robin726

Nice summary. What colours *are* available outside Japan? What could I find here in Europe?

A few words about specs. First, I often ignore frequency range specs, because they are pretty well meaningless when written out. Something like 20-20kHz at least needs a decibel range of error to be specified, but if it isn't the spec is completely useless. If something like +/-3dB is stated then I would know that's a good range, but I would still want to see the actual graph. Because maybe 20-20kHz +/-3dB means that there's a slope from -3dB at 20Hz up to zero at about 80Hz, and then ruler-flat the rest of the way. That would be excellent! But maybe it means there are 3dB peaks and troughs all over the place. That would be suboptimal. :-) The graph will tell. For people recording concerts (or jet engines) the maximum sound pressure level (SPL) is important. This is generally measured by playing a tone at 1kHz and then cranking up the volume until there is 1% THD (total harmonic distorion, a bad thing). So the higher the number (again in dB), the better. But in many cases that much distortion is too much, and additionally other frequencies may very well distort more than 1kHz. So once again this measure has to be used with a grain of salt. The signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) is also measured in decibels at 1kHz. This one is more self-explanatory. The higher the number, the more signal you get relative to the inherent noise floor of the microphone. This is less important for people recording loud sources, but critical for those collecting ambient sounds, doing nature recordings, etc. Dynamic range is the diference between the loudest and softest sounds you can get from the mic. So once again the higher the better. This tends to go up in step with S/N. Using a low power source, like "plug-in power", gets lower dynamic range and SPL scores out of a microphone. That's why people use a battery box; the extra power increases the ability of the microphone to capture sounds, especially loud ones. Phantom power improves the situation even more, but is not always practical for small rigs. Finally, sensitivity is a measure of how hot the signal is coming out of a mic, and is done relative to a 1V signal going in. It's always a negative number, since a microphone is never going to amplify a signal! The higher the number the more sensitive, remembering that -42dB is higher than -46dB. However this does not mean the mic is "better". Sensitivity is good to know when matching the mic to other equipment. For example, if you had an insanely sensitive mic powered properly with a loud source (a concert again) you might have such a hot signal that you could go into the line-in on a recorder, bypassing the mic-in. Indeed, you might *have* to, since otherwise you'd overload the mic pre-amp. In this way high sensitivity could be considered a disadvantage in some situations. It is difficult making sense of all of the technical data and comparing microphones without actually using them. Especially when the store web sites are as confusing as www.soundprofessionals.com. It is difficult to make heads-or-tales of some of their info, but I have tried to, since I would like a small stereo pair of condensers for doing location work. If I had a vender on the same land mass with lots of stock who didn't mind me trying out mics, then I'd just do that, since nothing beats hands-on experience. But, alas, it is not so. Sound Professionals have various low-end mics of their own manufacturing which I will ignore here. Moving up the cost ladder you get to the Audio Technica range, which I presume they have matched as pairs and perhaps even modified. There are basically four different mics, which I'll spec out in increasing order of price (US$). These are omni condenser pairs, suitable for mounting on clips. (I have priced them with a clip, which is sometimes optional.) Omnis are going to sound better than cardioids, since the latter must have their response characteristics compromised to make them directional. If audio fidelity is your primary concern, you get more bang for your buck with omnis. model: SP-BMC-12 price: $99 S/N: 60dB dynamic range: 81 / 96dB (plug/battery) max SPL: 110 / 125dB sensitivity: -42dB info: AT350 caps model: SP-BMC-6 price: $159 S/N: 65dB dynamic range: 76 / 91 / 106dB (plug/battery/phantom) max SPL: 110 / 125 / 135dB sensitivity: -46dB info: manufacturer link for AT803b cap model: SP-CMC-8 price: $269 S/N: 65dB dynamic range: 83 / 98 / 111 dB (plug/battery/phantom) max SPL: 110 / 125 / 138 dB sensitivity: -40dB info: similar to AT853; manufacturer link model: AT899 price: $275 each w/ power? S/N: 64 dB dynamic range: 86 / 108 dB (battery/phantom) max SPL: 116 / 138 dB sensitivity: -46 / -43 dB info: manufacturer link The SP-CMC-8 can be bought as a cardioid or you can get interchangable caps. It costs $78 to get connectors to run them from phantom power or $120 for the ongoing option of connecting to a battery box or phantom power. The AT899 is a fully professional piece of kit, used on TV, stage, etc. The Sound Professionals site has no info. If you look here you will see that one will set you back $280 with power supply. This is not meant as an endorsement of Sound Professionals products. I have not used them. But they should hire me to redesign their web site. :-)

Also note a major deficiency: the R-1 does not have an optical input.

Thanks for the thorough answer. I am sure it's a trivial thing, but I was thinking that on some units in order to get greater battery life Sony may have compromised by putting less bias voltage to the mic thus not getting optimal performance from it. OK, I will definitely look into this once I have a MD unit. I am aware of a number of manufacturers of same. Good news. I'll do this and put my mind at ease regarding potential lost tracks and output quality. Looks like the MZ-NH700 is the way to go: cheaper and with no deficiencies as far as recording goes, with the ability to use standard AA batteries without an add-on pack. It looks about the same size as the two models up, and I presume the interfaces are identical on them as well. I'll save up the extra cash for a good preamp/mic combo for ambient recordings.

I am trying to determine the exact differences between the NH700, NH800, and NH900 as far as recording goes. I have read everything here but the most important info is missing. 1. Are the microphone preamps the same on these models? Which is the best? 2. Is power consumption essentially the same as far as its effect on recording goes? (More power that gets to the preamp the better I'd think.) 3. Is there any point using the preamp or should I immediately consider an external unit? 4. Does the so-called "line out" on the NH900 make a real difference over the "headphone out" of the others? So you know, I am trained as a recording engineer and care about small differences! I will be copying to a computer through audio connection (to avoid lost recordings) even though I realise there will be some degradation this way. When a Hi-MD deck with optical out comes along I may buy that for transfers. Or maybe the software will be fixed to become more robust so we can use USB. :-) I have an RME audio card so I am sure the limiting factor will be the MD unit itself. I will mostly be doing location recordings but also live music and spoken word. Thanks in advance.