Topic: Beyerdynamic mc 930+pocket deck

[carpa]

It seems clear to me that in order to get good recordings with a pocket deck (i.e.Edirol R09H) will sooner or later be needed some external mics+phantom power unit.
If I didn't misunderstand the best choice would be a couple of mics with a low self noise floor and (mostly,maybe) a good sensitivity.
I've read some good reviews about Beyerdynamic mc 930. What seems interesting is that they have a self-noise  at about 14 db (there are several mics around this) and a respectable 30mV output, which shoud allow  to use less gain in internal preamp or,maybe, to go straight into line.
What does it mean in terms of DB's having a 30mV output instead of, let's say, 12?

Besides this I've read that this Beyers 930 are indicated for instruments like grand piano. In the mic's specs I've read that the freq.response is 40-20.000; given that the lowest note on a piano is 27 hertz will this automatically produce a weak performance in the bass?
Another quite sensitive mic seems to be the new Audio-technica AT4021, with an output of 19.5 and a 20-20.000 response.

I know that the first thing about a mic is "how it sounds", but I need to get some information in order to consider or exclude some products from my list.
thank you
c

[boojum]

I cannot tell you much about this mic specifically.  But most if not all serious recording is done with phantom powered mics.  The main exception to that that I know of would be the Shure 57's and 58's which are favored by some rock musicians.  They have their own trade mark sound.

If you plan to get serious about recording you can get by now with electret mics which only need a battery box to work.  You can get some very good results.  But eventually you will be buying a recorder with phantom power or a phantom power power supply for phantom powered mics.

It comes down to how much money you plan to spend in the next few years and how much good gear you want to buy as opposed to "OK" gear.  Tough decisions.

Good luck

[terabyte23]

I'm interested in this too.  Can you give us some suggestions of phantom-power power supplies that would work well for MC930 > R-09HR?  And cabling solutions or other gear necessary?  Thanks very much.

[carpa]

Well, as far as I know there are quite a few phantom power units. Some of them can be also battery-powered;one of them is Art phantom II.
If I'm not  wrong you plug the two XLR's into the unit, then you need a XLR balanced out to minijack stereo unbalanced to get into the recorder. I know that unbalancing needs to be done with a short cable; I don't know (really I don't) if a line matching transformer like Shure A95uf would do a better job.

 You should go mic-in this way or, as somebody told me here, even line-in. I think thist last possibility provides a lower noise result, but maybe you need close miking and an average loud sound source.
What I actually can't figure out is the real improvement such a rig (a couple of Beyer's or Audio-technica or else) could produce instead of a "simpler" setup like a rode nt4 or similar.
In Italy a Rode costs about 350 Euros, two Beyers plus Phantom maybe 650. It is often impossible to test gear before buying, so it's a bit risky......
If I had to test a piano, no problem. Just place my hand on it 20 seconds and I can tell you everything, but in recording gear I'am like Tarzan (I mean primitive, not strong...)
c

[TNJazz]

You can run the beyer MC930 with a battery box.

[mblindsey]

I think Richard/Illconditioned has done a good job with:  Beyerdynamic MC930 > batt box > Edirol R09

He is on the board.  Send him a PM...or maybe he'll stumble upon this thread....

He has samples here:
http://www.soundmann.com/

--Michael

[hawghunter]

He'll see this and comment, I'm sure. He speaks very highly of said mics. I can't complain about them either. However, I can't comment on a battery box as my MiniMe has 48V pp. But I believe the MC930 can run on a little as 11 or 12V.  I don't know much about the R9, but the MTII has better PP then the MTI, I believe I read that in the MTII thread.