New Taper - need advice on setup

[vibralux]

Hi guys,

This is my first post here so let me say Hi to everyone!

I am basically a studio animal, but recently I suffer from ,,alien studio guy syndrome" and wanted to go out to the world and record some samples out there. I was thinking a lot  and read this forum for some time now, but the time has come and I need Your advice.

Well, as I  mentioned I am a music producer and wanted to record some outside samples. Let's say for quick comparision- I am working on something like Amon Tobin last CD. So- I want to record many samples- anything ranging from animal sounds, random nature sounds to ambient, instrument and basically anything that makes sounds.

Now I need a very small intuitive recorder capable od 24bit /44.1. - that I wanna do with Marantz pmd 620 - the price is right and I know from studio experience that the mic and pre are more important anyway. Which brings me to the second thing: Which mic?  It needs to be flexible (for many different sounds and applications - i know such a mic does not exist, but there are some more flexible mic s out there right?) , have a very low self handling noise as I will mostly record it with my hands, and it and the top  budget I have for it is 900$  It would be a bonus if I could use it also in studio situations. Now I thought about the Earthworks SR 30 thing - what do You guys thinks about this one- will this do well for me?  Probably I would need a preamp with it right? Church audio?

Would that work? Sr30- Church Audio Pre- pmd 620?

I also consider a shotgun mic. Is that a good idea? Or should I go for it later?

I would appreciate any help. Thanks in advance!

Cheers

Marty

[NOLAfishwater]

Welcome to the board. I am sure you will find lots of useful information and plenty of people who want to help. There are several all in one units out there, however, many of them require their preamps to be modified so that they have less noise and can have more headroom. The 620 might be decent, but it is my experience that Marantz does not have good quality stock preamps. There seems to be alot of good reports about the FR2LE. It records in 24 bit, costs $500 new, and have it modified for $175 by Busman. As far as the microphones are concerned, it sounds like you need to buy a pair of multi pattern large diaphram microphones so that you can custom tailor the situation. ADK-TL's can be acquire for within your budget. My friend Jimna tapes with them and his recordings usually smoke. 

Here is a used pair of mics on the yard sale:  http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,93641.0.html


Here is a FR2LE on Ebay brand new for $454 http://cgi.ebay.com/Fostex-FR2LE-Field-Recorder-FR-2LE-FR2-LE-BRAND-NEW_W0QQitemZ250192760222QQihZ015QQcategoryZ41478QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[vibralux]

Wow! Thanks man - this Fostex looks quite promising and it delivers Phantom so that's a very good opition as I would'nt have to carry an extra preamp around. As for mic's- You think I really need two mic's? Why? It worries me- the same thing started when I joined Gearslutz- I only wanted an advice for a vocal mic , and one year later here I am - stuck with Mc77, Drawmer 1968, Brauner Mic and few preamps that my wife thinks cost 100$ 

Oh- I just checked the ADK's- I need somethin more portable- I already own few studio mics- i need something I can hold in my hands while still obtaining good recordings. I read that Amon Tobin was using the Earthworks m50 mic pair- but that's out of my range by a bit ;-) Anyone on the SR30 series? I heard that all Earthworks mic's cope well with handling noise.


Cheers

M

[stevetoney]

Wow! Thanks man - this Fostex looks quite promising and it delivers Phantom so that's a very good opition as I would'nt have to carry an extra preamp around. As for mic's- You think I really need two mic's? Why? It worries me- the same thing started when I joined Gearslutz- I only wanted an advice for a vocal mic , and one year later here I am - stuck with Mc77, Drawmer 1968, Brauner Mic and few preamps that my wife thinks cost 100$ 

Oh- I just checked the ADK's- I need somethin more portable- I already own few studio mics- i need something I can hold in my hands while still obtaining good recordings. I read that Amon Tobin was using the Earthworks m50 mic pair- but that's out of my range by a bit ;-) Anyone on the SR30 series? I heard that all Earthworks mic's cope well with handling noise.


Cheers

M

The Fostex is a great unit and 24 bit taboot.  24 bit is very nice and provides a more detailed recording compared to 16 bit, as well as greater headroom for very loud recordings and greater ability to bump a low volume recording without loss of fidelity, such as depth/warmth of bass.

Two mics = stereo recording.  Most people that record onto magnetic medium want some form of two channel recording to simulate what you're hearing with your own two ears.  You probably know mono well enough to judge for yourself what you want but if you only use one mic, you won't get any directional perspective in your sounds, unless of course your one mic is a stereo mic with two capsules.

I can't specifically recommend a mic or pair of mics for you because the sound you obtain is such a personal taste thing...but small diaphragm (SD) mics are what you want for holding in your hand (think about the size of a cigar)...in your price range that would include some of the following which run $600 to $1000 or so a pair...AKG460 or AKG480 with CK61 (cardiod) or CK63 (hypercardioid) capsules...Neumann KM184......MBHO 603 series with KA200 (cardioid) or KA500 (hypercardiod) capsules...or Peluso with subcardioid capsule (new pair in this price range)...and I'm sure there are great stereo mics in that range also but I'm not familiar with them.  I also can't comment on the Earthworks mics you've asked about because I'm not familiar with them either.

Your best friend when new and trying to get a feel for new gear is Live Music Archive...www.archive.org.  While it won't give you a feeling for what you can get for outdoor nature sounds, it does give you some feel for waht the mic sounds like and in the live music setting...sometimes these are softer acoustic music settings so you might get a nice feel for the performance of the mic that way. 

Search on specific model of microphone on LMA and find some samples that have the flash music player associated so you can listen to the MP3 right there on the spot.

Hope this helps at least a little bit.

[vibralux]

Thanks- I think I am sold on the Tascam with Oede supermod - this seems like the most reasonable thing. I was worried about the „bulky” size of it (although it is not as bulky, but I like light weight stuff)  but the remote control probably solves all  the „fiddling with an elephant” stuff. As for mic's I will have to do a big search, although its not easy for me cause I live in Poland and the music stores suck big time here, so I have to rely on You guys 

Oh - and for the stereo recording - I was just surprised cause most of the stuff I do in studio is mono- therefore I am somehow cautious about stereo recording- besides I want to do it secretly- without looking like a portable BBC studio ;-) So I think I'll go with one mic. Those from Peluso and Neumann look quite promising. Do You know which of them has the lowest handing noise?

M