Topic: First Time Taper!

[kp_centi]

Hello,
Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules. I've been skimming around this website, and I was fascinated with it.
I went to a concert recently, and they didn't really allow audio recorders, so I just brought my second smart phone and used a audio recorder to record the whole thing. What do I do next, I was thinking doing some audio tweaking and cutting it, but I'm a little lost and over whelmed what to do next?

If you guys could lead me to some threads or pages I can be more familiar, I would appreciate it.

Where do should I post the audio also? I haven't seen much audio recordings of kpop shows.

EDIT: I somehow missed the Matrix Guide and Gear FAQs. I'm reading it now!

[rocksuitcase]

Hello,
Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules. I've been skimming around this website, and I was fascinated with it.
I went to a concert recently, and they didn't really allow audio recorders, so I just brought my second smart phone and used a audio recorder to record the whole thing. What do I do next, I was thinking doing some audio tweaking and cutting it, but I'm a little lost and over whelmed what to do next?

If you guys could lead me to some threads or pages I can be more familiar, I would appreciate it.

Where do should I post the audio also? I haven't seen much audio recordings of kpop shows.

EDIT: I somehow missed the Matrix Guide and Gear FAQs. I'm reading it now!

Welcome to the board. What app are you using for the phone recording?
transfer the raw files to a computer. The free software for PC (mac also i think) is Audacity. There are others which cost money such as Wavelab, Adobe Audition, Izotope etc.
Then to track out use cdwav editor (free/shareware)
I like Traders Little helper for file conversion and creating checksum files. Also free/shareware

Good luck. I would guess there are not too many kpop recordists. keep reading here for brand names and such.
Are you located in Asia or the states?

[morst]

Hello,
Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules. I've been skimming around this website, and I was fascinated with it.
I went to a concert recently, and they didn't really allow audio recorders, so I just brought my second smart phone and used a audio recorder to record the whole thing. What do I do next, I was thinking doing some audio tweaking and cutting it, but I'm a little lost and over whelmed what to do next?

If you guys could lead me to some threads or pages I can be more familiar, I would appreciate it.

Where do should I post the audio also? I haven't seen much audio recordings of kpop shows.

EDIT: I somehow missed the Matrix Guide and Gear FAQs. I'm reading it now!

Welcome to the board. What app are you using for the phone recording?
transfer the raw files to a computer. The free software for PC (mac also i think) is Audacity. There are others which cost money such as Wavelab, Adobe Audition, Izotope etc.
Then to track out use cdwav editor (free/shareware)
I like Traders Little helper for file conversion and creating checksum files. Also free/shareware

Good luck. I would guess there are not too many kpop recordists. keep reading here for brand names and such.
Are you located in Asia or the states?

The free Audacity editor software runs on PC, Mac, and even Linux.
Note that the most recent versions of Audacity software (versions numbered 3 or greater) "phone home" and do some user tracking, so there are many of us who simply use older versions.
Download link for v2.4.2 for Mac/Win:
https://archive.org/details/audacity-2.4.2

Audacity software will also allow you to "track out" your uninterrupted recording as well.
Labels are added to the track start points using control-b (command-b on mac) and then the operator can "Export Multiple" according to the labels.

Trader's Little Helper is PC only. On the mac, I use Scott Brown's xACT for most everything. Scott is active on this message board as user "scb"
He posted an updated version today which works on Apple Silicon or Intel CPUs:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v7lkfp44y3grbvd/xACTTest.zip?dl=0 fixed issue where verifying an ffp file could crash if the file was corrupt or incomplete

Some folks use youtube or Soundcloud. I think Soundcloud at least keeps the quality you upload. Youtube turns everything into MP3, basically.
You could probably post the results on the internet archive under Community Audio.
The Live Music Archive section there is only for bands and musical artists who have chosen to "opt-in" to allow their works to be hosted.
If you can convince the band to give permission to allow fan recordings to be posted, then the LMA is a perfect option.
Here is a list of trade-friendly bands on the LMA
https://archive.org/audio/etree-band-showall.php


PS CONGRATULATIONS and WELCOME!

