yet, use/include your NT-1A's for
reference. Probably best that all of the combos be recorded at max
or close to max gain too. Rob D.
>BR,
>Mike.
>
>--- In
><naturerecordists%40yahoogroups.com>=
m,
>Rob Danielson <> wrote:
>>
>> At 5:36 PM +0000 7/1/09, Tom wrote:
>> > > If one is only going to use noisy mics (as Klas points out), then o=
ne
>> >> can save money and buy an Zoom H2. An LS-10 provides no real
>> >> advantage and still has more input noise than most recordists like
>> >> when they discover the important role mic-self noise can play. :-)
>> >
>> >Having had personal experience of both these recorders I'd have to
>> >say that the LS-10 does have significant advantages over the H2. If
>> >you keep the "Mic Gain" switch in the low range the input noise is
>> >low enough that it doesn't impinge on recordings made with a K6/ME66
>> >with a reasonable degree of ambient sound (wind, birdsong, insects
>> >etc.)
>> >
>> >The H2 on the other hand had a pretty awful mic input which was
>> >significantly noisier than using the built in mics. The only way
>> >you'd want to use the H2 would be with an external mic preamp which
>> >would negate the cost saving over the LS-10!
>> >
>> >These are just subjective observations, and I can't directly compare
>> >the two as I sold the H2 in order to trade up to the LS-10 - if
>> >anyone has the means to directly compare the mic inputs on the two
> > >units I'd be interested to see the results.
>> >
>> >Tom W.
>> ><<http://www.pterodaktyl.co.uk/>http://www.pterodaktyl.co.uk/><http://=
www.pterodaktyl.co.uk/>http://www.pterodaktyl.co.uk/
>> >
>>
>> Hi Tom--
>> Listening for "quality" is inherently "subjective," so such
>> observations are equally, if not ultimately, more important. A
>> technical note to support your observation: An ME-66 mic with
>> ~10dB(A) self-noise _should_ show-up the pre differences in the H2
>> and the LS-10. However, if one plans to use electret mics of the type
>> that Paul asked about (with more than 22dB[A] self-noise) any pre
>> difference would not be audible. This might be an important fact if
>> one knows that one will only use the electret or other noisier mics
> > with the recorder. Rob D.
>>
--
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