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nulldogmas

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  1. Thanks so much! (I did e-mail MM, but haven't heard back.)
  2. As the topic says: I'm off to record a show tonight with new mics, and I can't find the manual for my MM-EBM-1 battery box/bass rolloff filter, which means I have no way of knowing which dip switch settings correspond to which bass rolloff settings. I know this is a popular box, so: If anyone reading this has a copy handy, could you be so kind as to post the setting key here, or e-mail me at neil@demause.net? You will have my lifetime gratitude...
  3. What I meant by "throwing away data" is that if I reduce the bass, I can use the headroom I've gained to record more data at other frequencies (by upping the gain overall). I've found that, with my mics at least, I end up EQing down the bass for virtually all shows anyway. I agree, though, this is a matter of taste, and pointless to argue about.
  4. If I don't have bass roll-off, though, I'm using a bunch of my headroom on bass that could otherwise go to other frequencies. Or to put it more simply: If I roll off the bass during recording, I can crank up the gain that much more without peaking. If I EQ out the bass afterwards, as you suggest, I'm just throwing away data. (Admittedly, I'm saying this before I've yet tried out my new bass roll-off battery box for the first time. But it's one reason why I spent an extra 20 bucks for this feature.)
  5. All makes sense. Do you think there's ever reason to prefer directionality to avoid sound bouncing off the side and back walls (I'm thinking the Mercury Lounge in NYC, which has walls that slough off pure audio mud), or is that a lost cause? Don't you find that the tomatoes get stuck in your Line In port?
  6. Is there a conventional wisdom (or even unconventional wisdom) on when one would want to use cardioid mics vs binaurals? Ever since getting my CS binaurals I've pretty much abandoned my cardioids because they have so little bass, but I'm wondering if there are any situations where I might want to switch back.
  7. Oh, duh - for some reason I was thinking of battery boxes as a Line In thing. I'll give that a try next, thanks. As for "limiting" my recording, if I use a rolloff, it'll let me turn up the gain overall without clipping (since bass uses up so much headroom). So I'm effectively throwing away treble right now by not having a bass rolloff, no?
  8. Is there such a thing as a bass rolloff filter that will work with a plug-in power mic going into an MD's Mic port? I realize that most people's first answer will be "Why the heck don't you just get a battery box and go into the Line In port?" but that's sadly not an option for me at the moment, as I have low-sens mics that don't generate enough signal for Line In. Do I have any options here, or am I fated to be EQing the crap out of my bass frequencies in Sound Studio for all eternity?
  9. The Core Sound is the one with the required $30 Y-cable to go with it, right? I'd steered clear of that because it's pricier - can you say what you prefer about it?
  10. It's Union Pool in Brooklyn, which is actually a converted garage with a pretty modest sound system. The sound was pretty good that night, but I'd only give so much credit to the room. I'm still thinking that I should invest in a battery box once my budget permits, if only for the bass rolloff - the CS binaurals are just insanely bass-sensitive. I'd previously had this one recommended to me, but if anyone has a cheaper/better suggestion, I'm all ears: http://microphonemadness.com/products/mmebelbatfil.htm
  11. So my next recording opportunity came sooner than I expected, when a musician I've given live recordings to asked me to come record his new band last Saturday. This time I used the low-sens mics <i>and</i> the low-sens setting on the MD, set the rec levels to 16/30 ... and here's the results: http://demause.net/music/gachupin (This is after applying a bit of bass rolloff and very slight treble boost via EQ in Sound Studio.) Suffice to say, I'm pretty happy with the results. Though this wasn't as loud a setting as Maxwell's, so a true test is still to come of whether this will be enough to avoid preamp overload in all circumstances.
  12. Core Sound does sell low-sensitivity stealthy low-cost binaurals - I know, because I have a pair. They've been great for me so far, though they're "low-sensitivity" only compared to the regular binaurals. (I.e., I still have to watch for preamp overload, though setting the MD to LOW SENS seems to have helped - see my other thread about this...) I had used CS cardioids prior to these, and agree that there's no comparison - the cardioids are clear, but flat and thin. I suspect this is less from the bass rolloff than from the 40Hz bottom end, which can't be helped by EQing.
  13. My mics are low-sens to start with, though, which is like having a built-in attenuator. My guess/hope is that that plus the built-in HiMD attenuator will be enough to compensate for crazy-loud shows. I will pick up a Radio Shack doohickey, though, just in case. Next show I go to, I plan on much experimentation during the opening act, to try to pin down the best solution. (And yes, I'll post sound samples here afterwards.)
  14. Actually, you're right and I was wrong here. I just re-read A440's faq and ran some tests, and it appears that it remembers levels *above* 13/30, but defaults to 13/30 if you've previously set it *below* that. Presumably on Planet Crackpipe where the Sony engineers live, this makes perfect sense. Personally, I blame Dick Cheney.
  15. I've just been informed by an audio-savvy friend that the LOW SENS setting likely *is* a built-in attenuator, sitting between the mic in jack and the preamp. So yeah, I'll try that first, thanks.
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