Topic: So, I taped Dragonforce last night and came across a sound-related issue

[George]

Hey Guys,

           I ran with at853's cards (phantom powered) into a sanjay-built mini xlr box with no gain controls into my Iriver H140.  The recording sounds quite clear but I noticed a distinct lack in bass.  The bass wasn't overwhelming in the venue (Nokia Theatre), but it was quite present...especially the blaring assault of the double bass drum attack.  Is it possible that the battery was near its end for the bbox?  Just wondering...I guess I gotta figure out how to put some bass back in the recording.  Thanks for any tips...oh...the cable from the bbox to the iriver was firmly in place the entire time.

edited for some missing info

[George]

Alright, I taped more bands tonight and I have the same issue...anyone have any idea what could be wrong?  It just sounds like all the bass is sucked out of the recording.   

edit: tomorrow I'll test the iriver and record line in and see if that's the culprit.  I have a feeling something is wrong with the bbox...I used a fresh lithium 9V tonight.  The recordings sound great, minus the distinct lack of bass.

[Brian Skalinder]

Sample?

Have you used this gear previously with different results?

Perhaps the channels are out of phase?  That might account for the lack of bass.  If you open the waveform and zoom in a bit, you ought to be able to tell visually if they're out of phase.  Try inverting one channel and see if it sounds better / proper based on your ears the night of the recording.

[George]

Hey Brian, thanks for the response!  Here's a clip of the Dragonforce show...I'll get one rdy for the megadeth show in a jiffy.


edit:  here's the megadeth clip.

The last time I taped was in August and it sounded great so I'm a bit puzzled by this.  I'll go fiddle with audition and see if I can figure out how to invert one channel and see what happens.  Thanks!

Edit3:  I just remembered I taped a Queensryche show just last week and it sounded great.

edit2:  I tried inverting and it didn't work...still sounds thin.

[Humbug]

Gloco, downloaded / listened to both samples, can you tell me about the venues they were taped in?

Also, I know this is a daft question, but you're sure you didn't have Hyper caps on? 'cos thats what it sounds like..(I also use a Sanjay bb).

[George]

Gloco, downloaded / listened to both samples, can you tell me about the venues they were taped in?

Also, I know this is a daft question, but you're sure you didn't have Hyper caps on? 'cos thats what it sounds like..(I also use a Sanjay bb).

Hey, I taped dragonforce at Nokia Theatre...holds about 2000 people, small place.  It was rather bass heavy too.  I was about 60' feet back

I taped Megadeth at PNC Bank Arts center in New Jersey, large outdoor venue.  I was about 100' to 125' back.

I only have card caps.  I "remastered" the megadeth show and it sounds ok now.  I basically raised the bass frequencies up until the 300Hz range and lowered the 1000Hz range a few db's (up to 4000Hz).  I've taped with hypers in the past, i've never heard them sound like this.  The recordings seriously sound like the bass was totally sucked out.  I've taped with this rig long enough to know what it should sound like, the at853's cards are anything but bright, they actually sound a little muddy/unrefined in large venues...especially when you tape from a distance like I did.  I taped depeche mode at PNC recently and it sounded bassy, I taped Better than Ezra at Nokia last month and it sounded a bit bassy. 

I'm sending the mics in tomorrow to sp to have them checked out and I just purchased a bbox from chris church.  I suspect the sanjay box is faulty.  Thanks for chiming in humbug