Topic: My super stealth configuration - a good setup for complete wimps

[dnvechoes]

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to post my results for my new setup. First of all, I'm a complete wimp and there's no way I want to be sneaking in complicated gear. Also, I don't care too much about sound quality, as long as the recording is listenable. I just want to make a record of the shows I attend so I can relive the past when I'm old and grey.

So anyway, smallness and simplicity are the two most important things to me. I had snuck my old NOMAD II into a couple shows, and then just used the voice recorder (built-in mic), but it totally sucked and couldn’t handle the volume so would distort at anything loud. The good part was that the NOMAD is about the size of a pack of cigarettes and would just fit into my wallet if I removed everything else.

But anyway, that didn’t work, so I looked into a bunch of MP3 recorders and mics to see what I could manage. In the end I picked up a

XEN-200 256 MB MP3 player which has line-in capabilities
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=387

and a

Nextway NSM-SA100 powered mic
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=124

The whole setup ran me about $275.

Now the good news is that these guys are *so* small that I could fit *both* in my wallet no problem.

I recently attended an REM show in Southern California, and had no problems getting in, as you might expect. I got to my seat, hooked up the mic to the line-in on the XEN, hit record, flipped the HOLD button to LOCK and then dropped the contraption into the sleeve of a flannel I had been wearing, dropped the flannel under my seat, and 3 hours later, I had a fully listenable copy of the show! It sounded as good as many audience recordings I have heard over the years, was very simple and easy to stealth. I couldn’t ask for a better setup for my needs.

Of course, for folks who really want great sound quality, this is a poor setup, but for us wimps, it’s perfect, IMO.

One thing I would have done differently would be to buy the 512 MB XEN instead of the 256. The 256 will hold (at maximum sample rate) about 2.25 hours of music. I started it too early and missed the last few songs of the set. Oops. If I had purchased the 512, I could have simply set it up before even entering the venue and let it record the opening act as well as the main show. I did practice a bit with a lower sampling rate, but I got some skipping, so I figured it’s best to go with full sampling, which introduces very few digital artifacts.

Anyway, sorry for the long post, but I figured I better at least give my results as payment to this fabulous community!

david

[Sean Gallemore]

what's the max sample rate? (feeling too lazy to do a search)

mp3 format I'm assuming

[The Kilted Taper]

not too lazy...192.

[fandelive]

audio samples? 

[ChrisV]

Wow, that thing is indeed tiny!   Yeah, it had to be mp3 if it is 3 hours at 256 MB.

"MP3 Direct Encoding Function
(Voice, line-in, FM)
With Direct MP3 Encoding technology, EMP-400 enables you to record any external audio source such as a CD player or a MD player without a PC. Also, you can set an individual bit rate for recording. Furthermore, the XEN EMP-400 supports VOR and AGC functions, making the XEN EMP-400 perfect for voice / lecture recordings."

But it looks like there is a 1 GB version here:
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=435

Same product it looks like?   Shit, if they could get .WAV support it'd be good for 1.5 hours.   Maybe swap out the flash for a bigger one too.   Probably dreamin' though...

[dnvechoes]

audio samples? 

Sure thing! I'll go through the recording and pluck out a song, re MP3 it and post it sometime next week. Please check back.

david

[dnvechoes]

Wow, that thing is indeed tiny!   Yeah, it had to be mp3 if it is 3 hours at 256 MB.

"MP3 Direct Encoding Function
(Voice, line-in, FM)
With Direct MP3 Encoding technology, EMP-400 enables you to record any external audio source such as a CD player or a MD player without a PC. Also, you can set an individual bit rate for recording. Furthermore, the XEN EMP-400 supports VOR and AGC functions, making the XEN EMP-400 perfect for voice / lecture recordings."

But it looks like there is a 1 GB version here:
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=435

Same product it looks like?   Shit, if they could get .WAV support it'd be good for 1.5 hours.   Maybe swap out the flash for a bigger one too.   Probably dreamin' though...

Yeah, it's direct MP3, which works well, though, of course, not as good as an uncompressed WAV.

My version is the EMP-200. It was the current model when I bought it about 6 months ago. Cool that they have a 1GB version now.

