Topic: Newbie needs some general advice (specially about pre-amp and/or battery boxes)

[LikeASong]

Hi everyone.

I'm called Sergio, from Spain, 20 years old. It's nice to be here after years of reading you all


I've been listening to live music virtually since I was born. My grandfather is a proffessional musician and I've attended hundreds of shows through the years. I became interested in listening to them only a few years ago (I joined some bootleg-sharing pages like Dimeadozen and the like), and then I started to record some of the shows I attended. I have obtained some almost decent recordings with very basic gear (an old MP3 player with Line In entry, plus a Sony ECM DS70P that was hanging around my house for some time). Although the recordings weren't obviously cristal clear, my audio editing skills saved my ass back then (I used to normalize, noise filter etc). But now I've decided to pass onto the next step, and become a bit more "taper".

I don't want to achieve Super Duper Extra Quality audience recordings  - at all. I just want to have nice mementos of the shows for personal use and occassional sharing with friends, etc.. I'm familiar with lots of audience recordings (specially of U2, my favorite band), and although I don't want to achieve a worldwide-famous-recording, it'd be nice to be a bit more experienced and have a similar listening pleasure of my own recordings!
 In order to become a "taper", I'm going to rescue my dad's old MiniDisk (a Sony MD MZ-R500 or a Sony MD MZ-N510, the one that's better) and maybe buy some other microphone (a Realistic 33 1065, a Sony EC719 or some Olympus). Therefore, I have the recorder, and I have/will have the mic - I need no help on that.


Where I need help is on the battery box that I've read is neccesary to record through the Line In plugin of that minidisc units. I understand the theory (condenser mics get overloaded in very loud conditions and will result in distorted sound, it cannot be helped lowering recording levels, etc etc), but I don't know exactly how to build it (although I've read the famous topic at SonyInsider.com, http://forums.sonyinsider.com/index.php?/topic/14343-how-to-build-a-stereo-microphone-and-battery-box/) and don't have the time/material to do it properly. And I don't want to spend +60$ in a small unit that I surely can buy somewhere for 20$.



Following the basic guide of a newbie, here are my choices and budget  in order to buy/build a battery box:


- I want to do stealth recordings (most of the venues I attend concerts in, don't like tapers - you know the story better than me). I will also occassionally record my rock band's rehearsals. So, the battery box better be small and stealth-friendly 

- My budget is not over 20€ (30$), so I'm obviously aiming for an used battery box - I don't care if it's worn out or brand new, as long as it works and let me record and have fun



If some of you led me on the right direction (some links, maybe? or direct help on how to build one), I'd be very very thankful 



Nice to be here, best regards,


Sergio.

[stevetoney]

Hi Sergio:

I can't help with used, but for a new battery box this is the best/lowest priced units that I know of...

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/category.cgi?item=SP-SPSB-8

or this...

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/category.cgi?item=SP-SPSB-10

Perhaps there are lower price units available, I'm just not aware of them.

Steve

[achalsey]

I believe if you have some idea of what you're doing it is not too hard to make your own.  Others can definitely chime in on that.  (I have no idea about it so I could be wrong.)

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=128591.0

and from that thread:

http://minidisc.org/homemade_mics.html

Also I saw that Church Audio (he is an active member here) makes a battery box for $29 US which seems about your prince range.  He doesn't seem to list it on the retail section here but you can contact him here about it: http://taperssection.com/index.php?action=profile;u=14500

[LikeASong]

Thank you both, I think I've found an interesting mic with an integred battery box so I'm gonna get it for the moment, if it works fine I won't have any need for a suplementary battery box, but if it doesn't, I'll let you know. Thank you so much ;-)

[acidjack]

^^ Just be sure that "interesting mic" is designed to handle high SPL levels (high volume) and is a type that is designed for recording music (look for frequency response that is roughly 20-20,000Hz).  Even if it has those characteristics, it may not be appropriate for recording music.  What mic is it?

[LikeASong]

RadioShack / Realistic 33-1065

http://support.radioshack.com/productinfo/DocumentResults.asp?sku_id=33-1065&Name=PA%20Microphones&Reuse=N

I've read some passionate reviews about this one, and more importantly, I've seen plenty of bootlegs recorded with it, most of them by loud bands like Pantera, Marylin Manson, ACDC... So I assume it's appropiate for music recording, and I assume that it won't distort easily at high volumes. Moreover, I think I got a deal on it for just 18€ (~23$) shipping included.

I'm gonna ask about that speciphic mic on the dedicated Mic section now, I hope someone has some experience with it and maybe they can give me some detailed feedback and/or advices 

Thank you anyway, acidjack!

[sunjan]

^^ Just be sure that "interesting mic" is designed to handle high SPL levels (high volume) and is a type that is designed for recording music (look for frequency response that is roughly 20-20,000Hz). 

Apparently 50-15,000Hz:
http://support.radioshack.com/support_audio/doc47/47730.htm

I was going to say that the Op will miss out on both the bass as well as the high end, but then again he'll be feeding the signal to a legacy MD (lossy) which will filter out the high end anyway. 

If the OP downloaded these gigs and like the sound of that mic, fair enough.
But if you ever feel that you'd want to spend a little bit more on your hobby than $23 to improve your results, welcome back...

[LikeASong]

^^ Just be sure that "interesting mic" is designed to handle high SPL levels (high volume) and is a type that is designed for recording music (look for frequency response that is roughly 20-20,000Hz). 

Apparently 50-15,000Hz:
http://support.radioshack.com/support_audio/doc47/47730.htm

I was going to say that the Op will miss out on both the bass as well as the high end, but then again he'll be feeding the signal to a legacy MD (lossy) which will filter out the high end anyway. 

If the OP downloaded these gigs and like the sound of that mic, fair enough.
But if you ever feel that you'd want to spend a little bit more on your hobby than $23 to improve your results, welcome back...

Thanks for the advice, and for the feedback. Oh, and I love your avatar, one of the things I always wanted to say in this forum


Just for the record, my hobby is attending concerts, not taping them. Taping is just a way to have good mementos of the shows I've attended 

[Church-Audio]

^^ Just be sure that "interesting mic" is designed to handle high SPL levels (high volume) and is a type that is designed for recording music (look for frequency response that is roughly 20-20,000Hz). 

Apparently 50-15,000Hz:
http://support.radioshack.com/support_audio/doc47/47730.htm

I was going to say that the Op will miss out on both the bass as well as the high end, but then again he'll be feeding the signal to a legacy MD (lossy) which will filter out the high end anyway. 

If the OP downloaded these gigs and like the sound of that mic, fair enough.
But if you ever feel that you'd want to spend a little bit more on your hobby than $23 to improve your results, welcome back...

Thanks for the advice, and for the feedback. Oh, and I love your avatar, one of the things I always wanted to say in this forum


Just for the record, my hobby is attending concerts, not taping them. Taping is just a way to have good mementos of the shows I've attended 

Its better to save up to buy something that will work then to waste your money on things that wont. Most of us here have tried the radio shack mic.. And found it disappointing to say the least. You might want to consider checking out some of my gear and some of the other vendors of higher quality gear before you spend any money on something that will NOT do the job.

Chris