Topic: Advice for a (old) newbie

[in2blues]

Been recording, mostly open for over 20 years but last few years have up graded from cassette to minidisc and I now have Sony PCM  D-50 card recorder and set of church ca-11's and ca-14 mics.  Also have Sony ECM MS907 stereo mic.
1. Is there any reason why I should be using battery box with Church mics.? I have used without and mics. sound great.
2. When I talk to other tapers they speak out fixing the recording by compressing it ? Can anyone tell me what that means and how to do?
Thanks for any feedback

[Scooter123]

For loud concerts, you will need the BB. 

Compressing the sound means compressing the dynamic range.  An extreme example are television ads, in which the volume for everything is the same, no extreme highs and lows.  A typical concert which have extreme wide variation in dynamic range, and other than jumping up every 30 sec to adjust the volume, one trick is to compress the highs and lows.  I like to use it, but only slightly.

When you get a wave editor, you'll see.  D/L a two minute concert and see the wave form with and without compression.  Then hear the difference.  The television add will look like a 2x4 instead of having a broad zig zag pattern.

[fmaderjr]

Is there any reason why I should be using battery box with Church mics.? I have used without and mics. sound great.

As scooter said you definitely need the box for loud shows. I believe Chris Church posted that the CA-11's need 4 volts for optimum performance and the CA-14's require 5 volts. I don't think the D50 provides that much, so to be safe I would use the box at all times (it's very small after all). However it's probable that you wouldn't run into performance problems when recording shows that are not too loud. I just wouldn't want to guess wrong and ruin a recording that could have been saved by using the box.

And don't ever use that MS907 now that you have the Church mics. All of then blow it away. The 907 has terrible bass response (it was my first mic).

[Belexes]

Consider the CA9100 if you tape quiet stuff and need a gain boost.  I own the D50 and CA-14's and always run the 9100 or a BB for the loud shows just to be on the safe side.

[in2blues]

Thanks!, I'll use the bat. box with the church mics and avoid the sony mics.

[dorrcoq]

Gotta like a guy who is "in2blues"

Drop by the blues team in the TEAM section and say hello.

[dgale]

I have to wonder if by compression his friends are referring to lossless compression (i.e. WAV>FLAC) and not compression of the dynamic range.

[chrisnubar]

so....what about those 20-year-old cassettes???

[setboy]

I have to wonder if by compression his friends are referring to lossless compression (i.e. WAV>FLAC) and not compression of the dynamic range.

i thought thats what he was talking about

[in2blues]

The 20 year old cassettes are slowly being transferred to CD & some  DVD's. I have a few hundred of them on CD, but they are not the quality of today's recordings. Most done with Sony D3? Cassette recorder and various mics., some Sbd stuff. Those old Blues guys rarely said no to taping. I always had a copy for them next time I saw them so they got to know me. Most of the ones that are still alive are still  cool.
Had a bad experience with trading but I'm warming up to the idea again.

[Scooter123]

I taped probably 100 concerts with a stupid Sony TC126 and they are great recordings.  I've made worse with my Schoeps mk4s, seriously.  I took off two summers and worked for Showco in the early 70's--Clapton and the ABB mainly.  So many were FOB audience jobs.   

My list is at
http://db.etree.org/mylibbydog
Anything on it is yours. 

[setboy]

Had a bad experience with trading but I'm warming up to the idea again.

if you just trade with other tapers the chances of being burned go way down

[dorrcoq]

Had a bad experience with trading but I'm warming up to the idea again.

if you just trade with other tapers the chances of being burned go way down

QFT

[fmaderjr]

Learn how to use bittorrent and you don't even need to trade much or at all. Tons of great live stuff is posted on various web sites.