Topic: What Happened?

[tomy01]

I went to see Alice Cooper last night in Orlando - not a bad show!  Anyway this was the first time I used my new CA-11's w/o an battery box with my Sony PCM-10.  Inserted MIC into the MIC slot on the recorder with internal power ON.

I sat in the fourth row center and below is what my settings were.  Basically what happened is distortion on mostly the bass throughout the show - any ideas?

Sony PCM-10

Recording Level - set to manual
Limiter set to ON
LPCM - set to 96/24
Mic - set LOW
DPC - set to OFF
Recording Level - set between 2 and 3
Meter Level - never went over 12db

As a matter of fact the green level meters did not even come on.

[goodcooker]

The plug in power of the M10 did not provide enough juice to the mics. Always use your battery box and run line in at a loud rock show.

EDIT - I don't ever use the limiter. This could be another reason you saw your levels as being fine since the limiter is chopping them all off at whatever it is set to.

[ilduclo]

what he said, plus

1)  make sure your battery is good, too
2) unplug your mics from the battery box when you are not recording

[tomy01]

So the bottom line is - whenever one uses CA-11 microphones at a very LOUD or very SOFT (acoustic) show ALWAYS use a battery box?

[dnsacks]

AND, be sure to do a dry run beforehand -- you should be able to ROUGHLY approximate a loud venue by cranking a stereo and putting the mics right by a speaker -- this should help you confirm you have levels and (if your stereo isn't clipping/distorting) give you SOME confidence about walking out with a recording. 

[nulldogmas]

So the bottom line is - whenever one uses CA-11 microphones at a very LOUD or very SOFT (acoustic) show ALWAYS use a battery box?

Really, I'd always use a battery box for all occasions. At a quieter show you might want to go CA11 > battery box > Mic In, but even then you're going to get better performance with 9v of power. You might get lucky and get a good recording using plugin power in the volume and dynamic range are just right, but why chance it?

[tomy01]

Thanks for the help!

I did use the stereo method but did not "crank" it up loud.  So always plug battery box in the "line In" option?

[goodcooker]

Thanks for the help!

I did use the stereo method but did not "crank" it up loud.  So always plug battery box in the "line In" option?

There is really no one solution here. You have to go out and try it. If it doesn't work you know not to do it again.

Generally for loud music you will almost always want to run line in. For quiet stuff you may find that you need to run mic in to get sufficient levels however you risk overloading the mic input if your source is too loud.

[tomy01]

As far as the "Plug-in Power" - are my assumptions correct:

1) when using an external mic with NO battery box - I should use the "mic-in" slot on the PCM with the Plug-in Power" turned to ON.

2) when using an external mic WITH a battery box - I should use the "lin-in" slot on the PCM with the Plug-in Power turned to OFF.

Thanks

[nulldogmas]

As far as the "Plug-in Power" - are my assumptions correct:

1) when using an external mic with NO battery box - I should use the "mic-in" slot on the PCM with the Plug-in Power" turned to ON.

2) when using an external mic WITH a battery box - I should use the "lin-in" slot on the PCM with the Plug-in Power turned to OFF.

Correct. Though also:

2a) when using an external mic WITH a battery box at a quieter show - you should use the "mic-in" slot on the PCM with the Plug-in Power turned to OFF

Easiest way to remember it: Plug-in power substitutes (poorly) for a battery box, so if you have a box, you don't need PIP.

[beatkilla]

As far as the "Plug-in Power" - are my assumptions correct:

1) when using an external mic with NO battery box - I should use the "mic-in" slot on the PCM with the Plug-in Power" turned to ON.

2) when using an external mic WITH a battery box - I should use the "lin-in" slot on the PCM with the Plug-in Power turned to OFF.

Thanks

There is no PIP on LINE input only MIC input.You would always need a battery box or preamp to use LINE in.