Hi folks,
I'm a novice taper, but not a total audio luddite. After using the built-in iPhone mic at a recent show and being very surprised by the quality, I want to step up my game for an important show next month. I have seats that are a little elevated directly behind the soundboard, dead center, at a 4000 capacity theater.
It seems to me that the best bang for my buck is the Shure MV88 (but feedback welcome on that). I'll have to record stealth. This will be my first show with an external mic, and I've read that the gain dial on the MV88 doesn't function as you'd expect, so I'm nervous about setting this up. It's likely the best spot on the venue for taping, and it's a very important artist in the jazz/rock genre. I expect that the volume will be dynamic, but not overly loud.
In my imagination, I have two approaches for setting up on the night of the show -
- Lowball the gain based on typical theater db values, based on responses on this thread. Then adjust later in Audition, etc.
- Devise a workflow involving waiting until the show starts, monitoring levels early making a best guess as to what the gain should be, and other considerations.
So my question is am I on the right track with my thinking, and which approach is better? I'd love to be able to boil it down to a few concrete steps so I can "set it and forget it". I imagine the soundboard area will be somewhat lit, I don't think I'll be able to get away with fiddling with my iPhone after the show starts.
Thanks!