Shermy

Hi Folks, I did some research on mic sensitivity, and according to Dex Otaku, when using Line In, mic sensitivity does not come into play. I guess that's good. It means there's one less variable to worry about when recording line in. It also means there's one less excuse if your recording is messed up :laugh: .

Sorry, I double posted

Hey mgdimo, A pleasure to talk to you again!! I have a battery box, and though my experience is limited, the results are outstanding!! I've read the link to the Sound Professionals website above before I made my purchase and decided on the battery box because I would be recording in loud to VERY loud settings. I don't have experience with a pre-amp other than the built-in one on the MZ-NH900, which is IMHO very noisy. Since your situation seems close to mine, and perhaps even louder, I'd personally go with a battery box. Maybe get one with level adjusters as well. Hope this helps!! Sherm

Thanks mrsoul!! How do I go about posting a sample? Do I need to use a host website and paste a link? I also agree that marcnet's tool is a good one that is certainly worthy of making a donation to the HiMD Render Project!! I listened to the recording again and am still amazed!! I think I spoke too soon when I said "After some close listening - too much sax, not enough bones, bass was a bit thin and the trumpets sound like their about 30 feet farther away than they actually were." I was listening to a Sax soli section (for those not familiar with the term, a soli is kind of a "group solo") where they were standing up. Is it the directionality of the cardioids that cause the lack of bass? Going under the assumption that bass tones are usually more omnidirectional (hence the reason a sub-woofer can go anywhere in a room).

OK, I feel a bit embarrased !! I did a bit of research on the WAV conversion software from Sony, and I guess you can convert any OMA file that was created via Line In or Mic In on my recorder and do anything you want with it after the conversion (i.e. no copyright protection on the file). Is this indeed correct? Sorry for any confusion! Anybody have experience with the Sony WAV conversion tool they'd like to share? I'll of course be searching the forums for this info as well!!

First off - Great Job at getting this forum back up and running kurisu!!! :grin: :grin: There are a few other forums I peruse that are still down. My first live recording experience was a Big Band Christmas concert in a corporate atrium. The set up: This is a VERY large and lively room with tile floors and four stories of open space. For you musicians out there, I would describe it as very forgiving. Because it is so lively, I placed the mics about ten feet in front of the middle of the sax section (in a traditional Jazz Big Band set up) about 6 feet off the floor. I set up this close because there was one PA speaker right next to the right side of the band and another about 50 feet from the left side of the band. I didn't want the mics at all picking up the PA speakers because the band wasn't properly miked IMHO to get a true sound through them, plus the room is so lively, we probably don't need to be miked at all IMHO. I set up my mics in a X-Y pattern (much like how the capsules on a Rode NT4 are set up), plugged into my battery box (Bass roll-off set at 16Hz) and then into the line in jack. I set the microphone sensitivity to High (could have been a mistake) - can anyone explain in more detail than the manual what this actually does?? I set the Record mode to PCM (This is AWESOME!!!!). I set the record level to 24/30 on advice of another person in the band that records via minidisc. Also, it was set to automatically create separate tracks (it created 74 tracks for 13 tunes (each tune was luckily on its own individual track)). The results: First impressions - WOW :ohmy:!!! There's great stereo separation, no distortion, you can hear all the parts, crowd noise is minimal (I'm sure this is due to the mics being cardioids), liveliness of room is minimal (I'm sure this is due to the mics being cardioids as well). After some close listening - too much sax, not enough bones, bass was a bit thin and the trumpets sound like they're about 30 feet farther away than they actually were. Would setting up the mics farther away from the front of the band help? Any suggestions as to how to correct this would be much appreciated. All things considered, I'm very pleased with the results of my first attempt at a live recording. On to putting it into a "distributable" format. I downloaded marcnet's HiMDRenderer - THANKS MARCNET :cool: I used the USB connection to import the tracks into My Library on SS (version 2.2 for those that are interested). They loaded without a hitch in PCM codec. I then opened up HiMDRenderer, browsed for the folder containing the tracks, rendered each track individually into WAV format (is this the way to do it, or can you do all tracks in a folder at the same time? I know...search the forums :laugh: ). I then burned to CD. Hey SONY, I burned 3 copies so far, and I'm sure I'm going to make more!!! Try and stop me!!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: I listened to the CDs and the MD recordings to see if there were any detectible differences. With my "musicians" ears (half-deaf I'm sure from being right in front of drums in concert and marching band and right next to other trumpet players all the time), I can't tell any difference. Also, there are no clicks, pops, dead air, duplication, or anything else that people have mentioned from importing into SS or rendering via HiMDRenderer.

Catdreamz, I've had a similar experience recording old LPs on Audacity. The culprit ended up being the Microphone In line on my computer. It wasn't being used, was turned all the way up, and was not muted. In the volume control panel (you may have to go into options-->properties and select microphone so the volume control shows up for it), I muted the microphone and the sounds went away. Hope this helps.