I'll post some pics along with the sound sample next week.

My original idea in getting things so small was to try to fit them in a cell phone shell, but that got to be more trouble than it was worth, and with them as small as they are, there are better ways to get them in.

david

[ChrisV]

Hehe, I was thinking about the cell phone thing too last night actually.   I have an old cell phone that is pretty friggen big(I just got a new one) and I could probably put all the contents of at least a battery box into it.

I may make a post on that company's messageboard since it does look like they have some tech support people answering questions about firmware and stuff.   Who knows, may get lucky

[dnvechoes]

audio samples? 

Here it is! Sorry for the delay. Let me know what you think. I still hope to post some pics soon, but the Holiday season has started getting busy...

http://www.paintedmotion.com/xen_sample/REM_10_14_04_Losing_My_Religion.mp3

david

[Weazel]

there also a matching mic for it. i dont know how these preform.
http://www.mp3man.nl/product/3578/3538

[Tall Adam]

hmm, with the tunneling, the clipping, and the crowd noise, i would not say it was onpar with many audience recordings...although i dont listen to many stealth recordings so maybe it is comprable to those.

not trying to rag on your rig here, just giving an honest critique. The tunneling affect is an obvious result of the MP3 format, crowd noise is well, a result of having it under your seat obiously. and the clipping, does this thing have any adjustability on levels? i mean obviously youre not doing too much adjustment if its under your seat, but if so, just turn it down a bit before the whole show.

also, was this an arena with stadium style seating or were you closer to head level with the stage (with the mic then being way below the stage level)? just wondering

[dnvechoes]

hmm, with the tunneling, the clipping, and the crowd noise, i would not say it was onpar with many audience recordings...although i dont listen to many stealth recordings so maybe it is comprable to those.

not trying to rag on your rig here, just giving an honest critique.

I totally appreciate it! I was wondering what it would sound like to more critical ears. Most of the audience shows I listen to are from the 70s, so they already sound pretty bad. I didn't really expect it to be up to the standards of a real set-up, though I was curious how it measured up.

The tunneling affect is an obvious result of the MP3 format, crowd noise is well, a result of having it under your seat obiously.

and the annoying as hell woman sitting in front of us.

and the clipping, does this thing have any adjustability on levels? i mean obviously youre not doing too much adjustment if its under your seat, but if so, just turn it down a bit before the whole show.

The only adjustment in the system is the input volume on the mic. It was set, I belive, to 7 in this recording. Thanks for the tip! I'll turn it down a bit next time and try that. The good part about an REM show is that I don't care too much about it, so it's good to practice on!

also, was this an arena with stadium style seating or were you closer to head level with the stage (with the mic then being way below the stage level)? just wondering

The venue was the Santa Barbara County Bowl,(http://sbbowl.com/ - sorry no pics I could find)  which is Arena seating. We were up a bit, but not too far, maybe slightly above stage level.

Anyway, thanks again for the critique. Again, my main areas of concern are

1. Getting a show that's listenable
2. Zero chance of getting caught
3. Not interfering with my enjoyment of the show while I'm actually there.

The problem with the setup, is that there's not much room to make improvements! But at least it's simple.

david

[Brian Skalinder]

The recording sounds like, well...an inexpensive mic, fed into a lossy recording device, rolled up in a shirt sleeve, and stuffed under the seat of an arena.  But if it makes *your* ears happy, that's what counts! 

[dklein]

It sounds so bad because one of the channels is inverted.  It's correctable in a wave editor.  But then you find that it's a mono signal to begin with, so I guess you could just take one channel as an alternative.  Before and after sample attached

[silentmark]

It sounds so bad because one of the channels is inverted.  It's correctable in a wave editor.  But then you find that it's a mono signal to begin with, so I guess you could just take one channel as an alternative.  Before and after sample attached

Hey DK, love the Nak avatar, sigh maybe I should get my Nak deck fixed ...

Sorry for the thread hijack ...

EDIT:

The recording sounds like, well...an inexpensive mic, fed into a lossy recording device, rolled up in a shirt sleeve, and stuffed under the seat of an arena.  But if it makes *your* ears happy, that's what counts! 

After listening, right on Brian ...