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smkranz

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Everything posted by smkranz

  1. Whew...what a recording the NH900 and the Sound Pros. in-ear binaurals (hi sens) made of the kid's concert! I still can't believe the sound...listened to it all the way back home this afternoon on headphones, and now on the CDs I created, and I still can't get the grin off my face. I know I am sometimes easily amused, but after the *OK* high school concert recording the other night, I wasn't sure what improvement to expect by switching to manual recording. The difference between using AGC and manual control is totally stunning...clean sounding highs and lows, very little discernable noise to my ear, and no upper end distortion I can detect thru even a few prolonged, loud passages. Well, I guess the accoustics in the concert hall vs. the high school auditorium might have also played some small part, but the "presence" these little things produce is unbelievable to me. Taking stock of the prior posts, I set the NH900 to low mic sensitivity, and the recording level to 11. I was seated pretty squarely in the middle of the orchestra (lower) section...somewhat elevated from the very front, but not up in the balcony. The concert was recorded in Hi-SP, x-ferred via Sonic Stage, and converted with the Sony wave converter. I then used Nero 6's wave editor to trim the "dead air" before and between various movements, and shorten/fade the applause from the tracks. We now have a 79 min. 26 sec. near-professional sounding CD that two sets of proud grandparents will be happier about than anything they've gotten in years.
  2. Following this very informative thread leads me to a couple of questions for live concert recordings, after having just taken my in-ear binaurals (Sound Pros hi-sensitivity model plugged into the mic input of an NH900) for their first test drive at a high school orchestra concert...indoors, in a typical high school auditorium. Used AGC set to normal, mic sens to low. The resulting recording sounds decent, except for seemingly frequent fluctuations in the recording level (seems to be what A440 was describing above...AGC trying to compensate for dynamic peaks?) Almost makes certain passages sound "warbly". I will take these mics on the road later this week to record a classical music concert at a conservatory (proud but broke Papa!). Here are my two questions which I hope I get some feedback on in the next day or so... 1. Manual recording level...suggestions? A440, you recommended level 12 in your answer above, did that assume a pretty loud concert? I won't have the ability to test my settings, it'll be set it and forget it (like Ron Popeil). What anyone's best guess for a safe manual setting? 2. Everything I've read about using a battery box to record "line-in" is in the context of a "loud" concert, but I'm not sure 'zactly what that means. As someone pointed out in another thread, classical music can have strong dynamic peaks, but isn't all "loud." I don't have a battery box, so for the purposes of this upcoming concert the question is moot. But could anyone chime in on whether a battery box & line-in recording works well for anything but "loud" rock concerts? Thanks!
  3. I went with a pair of in-ear TFB-2 (high-sensitivity version) from Sound Professionals, which arrived yesterday...very prompt shipping. My first impressions: It takes a few minutes to figger out how they fit (and it's a GOOD thing they marked the Right one with a little red pen mark or I'd still be playing with them), but it quickly gets easier and once they're in properly, they're very comfortable to wear (almost unnoticable after awhile) and seemingly secure...unless there is an inadvertent tug on the wire (like if it gets hung up on clothing, etc.). It seems that the cable length could be a little longer to allow for more slack if the MD needs to go in a jacket or pants pocket rather than a shirt pocket, but I'll cope with that. Also ordered a set of windscreens...little puff balls that you have to be careful with to get them onto the mic or else they'll rip. Fitting the mic into the ear structure with the windscreen installed is a little more challenging. It does work, but it's not as comfortable and (at least in my ear) if it is not seated just right it will tend to come out. The sound: these little guys are incredibly sensitive! I'm planning to use these to record classical music concerts, but I tested with a few tunes on the banjo, and with my NH-900 mic sensitivity set to high, there was much background hiss and considerable distortion of the highs. Of course, the instrument was barely 2 feet away from the mics. Switching the mic sensitivity to low made a remarkable difference...they still pick up almost all ambient sounds, but there was very little background hiss and no perceptible distortion. Switching the AGC (?) setting to Loud Music (as opposed to Normal) seemed to make little if any noticeable difference. I will also experiment more with the manual recording level settings...I tried it at level 8 and it came out too low. Can't wait to get these things inside a concert hall.
