Reactive

My friend A440, forgot to mention www.reactivesounds.com. High quality, reliable microphones with elegant designs Gerry

Percussive, thanks for the great review! Ben, The Auris require 2-10 v forward bias voltage. Most minidisc recorders provide the bias voltage thru the mic jack, and commonly call this "Plug-in-power". The typical voltage provided by a minidisc recorder is 2.5v. The type of recording environment that you have described is a loud recording environment. The microphones would perform far better if they were powered closer to the 10v range. You can do this by either adding on the Reactive Sounds Juice box (ie 9 volt power supply), or adding on the Reactive Sounds Boost box (9v power supply PLUS pre-amp). In both cases you would be feeding the output signal into the "Line-in" on your recorder. Thanks and let us know what you decided, and why? Gerry www.reactivesounds.com

You may be right, however Line Level standard is all over the place. It's different on every piece of equipment out there. Where do you read about 16/30 being a standard? Thanks Gerry

Hi Tim. Yes it can get confusing and overwhelming. Try this out: When using the Boost box or any other pre-amp for that matter you should set the external pre-amp to it's maxium position (before it begins to clip), then adjust the MD internal recording level to the maxiumum. If you find that the external pre-amp is overloading the MD recorder, back off the recording level on the MD recorder until it is approx 6db below the clipping point. Your running a line out signal. It requires no further amplification, thus you should run it hot into your recorder and reduce the signal if it is too high. I hope that helps Gerry

It is better to have the mic elements seperated, however when we first designed the Delta mic we used a number of foam shells to see how it would sound. I was surprised to find that the stereo image was really quite good. My best stereo image recordings have been when I placed myself infront of the subject at a distance of approx 10-15 ft. We are working on two new single point stereo microphones, but at this point they are still very much in the prototype stage, and I'd rather not get into any specific details. Sincerly Gerry Bolda www.reactivesounds.com

Hi guys, just following this thread....I will add that you can also, use the juice box thru the mic-in as well. This would be when you wish to record quieter sounds. The benefit here is the bigger dynamic range that is obtained from the 9v power supply. Don't worry , you won't be pumping 9v into the mic jack, the circuitry inside the juice box supplies that power only to the mic's. You asked why our model is $10 less. We run a less expensive business model than sound pro's, I think they have a retail outlet and that means bigger operating costs, and thus higher prices. If your in the US you can order quickly and easily from our distributor http://www.minidisco.com/juicebox.html, and of course you can order thru us. Thanks, and let us know your experiences? Gerry www.reactivesounds.com

Hi Melissa, you can order both the Delta and Micpod from minidisco, they will extend our money back satisfaction guarantee. Why not give us a try. Gerry www.reactivesounds.com PS I am taking my drums on a rd trip this weekend, would a recording help?

Your best bet (given your budget) would be to use a battery box http://www.reactivesounds.com/ps1.php. For recording loud concerts your need to power those mic's as much as possible, throw in a radio shack attenuator and you can adjust the mic's output so that you don't overload the minidisc internal pre-amp. Gerry www.reactivesounds.com

Hi Dex, Your description of the fixed gain vs the variable gain is mostly correct. To recapitulate: The fixed gain pre-amp is not the best way to boost a mic signal. Too much noise from the gain setting. Let me see if I can give an example that I can understand (sorry too many Canada Day celebrations yesterday). Recording example: You have a fixed gain pre-amp and your in a setting that requires a gain boost of approx. 35db. With a fixed gain pre-amp your only option is to choose from 29db or 50db. Your stuck in the middle with too liitle amplification or too much. Most likely your going to choose the 50db setting. But how do you know? No clipping meter or VU meter to guide you? If you choose the 50db setting and your clipping the output, yes you can adjust the level down with the rotary level meter, but as Dex say's it's not an efficient use of the amplifier circuit. Why run it at full throttle and then have to lower the output level? It makes no sense. The fully adjustable gain found on the Reactivesounds Boost box (from zero to 36db) is a more efficient design, with the clipping meter you can nail that recording time and time again. We chose the cut off point at 36db because I felt the noise level beyond this point would be too high. As I mentioned in a previous post, "the noise level is present at all times, and you can only ever get it down to a managable level" Sure if you throw ton's of money at it you end up with a Mackie style pre-amp, very quiet, expensive, and not suited for portable use. Thanks Gerry www.reactivesounds.com