A440, Thanks for the info on the volume attenuator! Also, thanks for the info on WMA files. I posted the same question on another thread as well. I found a workaround that takes a bit more time. I just pop in the CDs I burned from the MusicMatch downloads and rip them to the NH900 via MD Simple Burner. I had to add the track information after they were ripped however. Is there a way to avoid having to do this? Does it have something to do with CDDB? This part took longer than the actual upload onto the NH900. Kudos to you and all the other staff on hosting such an informative forum!!! I can't fathom what it would be like trying to figure this stuff out with just an owners manual! Especially a Sony owners manual!!!

I found what seems to be a work around. I just popped in the CDs I burned those MusicMatch files onto and used MD Simple Burner to transfer them to the NH900. It did try to look for CDDB info on the CD. I'm wondering if this might also be a road block if I allowed it to process. I also think because of this there was no album or track information recorded to the NH900. There is a workaround for this. In MD Simple Burner, you simply edit the Group name and each individual track name. A bit of a pain, but I can live with it. Is there a simpler way that I'm not aware of? If I allowed CDDB to process, would it not allow me to record it to HiMD? Anyone else run into the problem I'm describing in this post?

They're all .WMA files.

I just tried to rip some of my MusicMatch files to HiMD and SonicStage wouldn't even play the files. I received the following message: "There is invalid rights management in the OpenMG content". Leads me to believe it doesn't work unless there is some workaround I don't know about. If there is, PLEASE direct me to it. I've been searching the forums for a way to do it sans realtime recording to no avail. I've got a few hundred tracks that I'd love to hear through my new NH900. Thankfully, this isn't the main reason I purchased my HiMD. If it were, you'd see mine out on E-bay already.

Hi All, I received my NH900 and MM-COMBO-2 on Friday. I first did a real quick plug-n-play (really a "plug-n-record") of me practicing my trumpet. This will probably be what I use this unit for the most. I popped in a regular MD. I didn't make any changes to any settings. I simply plugged the battery box into the line-in and the microphones into the battery box. The microphones were clipped onto each end of a 2' length of a 1" wide strip of metal secured to the top of a mic stand extended to about 6' high at one end of the room. I sat at the other end of the room and began to play for about a minute. I checked the recording. The playback volume was a bit low. I changed to manual and bumped the recording level to 30/30 and tried again. Bingo! I can even hear my valves banging down. I can also hear a lot of stuff that I do that can use some woodshedding...the main reason for my purchase!! The quality was set at Hi-SP by default, and I am pleased with the quality. I tried to see if I could distort the sound by playing as loud as I normally would in a playing situation. The set-up passed the test. I then played as loud as I could...there we go, a bit of clipping. As a live recorder, I am VERY pleased. Prior to this set up, I used a Marantz PMD221 with an Electro-Voice PL95 mic. First of all, I don't have to have my instrument pointed directly at the microphone and within a couple of feet of it. The HiMD set up blows it away as far as quality of sound (relatively no hiss and no detectible system noise). These sounds were always detectible on the Marantz recordings. Portability...it fits in my pocket! Playback...you can speed up from 0% to 100% of recorded speed and slow down from 0% to -50% of recorded speed! The Marantz had two speeds only and nothing in between, and the pitch went down or up an octave. This feature is Very useful when transcribing music. Also, going back and forth through a particular musical passage on the tape was very abusive to the tape. I had quite a few tapes meet their last living days going through this process. Next I tried to upload some of my favorite MusicMatch downloaded files to a HiMD. This is where I got ticked off. I got all the files into SonicStage ready to upload into the MD. Hit the transfer button, it went through some processing and then the following window popped up "There is invalid rights management in the OpenMG content". WHAT!!!!! Is this because the files don't have OpenMG management on them? Is it because they are WMA files? If this is the case, how do I transfer them to a "valid" format? Luckily, this isn't the main reason I bought this system. If it were, I'd have it listed on E-bay already. Overall, I'm very pleased. :smile: :smile: I'm sure there's a workaround for those MusicMatch files. Can't wait to test it in a live performance. Also, I need to get some kind of case to carry all this equipment. I'm looking at 8 seperate pieces not including the mic stand.

I'm a newbie and trying to understand how this all works. So the Max SPL of the mics (I believe the SROs are 150db) is what determines if the sound is going to be distorted or not? Or, is it the loudness of the sound coming into the recorder what causes it to distort? Or...is it a combination of the two. I'm getting mics that are rated at peaking at 130db with a battery box attached (120db sans battery box). Thanks!!