  4. Greetings, I have about 735 songs recorded thus far onto a 1GB Hi-MD. The last CD I transferred to the MD using Sonic Stage transferred all of the tracks, but left some of the Titles as "untitled"...cannot edit them in Sonic Stage, and trying to edit them on the MD results in a "Title Full" message. The manual indicates this message is a result of having a total of more than approx. 55,000 letters in titles. Seems hard to believe I'm maxed out (as 55,000 / 735 songs = 75 average letters per title, and the ave. title is probably less than 20 letters long). I deleted some of the artist's names on some tracks, which allowed me to enter some add'l title names. Sheesh...do I have to delete artist names (and what else?) to get the thing to take all of my title names?
  5. I am looking for a pair of stealth mics to record live classical music (i.e. concert hall) concerts with a MZ-NH900. The Sound Professionals in-ear TFB-2 and the SP-BMC-12/Croakie combo look like my two best choices (I've only had my 900 for a month or so now, and I suppose I'm a little more easily amused than some, but man, isn't some of this stuff just too cool?) The recordings will most definitely be burned to CD and played by others over loudspeakers (as well as thru headphones on portables). Would the frontward-facing Croakie combo be a better choice for that reason? Any other considerations or experiences from others would be wildly appreciated. Oh...and if I went with the in-ear TFB-2 mics I'm thinking I'd want the high-sensitivity version...right? Not recording loud rock concerts, but mostly classical (concert hall) and maybe some live bluegrass concerts. Steve
  6. There's a listing on eBay for the same kind of "pick & pluck" foam used in the Otterbox and Quantaray boxes at what would appear to be a decent price. You could use a couple of layers of this stuff with just about any kind of plastic storage box (WalMart...eek!?). http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW
  7. Almost got an Otterbox 6010, until I came across the Quantaray aluminum carrying cases with customizable "pick & pluck" foam interior. Cost: $39.95 at Ritz Camera. It isn't waterproof, but I figure if I ever have to worry about it being submerged in 100 ft. of water, I'll probably have bigger problems at hand than saving the MD. Here are a few pix of the rig holding my MZ-NH900 with accessories... http://members.aol.com/smkranz/minidisc/minidisc.htm
  8. Found that Radio Shack stores sell essentially the same spring loaded mic holder for $5. Holds the MS907 nice and snug.
  9. Kevin, thanks for your reply. I now see that same spring-loaded mic holder available at numerous U.S. sites and will probably go for it...it's certainly inexpensive enough. Am continuing to wonder, though, if anyone knows or has figured out Sony's intended application for its own mic holder, or if there is some adaptor one could use, since the threads are too large for any mic stand I've seen. Steve
  10. Hello, all. I bought a Sony ECM-MS907 mic with my new NH900 MD. However, the mic holder's threads are too large for a standard mic stand. (What are those larger threads intended to be used with, then?) So I found another holder that sort of fits the 907 mic but because of the shape of the mic it really doesn't fit well and I'm afraid it might slip out. Haven't been able to find an adaptor with the right thread comination to use the original holder with my mic stand. Any suggestions? Maybe there is a mic holder out there that uses spring clamps rather than just a friction fit...if so, I haven't come across it yet. Thanks!
  11. Hi, all. Just joined and am getting great use out of the forums. My query concerns file sizes of live (mic) recordings using Hi-MD. A friend of mine and I who live several states apart are contemplating purchase of new MZ-NH900 Hi-MD recorders to record songs played on our respective instruments (fiddle & banjo) and email them to each other so we can practice & learn to accompany each other when we do get together. He uses a dial-up service provider, so it seems the optimal solution would be to upload and convert to mp3 or another compressed format for purposes of emailing files. I understand this is *possibly* on the horizon from Sony with a wave converter. I've read about marcnet's software solution as well as doing real-time analog recording using Total Recorder, and I'm not afraid. I suspect he, too, would be able to conquer the technicalities. But, in advance of of going in this direction... Question: From what I've read, live mic recording is done in linear PCM which, with approx. 93 minutes on a 1 GB Hi-MD disc, would yield a file size of about 10+ MB per minute. Is that right? If so, that would stress his dial-up connection without converting/compressing the files (tho I suppose maybe compressing them with winzip would help???), and make it about as practical to just mail discs back & forth. Thanks in advance...
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