Hi all,
I feel compelled to answer some of the remarks concerning my post about proper wiring, connectors and EMC.
Guysonic, if you encountered no EMC or hum problems during the last 25 years, you are lucky. You can dismiss my application as an extreme, but EMC problems are like a leaking roof: you only recognize it when it starts to rain. How many cellphones did you see 25 or even 15 years ago? Rest assured, the 100% AM modulated cellphone signals (GSM) that are transmitted within a few meters of high sensitivity recording systems will get to your attention if anything is wrong with your wiring. Our recording gang has the rule to switch off all cellphones before recording (we sure want no ringing phone in an ambient recording, not to talk about possible RF noises...).
BTW: If you recorded the sound of the sparks of the tesla coil, you would have a hard time to discern the electrical noise from the acoustical noise...
Groovon, my choice of connector is not "overengineered". I simply do not want a crappy connector that generates dropouts at the slightest movement. My recordings have to be right the first try, because most of them can not be repeated. I simply have a different approach on that issue. And the only connectors that hold up well to my kind of (ab)use are made by Neutrik (maybe Switchcraft would work also).
BTW what is wrong with the concept "handle with care"? My trusty WM-D6C survived over 20 years of outdoor recording under harsh conditions in spite of "micky mouse connectors" with several meters of well shielded mic cable attached. I simply handled it like a precision instrument (which it certainly is).
The Sony PCM-M10 is well shielded - I operated a GSM cellphone and a 5W VHF/UHF handheld transceiver within arms length of it, and it did not show any unexpected reaction, otherwise it would have gone back to the dealer. Plastic cases can be shielded with a sprayed-on copper or nickel film - this is done with laptops since many years. And a good multilayer circuit board sure helps - sometimes you even don't need shielding to achieve CE compliance if the layouter knows his job. The only problems I had with it was caused by a crappy cable - it had gold plated connectors but a substandard shield - something you can't find out without destroying the cable.
Now for the record: I do not want to sell anything to you. I just share my hard earned experience gained in 40 years of electronics, 24 years of them as a professional in the electronics design and EMC fields. You can take my advice or leave it. Its up to you.
Greetings,
Rainer
