Hi all, long time lurker, first time poster.
Back in the day, I used to stealth tape metal shows using a Sony MR-R700 Minidisc player and recorder along with pair of Core Sound Low Cost Binaural microphones with the low sensitivity option. My tapings of outdoor festivals sounded great, but at indoor venues the audio quality was usually garbage because of bass distortion.
Now that my ex and I have parted ways, I've been going to waaaayyy more shows that I have for the past 10 years or so, and I'm looking to start taping again. A lot of the bands that I'm into are starting to get older, so my opportunities to tape them are starting to dwindle. The stars have aligned, and in the next two months or so, I'm seeing 9 bands from my youth. The venues range from 300 person clubs, to midsize 1500 person theaters, to larger ballrooms that hold 5000 people. Later on in the summer, I have 3 outdoor festivals, possibly 4, that I'm going to that I'll most likely be taping at. I'm looking to upgrade my equipment so that I can get some decent, preferably better than decent recordings.
1. I'm going to purchase a Sony M10 - I'm done with Minidiscs. I recently ripped the recordings off of my old Minidiscs, and there are some skips from moving around, getting moshed into, etc.
2. Should I get a preamp or a battery box? Would either help with reducing bass distortion?
3. Should I upgrade the microphones that I already have? They seem nice, and I paid about 100 bucks for them 11 years ago.
4. Should I have to get either a preamp or a battery box, as well as new microphones, I'm looking to purchase from CA. How long does it take for CA to ship, and would you recommend Omni or Cardiod microphones? I have a show coming up on 1/22/16, so I don't have a ton of time to wait for equipment. Would you recommend anything else as an alternative should CA's build and ship time take too long?
Thanks in advance for the help, all.