Hey Greg and A440, I'm kind of apprehensive about getting the volume attenuator because I have a pair of Sony studio headphones (kinda cheap - around $40.00) that has a volume dial much like the attenuator and a mono/stereo switch. The sound would break up like there was a bad connection or something when I turned the dial, so I cut the wires to the little "box" the dial and switch were housed in and reattached the wires. Of course it lost that functionality, but at least I have halfway decent functioning stereo headphones. I guess if the price is right ($6.59), and this problem does happen, I could always buy another attenuator! :smile: Still I would like to know if you, or anyone for that matter, have had any problems with your volume attenuator. Still anxiously waiting for my NH900 and mics!!!!

What about getting a power inverter for your car? I've got one that plugs into the car's cigarette lighter/12V DC outlet. It converts it to 110/120 AC. I currently use it for powering my laptop on long road trips. I would think it would work just as well with the charger that comes with your MD unit. You'd have something that can be used for quite a few other AC powered devices you might have as well. There are all kinds of these on the market. Mine cost around $35 USD. Not sure of the brand off the top of my head. Anxiously awaiting the arrival of NH900 and MM-COMBO-2 Combination Madness Pak!! I can let you know how the power inverter works in time and also let you know what brand it is and its functionality.

Oh, one other reason I went with the MM-COMBO-2 was because the mics were cardioid. Most of my gigs are in a coffeehouse setting where the patrons tend to chatter a lot throughout the performance.

Hey Mgdimo, I've been following your posts since our situations seem so similar. Your choice was mostly why I went the way I did. However, I ended up going with the following since the price was only about $30.00 difference for close to the same mic specs including a battery box with bass roll-off. MM-COMBO-2 Combination Madness Pak (Module & Mics 20-20,000 Hz.) Sorry Reactive I've also looked at that jecklin disk. How do you currently mount your mics during your practice sessions/rehearsals/performances (without the jecklin disc)? This is something that's been bugging me. With the equipment being so suited for stealth, it doesn't seem very conducive to non-stealth recording situations. I've been contemplating attaching a doll rod, metal rod, or microphone gooseneck to a regular mic stand and connecting the mics via the clips to the ends of the rod/gooseneck. Kind of like the SP-TFB-ISI design offered by Sound Pros. With a gooseneck, it might work well with a jecklin disk.

I'm sorry to hear that!! Hope everything works out for you Dex Otaku!!

Forgive me...I'm fairly new. Can you do live recording with an iPod? I looked at the specs and don't remember seeing or reading about any types of line-in or mic-in jacks. If they do, you'll be seeing a barely used Sony NH900 on E-bay very soon!

I've done some more research over the weekend on this forum and have decided to go with the Reactive AM-2 Dual Point Stereo Microphone. I'm assuming this mic will work fine with the pre-amp included on the NH900. However, would I be better off also getting a battery box and going line in for the type of recording I'll be doing? Some of it can be quite loud. Thanks!! Also, when I get my equipment, I'll post how they work for me.

Thanks for the reply A440. That info helps. I'll check out the recording samplings to see the difference between the cardioid and omnidirectional mics. I'll look forward to hearing someone like Dex Otaku chime in.

OK, since I haven't had any replies, let me narrow down my question a bit. Is there a discernable difference between the AT822 and the Auris Stereo Microphone or Sound Professionals SP-PSM-3 when recording mainly what I'll be recording? How about the same question for the SP-PSM-3 compared to the Auris Stereo Microphone? Also, is there a difference between the SP-PSM-3 and SP-ECM-MS907? On the Sound Professionals website, the specs look pretty much the same. Was this perhaps an advertising "gimmic" to try to get people who are searching the web for the Sony MS907 to take a look at their product? So far, from what I've read, and with the budget I have in mind, I'm leaning toward the Sound Professional model. Please let me know if there is a better mic out there (regardless of size) for the price. Also, if the AT822 is worth the difference in price let me know that too.

Hi All, This forum has been VERY helpful already, but I still have a few questions. First of all, I'm planning on purchasing a Sony MZ-NH900 and a microphone to record various things listed below. I'm a trumpet player that plays a few dozen gigs a year. I would like to be able to record my personal practice sessions, my rehearsals with the various jazz bands, and also the performances. I noticed throughout this forum, there is a tendency to promote the "stealth" type mics offered by SoundProfessionals, ReactiveSounds, and the like over what I'll call "traditional" mics like Sennheiser, Shure, Audio Technica, etc. I am not concerned with being stealthy, at least not at the moment. What I would like to know is what the pros and cons of each (stealthy/traditional) might be in consideration of my particular needs. What I am currently looking at are the following: Audio Technica ATR25, Pro 24, or AT822 SoundProfessionals SP-PSM-3 Auris Stereo Microphone I have noticed that the last three have much wider frequency responses 20 or 30-20,000 HZ as opposed to 70 or 100-17,000 or 18,000 HZ for the first two. Is this going to be noticeable? My budget is up to $150 for the microphone. So if there are others out there that I am currently unaware of, please let me know.