Wow! Thanks a ton for the help and replies everyone! I really appreciate the help, advice and feedback.
You should browse this sit for a while, you'll really learn a lot. Most of your questions have hotly debated answers; but everything depends on where and what you are recording.
I'm looking forward to reaing more. I just found this site via Google the other day (it was first to pop up for the search terms I was looking for).
I didn't even think to say what I'll be recording! Sorry about that omission.
Here's my deal: For one of my hobbies, I like to take pics (mostly HDRI on a tripod); as of the last 3+ years since having my binaural mics, I also like to record the surroundings as I take pics. On top of HDRI, I'm also into using my 3D camera to get 3d pics of scenes, and then turn them into wigglegrams later (for web consumption) and I'll also post the 3d audio of the photo outing. Long story short, I have a passion for recording my surroundings. Usually these surroundings are outdoor ambient noises; maybe places with passing automobiles or parks with people passing by. Other scenarios might include vacations where I visit, for example, Chinatown in S.F.; on one occasion I recorded 40 minutes of my wife's family and I eating at a packed dim sum restaurant. During that same trip, I also recorded visits to Alcatraz and tourist attractions along the piers (imagine sounds of boat horns, people, trolly cars ...).
I hope that helps to better explain better how I use my mics.
Those Sennheiser caps already look pretty high-end. I'm surprised they don't list a signal-to-noise ratio among the specs--it may be in a format I don't understand. But one thing that is interesting is that they claim to handle 142db--which is LOUD, much louder than the other binaurals on the Mic Madness or bhphotovideo.com sites.
That sounds like good news! I ended up buying the more expensive kind because I wanted to make sure I was getting good quality. Though, as you can probably tell, I'm not so keen on all of the technical details.
You might want to post on the Microphones board, with some info on your budget and what you are recording: nature sounds? street sounds? acoustic guitar jams? jets taking off? There are some real experts here.
I'll check that board out! Thanks for tips! Again, I like to record my photo shoots, like when I'm on vacation to places like S.F. or Hawaii. When on vacation, I have a tendency to get out and record my whole day of pic taking. During that time, I'm usually in many different environments (some loud, others not).
He can't upgrade the mics as he is already using the best there is. He said that he was using the version that was based on the Sennheiser MKE2 capsule and this is about the best you can get in miniature microphone capsules. The MKE 2 is based on the KE4-211 capsule which Sennheiser used for their own Dummy Head microphone. It was also used by Sennheiser for their (now discontinued) boundary mic. and is also used as the capsule for a well-respected class-1 measurement microphone. I would agree with you if he was using some cheap mics, but he is already using the best available in-ear binaural mics you can get.
That's great news! I mean, $250 was around what I spent. I don't think I could afford anything more that $500 for new mics. It's sounding like maybe I could keep my mics (they're still in great condition) and possibly upgrade the recorder?
Regarding the recorder - I would look at the new Sony PCM D-100 in the first instance, or the Tascan DR-100II in the second.
Awesome! Thanks for tips/recommendations!
I differ with you on that, as I definitely prefer the DPA 4060/4061 (as used in our High End Binaural mic sets) over the Sennheisers for binaural recordings. He can slightly improve on the R-09HR's mic pre-amp noise levels if he's using the Mic input.
I'd suggest the dpa 4060 or 4061's. If you don't like what you hear, they usually carry all their value on a resale, if new or nearly so.
I just found this webpage:
http://www.core-sound.com/bk/1.phpThose look/sound excellent! The price looks decent too (for everything that's offered). Thank you for the recommendation! It's great to know what's out there and is worth buying. For those, I'd have to save up for a few more months, but that's why I'm here ... Planning for the near future.
Out of curiosity, what's the best way to hook those mics up to my person? The binaural mics I own currently have an over-the-ear mount:
I really like that ear hook mount. I'm pretty sure it's removable. I wonder if I could adapt the ear mount to fit the 406* models?
Signal-to-noise is the difference between 94dB and the stated (I assume A-weighted based on the higher CCIR figure) 26dBA self-noise, for 68dB. Dynamic range is the difference between max SPL of 142dBSPL and self-noise of 26dB, for 116dB. The dynamic range is about as good as it gets for these type of microphones, but you can move that range around by changing the capsule sensitivity--there are capsules with 16dBA noise but max SPL of only 132dBSPL. If you only record loud sources, I wouldn't worry about that, but if you do quiet acoustic or ambient stuff, you might look for a second pair with lower self-noise.
Thanks for the feedback! Some of the technical details are new to me (I'll be doing some research this weekend), but it sounds like my mics are probably a good fit (for the time being, until I can afford something nicer like the 4050 or 4061's) for what I do with them.
Thanks again to everyone for the pro help and excellent advice/tips! I really owe you folks one.