naturerecordists
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: single microphone on two channels with different level

Subject: Re: single microphone on two channels with different level
From: "Paul Ahier" noiseboyssl
Date: Thu Jun 2, 2016 2:21 pm ((PDT))
Hi Gianni,



I wonder if you really need to record two channels.  If you are using a
quality 24-bit recorder the dynamic range of the recorder will far exceed
that of the microphone.  In which case you can just put a 20db pad on the
microphone or reduce the input gain to avoid clipping and increase the
volume of the quiet sections in post.  In fact a 16 bit WAV recorder would
also almost certainly be fine unless you are dealing with HUGE changes in
volume.



If you must record two channels. You will need to split the microphone feed
with a Y splitter and then place an attenuator on one channel, you can buy
these or you could make one with a simple resistor-based voltage divider.
You will need to know the characteristic impedance of the mic and preamp to
calculate the right resistor values (or you could just guess!).  This is on=
e
major advantage of a professional grade recorder such as Sound Devices or
Zaxcom, you can feed one mic input to two channels and adjust channel trim
in software for exactly this kind of work.  Maybe you know someone that
would loan or rent one to you?



What is it you plan on recording?



-Paul



P.s. First post here, thanks for having me!






<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the naturerecordists mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU