Topic: help needed in reading rane.com page

[carpa]

I'd like to ask to some of you experts some help. I've visited this page http://www.avisoft.com/recordertests.htm
I confess I didn't understand that much, expecially for what concerns the different noise level related to input gain; it seems that with low gain there is more noise than with high gain. Of course I didn't understand...

Anyway, what interests me is a comparison with http://www.rane.com/note148.html , in which there is a table to help microphone choice to couple with preamp input. It seems that the more sensitivity and spl  a mic has, the easier  to clip the mic preamp.

Could you explain me, in order to choose a mic for an Edirol R09Hr, which is a right "limit" of mic sensitivity and spl to avoid clipping?
I thought, but I must be wrong, that a hotter mike was better in order to reduce noise due to using a lower gain, but if there is a risk to overload the input the thig is totally different....
I.e., it seems that a Rode nt4 (or similar with good spl and sensitivity about 12mV) shouldn't be a good choice. I don't know, then, if setting the mic input gain on Low could help or it should be necessary to have an attenuator on the mic.

I am a bit confused...can you give me some explanation please?
c

[sunjan]

It's an interesting exercise, but I wouldn't rely on it when selecting a mic IRL.
You should also be aware that the website you mention focus on recording ambient and animal sounds, which requires totally different characteristic of the mics.

If you're looking for a mic to your R-09HR, just post a question specifying usage (stealth/open, loud music/acoustic/animals, caps needed?), and you'll get more relevant answers, and the folks will tell you which mics that don't overload your gear.

Don't sweat it with all those tables and numbers - leave it to guys like Dsatz!