Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (
More info?)
Kayte wrote:
>
>> It might be nice to have a good stereo pair for recording music or
>> special ambiance conditions, but for that I'd look to something like the
>> Josephson C42 (under $1000 for a matched pair, very durable, and quite
>> transparent.)
>
> I'll look at those. We'll never be recording music, but if there are
> more than 3 people being interviewed at one time it would probably be
> better to do stereo micing.
Depends on the arrangement of the interviewees and the room they are in.
Four lavs into a mixer is not uncommon, but you might want to consider
a hypercardioid on a boom or even a plant mic on the table in the middle.
>>>> The preamps in the MicroTrack should be more than adequate for this
>>>> task, and it provides phantom power. Adding an external preamp
>>>> dramatically increases your cost and increases the probability that an
>>>> inexperienced field recordist will botch things up.
>>>
>>> Well... I agree with you. The professor I showed the microtrack info
>>> to said "I understand the key here is preamps. We need external
>>> preamps." He didn't really let me say another word after that, he just
>>> added external preamps to my list...It stinks, but that's what they
>>> want, and what they want they shall get.
>>
>>
>> If you can, ask him why (given the ambient noise level and application)
>> external preamps?
>>
>> If he really insists on top-notch preamps, why not drop the MicroTrack
>> and get a Sound Devices 722? Excellent preamps and a state of the art
>> recorder in one easy to use package.
>> <http
/sounddevices.com/products/722.htm>
>
>
> I printed out that information, but I'm going to guess that they'll say
> that is too expensive for students to use.
It's $2600 as I recall. By the time you buy the Grace and the
MicroTrack and the external battery pack and the cables and the charger,
you're going to be close to that. You could also look at the Edirol
R-4, which has four channels with preamps and could handle larger
groups. $1500 or less as I recall.
> Perhaps I should try to talk them more toward a Marantz unit.
For basic interviews, even a PMD660 will be quite sufficient. If there
are occasional events which require exceptional recording quality, buy
one really good setup and use it for those.
>>>>> We need a 2 channel compressor/limiter ... which is just to
>>>>> keep the source below 0dB before the ADC stage.
>>>>
>>>> Why not record uncompressed, and muck with the dynamics later in software?
>>>
>>>
>>> the c/l is for analog sources before they're sent into the computer.
>>> ... digitisation of library tapes.
>>
>> Am I reading this correctly? You want to compress the analog tape
>> before you digitize it?
>
>
> Hmm.. I'm not sure what's wrong with this?
It's certainly not what any of us would do for an archival transfer.
> We need to limit to below 0dB before we digitize or it will clip.
> Right now there is a behringer compressor/limiter in the signal path
> before the adc's. If it wasn't there we would have to ride the gain
> during capture and that would be really sloppy and bad.
Just set the levels correctly and leave them alone. There's over 90 dB
of dynamic range on almost any interface these days (116 dB with the
Lynx L22!) and the best you're ever going to see off tape is a mere
fraction of that. If you have problems with level control, they can be
addressed easily in software, and you get the chance to go back and do
them over as many times as needed -- much faster than realtime. Less
wear on the tape.
BTW, are you doing regular alignments and cleanings on your tape machines?
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