Topic: CAFS straight into M10 (mic in) -- overloaded recording. New: 2nd try was great

[TimSmith]

Let me know if I got you clearly:  if overload didn't happen for you at rec. level 5, it will necessarily not happen at 7 ?   I mean, does chances for overloaded-signal lower as the rec. level goes higher ?

Generally speaking, yes. Because you most likely will use higher level for *quieter* music, so there'll be less chances for overload.

[eman]

When the claps "depress" the rest of the sound it means you are running too high, and using the auto-limiter function. You are better off not using the auto limiter (arguably) because if it comes into play it sounds terrible anyway, so just learn to run at a reasonable level. The M10 LEDs are great for this- you want to see the green lights come on a least every once in awhile, but you don't want to see the red ones more than flash every once in awhile. Green is -12dB (a reasonable recording level at 24 bits) and Red is approaching the highest value that it can record. If you have loud claps, then you can remove these in post production using limiter compression which does a similar thing as the auto limiter, but you have control over exactly what it does and an undo button in case that isn't what you expected.

[tbger]

Hi Eman - that's a great idea.  I remember turning the LEDs off when I got the device.  Since I'm stealthing, and can't take the recorder out with all the cables connected to it (I also use the remote), I can't really know what's going as far as levels go.  This could help me a lot.

It was the remote's cable and the other 1 or sometimes two cables running from the device, that made me not take out the device for checking for levels.  It wasn't the case when I last taped a concert, but that was about two years ago, and since then I taped hundreds of lectures with the remote, so the whole issue of levels wasn't on my mind at all and I forgot that with time of using the device daily.  BTW, an awesome device (M10) - and mics (CAFS) - made hundreds of lecture recordings with not a single fail !

Good idea again, thank you !   

[eman]

Bring it to some events that don't require  and learn where your rig needs to be set up for different volume ranges. I just got caught being too conservative last week with levels so low that I got hiss when I normalized it. It's been a long time since I had a hissy recording!

[tbger]

Hello everyone,

Here to report I tried the CAFS again, hooked directly to my PCM-M10 (didn't have the CA-9100 handy once again) for a Pet Shop Boys show in a closed hall.  This time I set the recording level to just 3 on my M10 (40% of previous time).  The recording turned out fantastic, balanced and without any distortion.  This time I was sitting right in front of the stack.

I do keep in mind the bass wasn't as strong as the previous show (a Depeche Mode show that time), and therefore am still doubtful as to whether these mics can hold strong bass SPLs without overloading, without a battery box / a preamp.  Better not take the risk of course, but the this last outcome is very tempting to give it a try.

Cheers

[Church-Audio]

Hello everyone,

Here to report I tried the CAFS again, hooked directly to my PCM-M10 (didn't have the CA-9100 handy once again) for a Pet Shop Boys show in a closed hall.  This time I set the recording level to just 3 on my M10 (40% of previous time).  The recording turned out fantastic, balanced and without any distortion.  This time I was sitting right in front of the stack.

I do keep in mind the bass wasn't as strong as the previous show (a Depeche Mode show that time), and therefore am still doubtful as to whether these mics can hold strong bass SPLs without overloading, without a battery box / a preamp.  Better not take the risk of course, but the this last outcome is very tempting to give it a try.

Cheers

Here is the deal with my gear.

If you have a 9100 use it. Reduce the level to 80% leave it there, run the preamp into line input shoot for -10 db on your VU and you should be good to go. The mics are much less likely to overload with my preamp because of the higher bias voltage. You can always get away with going straight in if the sound pressure level is not that loud.. But the main problem is you don't know what "not that loud" means and have no way to measure it. Not that loud for my mics would be around 98 db anything much over that with low bias voltage you will get overload with a battery box or preamp my mics have less than half a percent of distortion at 114 db at 1k.  My mics will not overload my preamps unless they are put inside a kick drum.. You would not be able to stand SPL that loud.

So use the preamp you have whenever possible use a good quality battery with it. Make sure you USE line input always.. Unless you are recording acoustic stuff then you can use the mic input and my preamp carefully. I dont know what unity gain is on the D10 BUT thats a good starting point for you to go with.

[tbger]

Thank you for these helpful hints Chris.

[F.O.Bean]

I've used my 9100 at MAX and my m10s gain knob on 8-10 and the show turned out fantastic. I used LINE IN tho Like everyone has said, ONLY use the MIC IN when recording acoustic or music with much lower SPLs. I would NEVER risk a recording without a battery box or preamp. It's been noted a million times that recordings get distorted without them, so if you have either one, why not use them?

[Church-Audio]

Thank you for these helpful hints Chris.

No problem you or anyone else can always email me about questions regarding my gear or anything else audio related.