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Re: equipment questions

Subject: Re: equipment questions
From: "mntncougar" mntncougar
Date: Thu Jun 10, 2010 3:53 pm ((PDT))
I was very interested in in your reply, Mitch, since I am also just startin=
g out and looking at the same kind of equipment.  I looked up the Sennheise=
r ME66/K6 combo and noted that it says it comes with an XLR connector. Sinc=
e the LS-10, LS-11 and Sony PCM-M10 don't have XLR connectors, how do you g=
et around this?

Thanks, Don Morgan

--- In  Mitch Hill <> wrote:
>
> Hi June,
>
> I'm here in the USA also in New England...  Welcome to the group.
>
> I've just become involved myself in bird sound recording for the same
> reasons. I want to record bird sounds for identification purposes primari=
ly.
>
> After much research and on the advise of several other nature sound
> recordists, I've purchased an Olympus LS-11 recorder and a Sennheiser
> ME66/K6 microphone and the package works great.  I've started a collectio=
n
> of MP3 files along with my bird photography at:
> http://www.4shared.com/dir/UTASxktL/wildlife.html  Here you can see for
> your self how well this package works.
>
> First, the recorder, there are a number of very good ones available and I=

> narrowed my choice down to the Sony PCM-M10 and the Olympus LS-11 and aft=
er
> much consideration of the two, I chose the Olympus LS-11 for the ergonomi=
cs
> of handling it in the field and that it uses the same SD cards as my came=
ras.
>
> It was a difficult choice to make between the two as the Sony is very
> nearly identical as far as specifications and price are concerned, howeve=
r
> the Sony has one very nice feature that was hard for me to pass up and th=
at
> is its pre-record function.  What this means, it is always listening when=

> you have it ready to record so that when you start the actual recording, =
it
> has saved the previous 5 seconds of sound with which it starts the
> recording.  If you are ready to record, hear a bird, press the button, th=
e
> Sony is five seconds ahead of you so you do not miss the very first part =
of
> the bird's sound...   That was a hard feature to pass on however now that=

> I'm using the LS-11, I'm very happy with it and convinced I made the righ=
t
> choice for me...
>
> As to microphones, this is where you need to spend your money wisely.  A=

> good microphone costs more than what you will invest in a recorder.  The=

> good news is the Olympus LS-11 recorder has very good and sensitive
> microphones as it comes and works quite well as long as you can get
> reasonably close to the bird making the sounds you want to record.  By
> close, I talking 20 to 30 feet or so.  I assume the Sony will do the same=

> from what I have been told.
>
> A problem with using the recorders own microphones for birds is that the=

> recorders mics are pretty much omnidirectional and pick up lots of other=

> noises as well. For good bird sound recordings, a directional microphone =
or
> a parabolic dish is a big help and the most popular types of microphones=

> amongst bird sound recordists are the "shotgun" directional microphones,=

> and the most popular of these is the Sennheiser ME 66/K6 shotgun micropho=
ne
> as I have learned.
>
> I tried a couple other microphones before taking the plunge to buy a
> ME66/K6 and now that I have my own ME66K6, I can verify that all I had be=
en
> told about it for sensitivity is true. It works extremely well and record=
s
> birds out to 100-200 feet or more quite well...  From what I've been told=
,
> a parabolic dish microphone set up will work possibly even better however=

> the size and complications of lugging a dish around simply isn't practica=
l
> or convenient for me.
>
> Once you have sounds in the recorder, for file processing, I have found
> "Audacity" a shareware program, to be very good and easy to use. It will=

> take files in both wav and MP3 format and allow you to edit the file, the=
n
> export it in what ever format you require, the most popular being MP3 sou=
nd
> files.  Audacity is available for the Mac, you can check it out here:
> http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
>
> Good luck with your endeavor and I'm always glad to answer questions and=

> help when I can,
>
> Mitch...
>
>
>
> At 03:18 PM 6/10/2010 -0500, you wrote:
> >I'm a birder in Missouri, USA. I want to be able to record bird calls
> >in the field that are adequate for species identification.   I'd like
> >to be able to share digital files with other birders for
> >identification help.  I use a MacBook, OS X 10.4.  Please make
> >suggestions for recorder and mic and software (if needed), starting
> >with the least expensive items that will do what I want, and not be
> >frustrating for a moderately patient non-techie.
> >
> >June Newman
> >
> >
> >------------------------------------
> >
> >"While a picture is worth a thousand words, a
> >sound is worth a thousand pictures." R. Murray Schafer via Bernie Krause
> >Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
>
>








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