Topic: microphones

[grungepunk]

  maybe its a secret or something, but electret condensor microphone
elements are dirt cheap.  i bought some from radioshack, and they have a
very flat frequency response.  panasonic sells better elements, with a dead flat line from 20 -20khz, omni directional,  sensitivity of -35db,  S/N of 62db.
(Wm-61a). all you need is a battery, resistor, capacitor,  metal casing
and rubermounts using epoxy to mount to the metal case.  i am  using
a sony digital 8 camcorder that records sound into 16 bit digital.  since the camera is small, and the microphones too, why even buy a DAT? no microphone preamp is even needed, as you can see these mics are very sensitive. once i am done recording, i download to my computer with firewire.
then i can use any audio editor i want, burn to dvd.  i just cant see
spending thousands on equipment for live shows.  would like some feedback to why this setup wouldnt be good enough for live shows,  and im using this for studio recording.

[jlykos]

Well, let's hear some of your results and then we can comment on it.  There are lots of studio releases that sound great and lots that sound like crap.  

What are you listening to your recordings on?  Many of us here have nice stereo playback systems as well that can highlight good points and bad ones in our recordings.

Omnidirectional capsules are not ideal for most live taping situations because the bass is often too powerful to properly reproduce and the capsules pick up a higher amount of indirect sound.

[Chuck]

This is all very well documented in the archive:

http://www.taperssection.com/yabbse/index.php?board=14;action=display;threadid=5320

[wbrisette]

i bought some from radioshack, and they have a
very flat frequency response.  panasonic sells better elements, with a dead flat line from 20 -20khz, omni directional,  sensitivity of -35db,  S/N of 62db.
(Wm-61a).

Well, let us know how it turns out, but never believe the specs. I doubt they are dead flat. Since they are omnis they will be fairly flat, but even the QTC-1 EW mics I have aren't dead flat, they have some slight bumps (within .5 - 1 dB) in their frequency chart (measured by EW and supplied with each mic, not the generic charts that tend to get posted on the web and printed in brochures).

Wayne

[John R]

if it works for you, go for it, i think a cheaper route would be the sony digital micro recorder though.  seriously though, i, like everyone else who's commented, think the better way to go is seperates(like any audio gear).  on any combined audio or video component, the parts that are crammed into one box tend to be lower end geared to the consumer.  most of us here tend to use pro level gear(except schwilly).  it does make for a better recording.  a good way for you to do an a/b comparison would be to find a show you're going to,that someone from here is going to also, and check their recording to yours.

jr

[utahtaper]

  and im using this for studio recording.

Your joking right? I'm sure any band would be real impressed to find you cutting their tracks on a camcorder

[John R]

  and im using this for studio recording.

Your joking right? I'm sure any band would be real impressed to find you cutting their tracks on a camcorder

i missed that.  don't do it, future jobs may be scarce.

jr