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Re: Need help selecting a field recorder and microphones :)

Subject: Re: Need help selecting a field recorder and microphones :)
From: "Rob Danielson" danielson_audio
Date: Mon May 17, 2010 6:50 am ((PDT))
Hi Christian--

This is how I see it: You're spending thousands on a once in a
lifetime trip. You are excited about recordings acoustic nuances of
settings that range from loud to very quiet. The recorder and mics
are $200 under your budget,.. The ~$300 Telinga mics will be a great,
safe investment that will not lose value and I know you'll be glad
you made the investment many years from now. Solder-up a pair of the
WM-61A's for $30 http://tinyurl.com/2fr2p6r or pay $80 for them this
week and hear what you think.

Sorry about throwing the numbers at you. Here's a description about
mic self-noise:
http://tinyurl.com/2ws926p

32dB(A) Noisiest mics
22 dB(A) Average
16 dB(A) almost quiet enough for quiet location
<10 dB(A) lowest self-noise you can get, best.
To convert signal to noise, subtract the S-N number from 94. e.g. the
MM-HLSO specs,"Signal to noise ratio: 65dB, 1khz at 1pa" so,  95-65 =3D
30 dB(A) self-noise.

There's no point in spending a penny more on these smaller mic
options unless you can see they'll give you an improvement in noise
performance. Here's a list of the basic retail repackaging options
for the smaller mics except for Klas' "Clip Ons" which use Primo
EM-172's which are new and not on the list. You can contact Klas at
<>.
http://tinyurl.com/ykdesaj

Soldering steps:
https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/type/www/116/Trek01/BuildingMics/WM-61A_BrookBu=
ildsMics/WM-61A_BrookBuildsMics.html


At 9:52 AM +0000 5/17/10, redteamwins wrote:
>
>  should I get one of those little 9v battery supplies for whatever
>microphone I buy?

No.

>I'm concerned about a car or bus completely overwhelming my
>microphones in somewhat loud street environments. From what I've
>learned, that situation is helped by some kind of "pad" or
>attenuator cable and/or a battery supply giving more power to the
>microphones to avoid clipping. Am I going in the right direction
>here?

Not a worry. Turn the gain down, go to low sensitivity setting if need be.


>At the same time, I wonder if there is some nice place in between
>the Sound Professionals' ~US$80 offering and Telinga's ~US$750+
>offering! Does anyone have anything favorable to say about Core
>Audio's ~US$250 offering? How about products from Microphone
>Madness?:
><http://microphonemadness.com/products/mmhlsomsenmi.htm>http://microphonem=
adness.com/products/mmhlsomsenmi.htm
>I haven't read any real reviews of their products.

>I have heard nothing but good stuff about Sonic Studios' products
>but jeeeeeeeez ... I can't afford those either.

See the doc above. I'd consider these instead for 1/3 cost and same
noise performance.
https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/type/www/audio-reports/Shure-WL183s/index.htm

But 14 dB(A) performance from the Clip-ons at ~$120 more  makes
better sense to me. Rob D.


>So here's my point - maybe Sound Professionals' US$80 products are
>good, but if I can get anything substantially better for ~US250 I'll
>totally do it.
>
>And again - folks - thank you for sharing your advice and expertise.
>I'm sure newbies post in here for this kind of advice all the time
>and yet you have been so patient with me. I can't wait to make some
>recordings for you all to listen to.
>
>-Christian
>
>p.s. Can anyone point me to a good primer on learning what you guys
>are talking about in terms of dB's? I'm trying to learn how to
>distinguish between microphones and I can't decipher all the values.
>I think I have a pretty good idea about what a noise floor is and
>what self-noise is ... but after that I don't really know what to
>look for.




--









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