Hi everybody!
I just wanted to update you all. I went ahead and bought a Sony PCM-M10 - =
it's beautiful, graceful, and just generally wonderful.
Rob, after your nudging, I followed your advice and did the right thing and=
soldered up a pair of WM-61A's that I bought from Digi-Key (I've got 8 mor=
e that I've got to figure out what to do with :). Thank you for those inst=
ructions! I got an old pair of Sony walkman headphones (right angle plug!)=
, desoldered the little baby speakers, and soldered the ends of the wires t=
o the microphone capsules. I shrink-wrapped each capsule, put a non-shrink=
wrapped sleeve on the end so that it will all mount on my eyeglasses, and =
put some foam at the end with a rubber band for crude wind protection. Bui=
lding mics like this is probably routine to you badasses but I felt pretty =
proud of myself when it was all done.
I made a recording this past weekend on a beach near Rosarito, Mexico cover=
ed in small rounded stones. During high tide, the waves crash on the stone=
s - as the water recedes the stones roll and collide and make a wonderful s=
ound. I was sitting on the rocks higher up on the shore and the water was =
about two feet away from my feet when big waves came.
My friend took a photo of these stones years ago:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidg/30181933/
I have posted a recording of these waves here:
http://soundcloud.com/redteam/mexico-rocky-waves-96-24
(file currently uploading - it should be up about 35min after this message =
is posted)
The microphones sounded pretty good until my ears tuned in to the hiss. Th=
is was rather soul-crushing as it's something that's hard to un-hear. Also,=
many of the sounds have a rather hollow quality - as if the mics were moun=
ted at the bottom of two plastic cups. There were actually mounted with on=
ly foam windscreens at the front of my eyeglasses. Regardless, this record=
ing is the achievement of a dream I've had for at least 8 years and you all=
helped me get there. Thank you all.
Now I'm considering buying the Telinga Clip-Ons for my trip to Europe that =
begins in a couple of weeks. I haven't really been able to get much inform=
ation about them from Telinga. I think they're actually too big to be disc=
reet with in public, but some of you say such nice things about Telinga tha=
t I'm willing to give them a shot despite their size - I really need higher=
quality mics. Anyone have pictures of these microphones? Any specs?
Thanks again, folks!
-Christian
--- In Rob Danielson <> wrote:
>
> 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_Brook=
BuildsMics/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://microphon=
emadness.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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