[kp_centi]

Hello,
Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules. I've been skimming around this website, and I was fascinated with it.
I went to a concert recently, and they didn't really allow audio recorders, so I just brought my second smart phone and used a audio recorder to record the whole thing. What do I do next, I was thinking doing some audio tweaking and cutting it, but I'm a little lost and over whelmed what to do next?

If you guys could lead me to some threads or pages I can be more familiar, I would appreciate it.

Where do should I post the audio also? I haven't seen much audio recordings of kpop shows.

EDIT: I somehow missed the Matrix Guide and Gear FAQs. I'm reading it now!

Welcome to the board. What app are you using for the phone recording?
transfer the raw files to a computer. The free software for PC (mac also i think) is Audacity. There are others which cost money such as Wavelab, Adobe Audition, Izotope etc.
Then to track out use cdwav editor (free/shareware)
I like Traders Little helper for file conversion and creating checksum files. Also free/shareware

Good luck. I would guess there are not too many kpop recordists. keep reading here for brand names and such.
Are you located in Asia or the states?

I'm using this app https://gitlab.com/axet/android-audio-recorder. It's really good, it lets you do 24bit, 192kHz, Stereo, and you can record in a bunch of formats like FLAC.
I have Audacity and I also own FL Studio, I just never had much experience with this kind of audio before. I wasn't sure what kind of tweaking I should do, other than levels and EQ. I still to have this weird clicking / clipping bits that happen randomly for a second.

I am located in the USA.

[kp_centi]

Hello,
Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules. I've been skimming around this website, and I was fascinated with it.
I went to a concert recently, and they didn't really allow audio recorders, so I just brought my second smart phone and used a audio recorder to record the whole thing. What do I do next, I was thinking doing some audio tweaking and cutting it, but I'm a little lost and over whelmed what to do next?

If you guys could lead me to some threads or pages I can be more familiar, I would appreciate it.

Where do should I post the audio also? I haven't seen much audio recordings of kpop shows.

EDIT: I somehow missed the Matrix Guide and Gear FAQs. I'm reading it now!

Welcome to the board. What app are you using for the phone recording?
transfer the raw files to a computer. The free software for PC (mac also i think) is Audacity. There are others which cost money such as Wavelab, Adobe Audition, Izotope etc.
Then to track out use cdwav editor (free/shareware)
I like Traders Little helper for file conversion and creating checksum files. Also free/shareware

Good luck. I would guess there are not too many kpop recordists. keep reading here for brand names and such.
Are you located in Asia or the states?

The free Audacity editor software runs on PC, Mac, and even Linux.
Note that the most recent versions of Audacity software (versions numbered 3 or greater) "phone home" and do some user tracking, so there are many of us who simply use older versions.
Download link for v2.4.2 for Mac/Win:
https://archive.org/details/audacity-2.4.2

Audacity software will also allow you to "track out" your uninterrupted recording as well.
Labels are added to the track start points using control-b (command-b on mac) and then the operator can "Export Multiple" according to the labels.

Trader's Little Helper is PC only. On the mac, I use Scott Brown's xACT for most everything. Scott is active on this message board as user "scb"
He posted an updated version today which works on Apple Silicon or Intel CPUs:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v7lkfp44y3grbvd/xACTTest.zip?dl=0 fixed issue where verifying an ffp file could crash if the file was corrupt or incomplete

Some folks use youtube or Soundcloud. I think Soundcloud at least keeps the quality you upload. Youtube turns everything into MP3, basically.
You could probably post the results on the internet archive under Community Audio.
The Live Music Archive section there is only for bands and musical artists who have chosen to "opt-in" to allow their works to be hosted.
If you can convince the band to give permission to allow fan recordings to be posted, then the LMA is a perfect option.
Here is a list of trade-friendly bands on the LMA
https://archive.org/audio/etree-band-showall.php


PS CONGRATULATIONS and WELCOME!

Whoa I never knew about the Labels system in Audacity. I'll check out Trader's Little Helper or xACT. I'm on both platforms anyways.
Soundcloud actually transcode their audio to 128kbps or 256kbps (If you have SoundCloud Premium)

Good to know about the Live Section on Archive.org I wouldn't have wanted to mistakenly post on there

[nulldogmas]

I have Audacity and I also own FL Studio, I just never had much experience with this kind of audio before. I wasn't sure what kind of tweaking I should do, other than levels and EQ. I still to have this weird clicking / clipping bits that happen randomly for a second.

Maybe share a sample here with the clicking/clipping bits? There are pro audio editing tools that can address that kind of thing, but also Stupid Audacity Tricks that sometimes can as well in a pinch.

And seconding the congrats on your first successful recording, and welcome to a lifetime of wondering what gear you should buy next...

[eman]

FYI the mods have to continuously make clear Community Audio is not for bands that are not approved for LMA. It is for "other" types of audio that need archiving, not a catch all pirate bay type place to avoid copyright law. Try to get your bands to allow archiving on LMA and it they don't want to then don't put their stuff in Community Audio either.

[vanark]

FYI the mods have to continuously make clear Community Audio is not for bands that are not approved for LMA. It is for "other" types of audio that need archiving, not a catch all pirate bay type place to avoid copyright law. Try to get your bands to allow archiving on LMA and it they don't want to then don't put their stuff in Community Audio either.

Old news. We've evolved our position on this. If you are taping with permission, but can't get the artist on the LMA (some just can't figure out how to reply to an email), Community Audio is okay. Some artists that have historically already said no should not be uploaded to CA - Phish, DMB, Mule, Panic, Black Crowes, and others.

[nulldogmas]

Old news. We've evolved our position on this. If you are taping with permission, but can't get the artist on the LMA (some just can't figure out how to reply to an email), Community Audio is okay. Some artists that have historically already said no should not be uploaded to CA - Phish, DMB, Mule, Panic, Black Crowes, and others.

Oh, that's good to know — I wasn't clear on this. So Community Audio is okay if you have permission to both tape and distribute publicly, I assume?

[kp_centi]

FYI the mods have to continuously make clear Community Audio is not for bands that are not approved for LMA. It is for "other" types of audio that need archiving, not a catch all pirate bay type place to avoid copyright law. Try to get your bands to allow archiving on LMA and it they don't want to then don't put their stuff in Community Audio either.

Old news. We've evolved our position on this. If you are taping with permission, but can't get the artist on the LMA (some just can't figure out how to reply to an email), Community Audio is okay. Some artists that have historically already said no should not be uploaded to CA - Phish, DMB, Mule, Panic, Black Crowes, and others.

I don't think I'll personally have much luck with contacting a Korean Girl Group about posting recordings, BUT... they allow Recordings from a Phone during the concert, so I wouldn't see why it would be any different than just a audio recording.

[kp_centi]

I have Audacity and I also own FL Studio, I just never had much experience with this kind of audio before. I wasn't sure what kind of tweaking I should do, other than levels and EQ. I still to have this weird clicking / clipping bits that happen randomly for a second.

Maybe share a sample here with the clicking/clipping bits? There are pro audio editing tools that can address that kind of thing, but also Stupid Audacity Tricks that sometimes can as well in a pinch.

And seconding the congrats on your first successful recording, and welcome to a lifetime of wondering what gear you should buy next...

Here's a long sample from the recording. It's kinda rough I think :S

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10UXNhsTa3jgTaVKP76MEPmaJpfJPNikv/view?usp=sharing

I have a Zoom H6 coming in, but definitely can't bring that in to the venue

I'm going to another Kpop Concert this coming weekend and hopefully I can do better recordings. It's a shame you can only bring in a Phone, nothing else...

[roffels]

I don't think I'll personally have much luck with contacting a Korean Girl Group about posting recordings, BUT... they allow Recordings from a Phone during the concert, so I wouldn't see why it would be any different than just a audio recording.

You'd think that, but for some reason some venues/artists are still weary about tapers despite 40% of the audience having their phone recording at any given moment.

Here's a long sample from the recording. It's kinda rough I think :S

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10UXNhsTa3jgTaVKP76MEPmaJpfJPNikv/view?usp=sharing

I have a Zoom H6 coming in, but definitely can't bring that in to the venue

I'm going to another Kpop Concert this coming weekend and hopefully I can do better recordings. It's a shame you can only bring in a Phone, nothing else...

Sounds like the mics are overloaded or your recording levels were too high. I know nothing about iphone microphones but have heard some decent tapes from folks that use iphone microphones like the Shure MV88. Good luck with the tapes! 

[nulldogmas]

Sounds like the mics are overloaded or your recording levels were too high. I know nothing about iphone microphones but have heard some decent tapes from folks that use iphone microphones like the Shure MV88. Good luck with the tapes!

Looking at the waveform (and listening as well), it's not so bad — you're getting a ton of bass, which is normal at a big venue like this, but it's clipping only in the left channel, and not too severely. You might to start by just using an EQ filter and cranking down the bass by a metric crapton (maybe 3-6 dB for everything below ~200 Hz) while raising the top end (2 KHz and up) by a couple of dB to boost the vocals. It still won't be as good as you could get with better mics, but definitely way better than my first recording attempt, about which we will never speak about again.

And I've heard good things about the MV88 as well — there's a thread here somewhere about it that should go into more detail.

[u2_fly_2]

Good luck with recording your upcoming concerts!

[kp_centi]

You'd think that, but for some reason some venues/artists are still weary about tapers despite 40% of the audience having their phone recording at any given moment.

Sounds like the mics are overloaded or your recording levels were too high. I know nothing about iphone microphones but have heard some decent tapes from folks that use iphone microphones like the Shure MV88. Good luck with the tapes!

I sadly use an android, but I should look in to small mics like that for the future, I can definitely get that in to venues.

Sounds like the mics are overloaded or your recording levels were too high. I know nothing about iphone microphones but have heard some decent tapes from folks that use iphone microphones like the Shure MV88. Good luck with the tapes!

Looking at the waveform (and listening as well), it's not so bad — you're getting a ton of bass, which is normal at a big venue like this, but it's clipping only in the left channel, and not too severely. You might to start by just using an EQ filter and cranking down the bass by a metric crapton (maybe 3-6 dB for everything below ~200 Hz) while raising the top end (2 KHz and up) by a couple of dB to boost the vocals. It still won't be as good as you could get with better mics, but definitely way better than my first recording attempt, about which we will never speak about again.

And I've heard good things about the MV88 as well — there's a thread here somewhere about it that should go into more detail.

Thanks so much! These are good starting points for me to edit the audio.

[kp_centi]

So I had this silly idea of sticking cotton in holes of the case of my phone. I also didn't realize there was a recording volume option in the recorder app I use, so I set it to 50%.
I played some music really loud from my music setup at home, and stuck both sides of the mic to the speakers and sub at a loud volume, and no distortion. It is a little bit low, but I'm sure I can fix that in editing afterwards!!

I am excited! I'm going to the (G)I-DLE Show tomorrow, I hope the recording is better

[morst]

So I had this silly idea of sticking cotton in holes of the case of my phone. I also didn't realize there was a recording volume option in the recorder app I use, so I set it to 50%.
I played some music really loud from my music setup at home, and stuck both sides of the mic to the speakers and sub at a loud volume, and no distortion. It is a little bit low, but I'm sure I can fix that in editing afterwards!!

I am excited! I'm going to the (G)I-DLE Show tomorrow, I hope the recording is better

try testing it at 75 and also at 100 and see if it comes out NOT low?
Obviously you don't want it to overload but it's nice to know a usable range. 30%-70%?
10%-90% like a sony? (level knob goes 0 - 10 and it works best at anything between 1-9 with the sweetest spot between 3-4 but up to 7 still very good)

[kp_centi]

So I had this silly idea of sticking cotton in holes of the case of my phone. I also didn't realize there was a recording volume option in the recorder app I use, so I set it to 50%.
I played some music really loud from my music setup at home, and stuck both sides of the mic to the speakers and sub at a loud volume, and no distortion. It is a little bit low, but I'm sure I can fix that in editing afterwards!!

I am excited! I'm going to the (G)I-DLE Show tomorrow, I hope the recording is better

try testing it at 75 and also at 100 and see if it comes out NOT low?
Obviously you don't want it to overload but it's nice to know a usable range. 30%-70%?
10%-90% like a sony? (level knob goes 0 - 10 and it works best at anything between 1-9 with the sweetest spot between 3-4 but up to 7 still very good)

I might have to try 75% for next time. I tried 100% with the cotton in the holes, and it was still distorting randomly, so I figured do both. I wish I could just get sweet with the audio people get get Line outs lol, but who does that?! haha

[kp_centi]

I started fiddling with Processing the audio, I realized how lacking i am with EQing and other audio editing skills. Puts me to shame knowing i've done live audio and recorded before haha.

Here's 2 songs:

RAW https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rQnQqpKNbkdy3ACJH_7DCYJySlODGUbr/view?usp=sharing

Edited https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wLDkiu7OVMsunNMPUGS5ly3EG1iYUsFI/view?usp=sharing

[roffels]

So I had this silly idea of sticking cotton in holes of the case of my phone. I also didn't realize there was a recording volume option in the recorder app I use, so I set it to 50%.
I played some music really loud from my music setup at home, and stuck both sides of the mic to the speakers and sub at a loud volume, and no distortion. It is a little bit low, but I'm sure I can fix that in editing afterwards!!

I am excited! I'm going to the (G)I-DLE Show tomorrow, I hope the recording is better

try testing it at 75 and also at 100 and see if it comes out NOT low?
Obviously you don't want it to overload but it's nice to know a usable range. 30%-70%?
10%-90% like a sony? (level knob goes 0 - 10 and it works best at anything between 1-9 with the sweetest spot between 3-4 but up to 7 still very good)

I might have to try 75% for next time. I tried 100% with the cotton in the holes, and it was still distorting randomly, so I figured do both. I wish I could just get sweet with the audio people get get Line outs lol, but who does that?! haha

It happens! Never hurts to ask the musician.

[daspyknows]

If you are really serious about taping you might want to explore getting better tools for the job.  The effort taping is the same but the results are consistently better. 

[kp_centi]

So I had this silly idea of sticking cotton in holes of the case of my phone. I also didn't realize there was a recording volume option in the recorder app I use, so I set it to 50%.
I played some music really loud from my music setup at home, and stuck both sides of the mic to the speakers and sub at a loud volume, and no distortion. It is a little bit low, but I'm sure I can fix that in editing afterwards!!

I am excited! I'm going to the (G)I-DLE Show tomorrow, I hope the recording is better

try testing it at 75 and also at 100 and see if it comes out NOT low?
Obviously you don't want it to overload but it's nice to know a usable range. 30%-70%?
10%-90% like a sony? (level knob goes 0 - 10 and it works best at anything between 1-9 with the sweetest spot between 3-4 but up to 7 still very good)

I might have to try 75% for next time. I tried 100% with the cotton in the holes, and it was still distorting randomly, so I figured do both. I wish I could just get sweet with the audio people get get Line outs lol, but who does that?! haha

It happens! Never hurts to ask the musician.

Not sure where I'd even go about that. These are like pretty popular girl groups in korea from huge entertainment agencies.

[kp_centi]

If you are really serious about taping you might want to explore getting better tools for the job.  The effort taping is the same but the results are consistently better.

Do you have any advice? It seems very difficult to bring an actual audio recorder to venues since they only allow cell phones. Is there any decent small mics for android?

[vibrioidxire]

Not sure if it’s in your price range but there’s the good ol’ Shure MV88.

[daspyknows]

If you are really serious about taping you might want to explore getting better tools for the job.  The effort taping is the same but the results are consistently better.

Do you have any advice? It seems very difficult to bring an actual audio recorder to venues since they only allow cell phones. Is there any decent small mics for android?

Been doing that for 40 years.  Look in the kickdown section for examples.  I am listening to a recording I just made.  Taping was definitely not permitted. 

If you are getting permission you will need more than a phone to do that right. 

[roffels]

So I had this silly idea of sticking cotton in holes of the case of my phone. I also didn't realize there was a recording volume option in the recorder app I use, so I set it to 50%.
I played some music really loud from my music setup at home, and stuck both sides of the mic to the speakers and sub at a loud volume, and no distortion. It is a little bit low, but I'm sure I can fix that in editing afterwards!!

I am excited! I'm going to the (G)I-DLE Show tomorrow, I hope the recording is better

try testing it at 75 and also at 100 and see if it comes out NOT low?
Obviously you don't want it to overload but it's nice to know a usable range. 30%-70%?
10%-90% like a sony? (level knob goes 0 - 10 and it works best at anything between 1-9 with the sweetest spot between 3-4 but up to 7 still very good)

I might have to try 75% for next time. I tried 100% with the cotton in the holes, and it was still distorting randomly, so I figured do both. I wish I could just get sweet with the audio people get get Line outs lol, but who does that?! haha

It happens! Never hurts to ask the musician.

Not sure where I'd even go about that. These are like pretty popular girl groups in korea from huge entertainment agencies.

I try to get ahold of the artist if they're accessible, otherwise the management.

If that doesn't work, and you're dedicated, listen to Daspy. Most folks here have made recordings without permission too.

Here's my "don't have permission" rig:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1447756-REG/sony_pcm_a10_high_resolution_audio_recorder.html

https://soundprofessionals.com/product/SP-SPSB-4/

https://www.church-audio.com/product-category/microphones/#shop (I have a set of both CA-14 omnis and cardioids)

[mrfender]

Well it's a good thing I read this thread.  Does that batter box have a replaceable or built in battery?  Can't really tell from the web page.

[jefflester]

Well it's a good thing I read this thread.  Does that batter box have a replaceable or built in battery?  Can't really tell from the web page.

Page says:
"Power module has 30-50 hour battery life (12v A23 battery)"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A23_battery

[roffels]

Well it's a good thing I read this thread.  Does that batter box have a replaceable or built in battery?  Can't really tell from the web page.

The battery is cheap and replaceable.

[DuctTaper42]

Here's my "don't have permission" rig:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1447756-REG/sony_pcm_a10_high_resolution_audio_recorder.html

https://soundprofessionals.com/product/SP-SPSB-4/

https://www.church-audio.com/product-category/microphones/#shop (I have a set of both CA-14 omnis and cardioids)

The mics look to be out of stock, any idea how often they restock?

[mrfender]

Well it's a good thing I read this thread.  Does that batter box have a replaceable or built in battery?  Can't really tell from the web page.

Page says:
"Power module has 30-50 hour battery life (12v A23 battery)"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A23_battery

Thanks, I misunderstood that description.  Must be getting senile.

[roffels]

Here's my "don't have permission" rig:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1447756-REG/sony_pcm_a10_high_resolution_audio_recorder.html

https://soundprofessionals.com/product/SP-SPSB-4/

https://www.church-audio.com/product-category/microphones/#shop (I have a set of both CA-14 omnis and cardioids)

The mics look to be out of stock, any idea how often they restock?

I'm sorry, I don't.

[unidentified]

Here's my "don't have permission" rig:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1447756-REG/sony_pcm_a10_high_resolution_audio_recorder.html

https://soundprofessionals.com/product/SP-SPSB-4/

https://www.church-audio.com/product-category/microphones/#shop (I have a set of both CA-14 omnis and cardioids)

The mics look to be out of stock, any idea how often they restock?

I'm sorry, I don't.

Don't hold your breath. Order, but also look for a set of used ones

[guitard]

FYI the mods have to continuously make clear Community Audio is not for bands that are not approved for LMA. It is for "other" types of audio that need archiving, not a catch all pirate bay type place to avoid copyright law. Try to get your bands to allow archiving on LMA and it they don't want to then don't put their stuff in Community Audio either.

Old news. We've evolved our position on this. If you are taping with permission, but can't get the artist on the LMA (some just can't figure out how to reply to an email), Community Audio is okay. Some artists that have historically already said no should not be uploaded to CA - Phish, DMB, Mule, Panic, Black Crowes, and others.

I don't think I'll personally have much luck with contacting a Korean Girl Group about posting recordings, BUT... they allow Recordings from a Phone during the concert, so I wouldn't see why it would be any different than just a audio recording.

I can speak Korean really well; not native, but more than well enough to compose an email in Korean to ask about this.  If interested, PM me.

[nulldogmas]

The mics look to be out of stock, any idea how often they restock?

I'm sorry, I don't.

Don't hold your breath. Order, but also look for a set of used ones

^This. They show up a fair bit in the Yard Sale here. Very good mics, but extremely, uhh, unpredictable vendor.

[DuctTaper42]

The mics look to be out of stock, any idea how often they restock?

I'm sorry, I don't.

Don't hold your breath. Order, but also look for a set of used ones

^This. They show up a fair bit in the Yard Sale here. Very good mics, but extremely, uhh, unpredictable vendor.

Good to know, I'll keep my eyes peeled when the time comes to take the plunge

[aaronji]

^This. They show up a fair bit in the Yard Sale here. Very good mics, but extremely, uhh, unpredictable vendor.

That's an understatement if ever there was one! Frankly, I would avoid CA mics solely for that reason. Good luck if there are ever any issues...

[roffels]

^This. They show up a fair bit in the Yard Sale here. Very good mics, but extremely, uhh, unpredictable vendor.

That's an understatement if ever there was one! Frankly, I would avoid CA mics solely for that reason. Good luck if there are ever any issues...

Not to discount anyone else's experiences, but what it's worth, the vendor worked with me when the delivery went awry.

[aaronji]

^ That's great! Not common, but great. There have been TONS of threads over the years documenting Mr. Church's questionable, and often surly, customer service...

[nulldogmas]

^ That's great! Not common, but great. There have been TONS of threads over the years documenting Mr. Church's questionable, and often surly, customer service...

He's always been pleasant with me. Timely, hell no, but pleasant.

Anyway, now that there are people here who are expert in repairing Church mics, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a pair in the yard sale.

[unidentified]

^ That's great! Not common, but great. There have been TONS of threads over the years documenting Mr. Church's questionable, and often surly, customer service...

He's always been pleasant with me. Timely, hell no, but pleasant.

Anyway, now that there are people here who are expert in repairing Church mics, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a pair in the yard sale.

^ This! 

[mrfender]

Here's my "don't have permission" rig:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1447756-REG/sony_pcm_a10_high_resolution_audio_recorder.html

https://soundprofessionals.com/product/SP-SPSB-4/

https://www.church-audio.com/product-category/microphones/#shop (I have a set of both CA-14 omnis and cardioids)

Ran the SP-SPSB-4 with CA-14s into an R-07 last night with very good results. Love that it plugs directly in the deck but it does tend to spin, constantly worried that it might accidentally pull out of the jack.  Was thinking a little velcro on the box & deck might correct that.  Low profile and one less cord are big positives

[roffels]

^ my roland r07 is my other common rig - agreed about the spinning. Thankfully I've never had it pull out or make any noise artifacts from the movement.

[aaronji]

He's always been pleasant with me. Timely, hell no, but pleasant.

Anyway, now that there are people here who are expert in repairing Church mics, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a pair in the yard sale.

He has his defenders and detractors. All pretty well documented here. I wish he had been pleasant with me, as well as timely (definitely not even close), but he was just plain rude at times. He deleted most of his posts here, many of which showed the same ill-mannered tendency.

As for repairs, as far as I know that is confined to cable repair. If you have problems with the capsules, or a pre-amp, you'll still have to go to the source. I had an EE friend try to take a look at a Church pre for me and he said there was so much gunk melted into the box (presumably to prevent theft of his incredible designs), that is was not workable as far as a fix. Just my two cents...