Hi, I can offer you a host of personal experiences, particularly with recording of singular African drums and group drumming circles. I play a few different sized djembies (depending on the group size), and often take along my recording gear. I can tell you that is both frustrating and rewarding to record group drumming sessions. Your biggest enemy will be the overwhelming SPL (sound pressure levels) that peak and drop as sound waves converge together. It will most likely take a few practice sessions to get the desired recording. Things to avoid: Recording a group indoors- It's just too loud, unless you want to invest in more than a microphone (pre-amps, external power supplies ect). For a solo drum recording I have had GREAT success with a dual mic system, ie Auris mics, one placed near the drumming pad and the other clipped to my body. It took a few attempts to get the volumes balanced correctly, but was well worth the effort. For simplicity the Delta mic and Midpod (designed by us and copied by our competitors over at Microphone Madness) will be best utilized by having the drum group form an arc, the recording microphone would be placed in front of the group facing them at a distance of approx 6ft-10ft. Being omni's they are not directional, BUT Given the housing that we mount them in i can tell you that i have recorded in many a busy street location and they just do not pick up sound from the rear as much as you would think. We have a good sound sample on the Delta product page (steet performance). I hope that helps, without pushing our own great products the above advice will work for other manufacturers microphones (your results may vary). Let us know how what you decided? Gerry www.reactivesounds.com

Hi Guys, It's probably no surprise to hear that I have been following this thread for a while. I felt it important to keep in the shadows until all comments good and bad had been put forth. The Boost box was designed out of necessity. My own personal recording experiences often left me feeling frustrated at the equipment limitations. Limitations such as: 1. Internal pre-amp noise 2. Internal pre-amp overloading in loud recording environments. 3. The lack of a reliable clipping aid to prevent pre-amp overload in dark locations. 4. The lack of proper power to the microphone elements, as the MD recorders output power was far too low. 5. The lack of an on the fly adjustable gain. Basically I required an all-in-one solution. The Boost box was born. Nothing else like it on the market, does what it says and does it well. I am intrigued at the experiements that you have conducted on the internal noise, and I will run my own to see if I get the same results. I will conclude with this, internal equipment noise is the most costly, most difficult thing to reduce, without creating a $1000 pre-amp. You can only ever get it down to a manageable level. I can create a very good recording at Max gain with the Boost box, and without having to further amplify in post software editing. Every 6bd of amplfication doubles the noise floor, and I try to avoid this at all costs. Thanks for your very detailed comments in the previous posts Gerry www.reactivesounds.com

Thanks Chris, I have loads of really cool, short recording clips to upload. I will make time to do this. The latest is a massive hydraulic powered rock drill on tracks, a totally mean machine. Gerry www.reactivesounds.com

With a pre-amp to match that mic you;ll be more than fine. Just run the output into the line-in of the recorder. Typically MD recorders that have a mic jack can only use a scaled down version of a condensor mic, called an electret mic. They are powered by a small amount of voltage provided by the md recorder. Gerry www.reactivesounds.com

I am setting up some time to do a similar recording myself. In this case it's a busy Irish Pub with some really great live bands. They play along with some PA equipment for the lower volume instuments. It's not so loud that you cannot have a conversation (well if you shout you can). My recording plan is this: Head on down with my Auris Stereo Microphone, and a minidisc recorder, very simple set up. When I arrive at a venue I always spend a good 20 minutes walking around the band stopping and listening. I am trying to find the null bass area's in the room. These are the dead spots where the sound waves do not superimpose themselves creating a huge amount of energy that is distasterous for recording. Once I am happy with the location I will try to set up my gear there. If it's stealth mode, I 'll be wearing the mic's on my shirt collars or up high near my head. At that point it's a matter of turning on the recorder and setting the level's to approx 85% or -12db if you have a VU meter. I then occasionally monitor the show if the volume levels are not consistant. It's not a good idea to fiddle around with the gain once you have started recording, far better off to set it with adequate headroom. (If you are allowed to record you should bring some suction cups, some electrical tape, some sticky tack putty and a few elastic bands. These will all be handy for mounting the microphones on various bits of hardware or parts of the building). A seperate pre-amp such as the Boost box with a clipping led will make the monitoring job much easier. You can store the MD in your pocket with the buttons locked and make all your adjustments from the top panel of the pre-amp. Probably the best advice I can give without getting really technical is to get out and record as much as you can, become familiar with your gear and soon you'll be on your way to making some great recordings. Best of luck Gerry www.reactivesounds.com