SimonMagus

As far as I've been told, though, you only need a mic preamp if you're recording really quiet, really distant, or soft ambient sounds...basically for taking care of quiet sounds at the opposite end of the spectrum from the battery box (which covers louder/bass-heavy sounds). A battery box WITH preamp can cost a lot of dough (if Sound Professionals are any indiciation!), and you should think about what you'd end up recording so you can decide if you really need one.

Sorry...not sure if I have the technical savoir-faire to address the first two issues...perhaps something jostling the mic connection, or jumpiung around too much during the show? I'll guess at the 2nd and say that cheaper mics that have lower-end components and/or lower dynamic ranges may cause distortion/clipping with sounds at the extreme end of either spectrum? For the third issue, you may want to get your hands on either Cool Edit or SoundForge (although SF only works with .wav format, while Cool Edit can edit MP3s) and experiment with normalization (which you would want to do anyways to ensure a robust volume to your end product). You might want to normalize the lower-volume section to a higher degree than the rest of the recording...it might take a lot of fiddling, and you might not get a crystal-clean perfect result, but no audio recording is perfect, and it could very well drastically improve your end result. I'm sorta stabbing in the dark here...but hope this helps.

Unfortunately, not yet. IMHO this is the one thing that would make Sharp's IM-MT880 (or 770) just about perfect. I'm sure it will happen at some point, though...I'd bet my life savings it will happen on a Sharp unit first, so you might want to keep your eyes peeled for their new MD unit releases.

It might also be a bad minidisc...but my guess is this is a last-ditch problem you'll rarely have to worry about.

Really, mystyler? I was under the impression that preamps were only really needed for recording quiet sounds, and that the battery module (with or without bass rolloff) is all you need for loud events?

There are some on this board who no doubt have more experience than I in this area; but as far as I know the input has no bearing on the type of equipment you need. Line-in, however, is a quieter connection than mic-in, thus liable to give you better quality in your end-product. The batbox is all you need for loud and/or bass-heavy recordings. I think all the Sound Professionals' stuff is built for a line-in connection (I don't know of any that use mic-in). A preamp basically does for quiet sounds what a battbox does for louder sounds; namely, it boosts the range of the mic. As far as I know you don't use preamps for recording loud events.

My understanding is that a preamp will help boost your mic's input range for quieter sounds (soft talking, nature sounds, light ambience, etc) whereas the battery module is for louder/more bass-heavy sounds...so it depends on what your perceived use(s) is/are.

My advice would be to stick with SP for the best quality original recording. Personally, if I record CD music real-time in LP2 mode versus SP mode I can't really hear a difference (except the bass might be a bit fuller in SP - but when you strain your listening faculties too much everything begins to sound the same after a while! :? ). I can, however, hear a bit more of a difference when recording live ambience. So...I use SP for all original recording, LP2 for most music (MP3s, CDs, etc) and LP4 for spoken-word stuff or if I'm travelling and want 5 hours of decent-quality music on one MD ) Headphones are also going to make a difference to the listening experience...I have some Tool and Motorhead recorded in LP4, and my Sony EX70s versus the bundled earphones gave me LOTS of new respect for LP4!

Working from previous experience with SoundForge...assuming you have the patch cable (usually 1/8" to 1/8"), run it from the line-out (if you have, for example, the N1 or many other Sony units; this is preferable since it's a quieter and equalized connection) or the headphone out if you don't have a line-out. If you have to use the headphone out, turn off all your bass/treble settings to get as neutral/equalized a recording as possible. As far as I can remember, it is then a simple matter of making sure the line-in on your PC is unmuted and at a decent level, then you're ready to begin. IMPORTANT NOTE: Before starting, MUTE your other channels! I speak from personal experience...after having to replay a 30-min track into my PC after leaving the mic channel open; the result was the recording - with ALL the background conversation my friend I had WHILE it was being played in to the PC! :x You might have to try only the first 20 seconds or so to playback to make sure the levels are set right; a bit of trial and error should allow you to set everything up the way you want. When I rip vinyl I need to feed my record player through my receiver; so since I have an old Sony STR-AV970, I use a standard RCA red/white cable from the receiver's VIDEO 1 out. I use an RCA-1/8" converter, which you can get for a mere pittance at Radio Shack, but this connection will depend on your receiver. You plug it in to your sound card's line-in just like your MD unit. Hope all this helps.

I'd have to say go for a Sharp model for live recording. I own an MT880, and I would recommend either this model or the DR7. The only drawback I have heard so far with the DR7 vis-a-vis live recording is that it's not quite as straightforward to control it with the remote as with the MT880 (which has a dedicated record button on the remote). But once it's started you can use the FF/REW buttons on the remote or main unit (on both the MT880 and DR7) to adjust recording levels. I don't think any current Sony unit lets you control recording functions from the remote.

I'm looking for a single-point stero mic for recording all kinds of sounds - from ambient to live events (possibly). I'm looking right now at the Sony ECM-MS907...is there anyone here who owns it and has used it for live recording? Opinions, good or bad? Or are there any others (in roughly the same price range, being about 100USD as far as I know) I should know about?

I have to admit...the N10 graphite :shock: is the sexiest portable unit I've ever seen, with the black/red N707 second. The MT880 has that bulge, but the press pics give you all the wrong camera angles...it's soo unappreciated - hold it in your hands and you fall in love with it

Hey there, For some time I have been shopping for a combination mic preamp/battery module with bass rolloff that will cover all recording situations, as I will be taking my Sharp MT880 and SoundPros in-ear binaurals backpacking in various parts of the world for a couple of years to record ambient sounds. So far I have found the SoundPros' SP-SPSB-1, which is the "stealthiest" for my uses. there are, however, problems: 1) With all the required mods this will cost about $400CDN; but more importantly, 2) Since SoundPros are irritatingly (and, IMHO, prohibitively) ethical about international shipping, I stand to get shafted on punitive Canadian duty fees since I'm ordering from the US. Can anyone recommend a good place in Canada that might have what I need (or other places in the US)? Thanks.

Personally, I would go the route of a battery module added to a good mic hookup - your in-ear binaurals are a good choice - with bass rolloff set to about 100-107dB for the really loud stuff. It seems to be the simplest choice - especially for the non-tech savvy like me

Really? Hmm. I just thought it would help group unit-specific questions, in addition to the broader topic-oriented sections. Ah well.