nulldogmas

Thanks so much! (I did e-mail MM, but haven't heard back.)

As the topic says: I'm off to record a show tonight with new mics, and I can't find the manual for my MM-EBM-1 battery box/bass rolloff filter, which means I have no way of knowing which dip switch settings correspond to which bass rolloff settings. I know this is a popular box, so: If anyone reading this has a copy handy, could you be so kind as to post the setting key here, or e-mail me at neil@demause.net? You will have my lifetime gratitude...

What I meant by "throwing away data" is that if I reduce the bass, I can use the headroom I've gained to record more data at other frequencies (by upping the gain overall). I've found that, with my mics at least, I end up EQing down the bass for virtually all shows anyway. I agree, though, this is a matter of taste, and pointless to argue about.

If I don't have bass roll-off, though, I'm using a bunch of my headroom on bass that could otherwise go to other frequencies. Or to put it more simply: If I roll off the bass during recording, I can crank up the gain that much more without peaking. If I EQ out the bass afterwards, as you suggest, I'm just throwing away data. (Admittedly, I'm saying this before I've yet tried out my new bass roll-off battery box for the first time. But it's one reason why I spent an extra 20 bucks for this feature.)

All makes sense. Do you think there's ever reason to prefer directionality to avoid sound bouncing off the side and back walls (I'm thinking the Mercury Lounge in NYC, which has walls that slough off pure audio mud), or is that a lost cause? Don't you find that the tomatoes get stuck in your Line In port?

Is there a conventional wisdom (or even unconventional wisdom) on when one would want to use cardioid mics vs binaurals? Ever since getting my CS binaurals I've pretty much abandoned my cardioids because they have so little bass, but I'm wondering if there are any situations where I might want to switch back.

Oh, duh - for some reason I was thinking of battery boxes as a Line In thing. I'll give that a try next, thanks. As for "limiting" my recording, if I use a rolloff, it'll let me turn up the gain overall without clipping (since bass uses up so much headroom). So I'm effectively throwing away treble right now by not having a bass rolloff, no?

Is there such a thing as a bass rolloff filter that will work with a plug-in power mic going into an MD's Mic port? I realize that most people's first answer will be "Why the heck don't you just get a battery box and go into the Line In port?" but that's sadly not an option for me at the moment, as I have low-sens mics that don't generate enough signal for Line In. Do I have any options here, or am I fated to be EQing the crap out of my bass frequencies in Sound Studio for all eternity?

The Core Sound is the one with the required $30 Y-cable to go with it, right? I'd steered clear of that because it's pricier - can you say what you prefer about it?

It's Union Pool in Brooklyn, which is actually a converted garage with a pretty modest sound system. The sound was pretty good that night, but I'd only give so much credit to the room. I'm still thinking that I should invest in a battery box once my budget permits, if only for the bass rolloff - the CS binaurals are just insanely bass-sensitive. I'd previously had this one recommended to me, but if anyone has a cheaper/better suggestion, I'm all ears: http://microphonemadness.com/products/mmebelbatfil.htm

So my next recording opportunity came sooner than I expected, when a musician I've given live recordings to asked me to come record his new band last Saturday. This time I used the low-sens mics <i>and</i> the low-sens setting on the MD, set the rec levels to 16/30 ... and here's the results: http://demause.net/music/gachupin (This is after applying a bit of bass rolloff and very slight treble boost via EQ in Sound Studio.) Suffice to say, I'm pretty happy with the results. Though this wasn't as loud a setting as Maxwell's, so a true test is still to come of whether this will be enough to avoid preamp overload in all circumstances.

Core Sound does sell low-sensitivity stealthy low-cost binaurals - I know, because I have a pair. They've been great for me so far, though they're "low-sensitivity" only compared to the regular binaurals. (I.e., I still have to watch for preamp overload, though setting the MD to LOW SENS seems to have helped - see my other thread about this...) I had used CS cardioids prior to these, and agree that there's no comparison - the cardioids are clear, but flat and thin. I suspect this is less from the bass rolloff than from the 40Hz bottom end, which can't be helped by EQing.

My mics are low-sens to start with, though, which is like having a built-in attenuator. My guess/hope is that that plus the built-in HiMD attenuator will be enough to compensate for crazy-loud shows. I will pick up a Radio Shack doohickey, though, just in case. Next show I go to, I plan on much experimentation during the opening act, to try to pin down the best solution. (And yes, I'll post sound samples here afterwards.)

Actually, you're right and I was wrong here. I just re-read A440's faq and ran some tests, and it appears that it remembers levels *above* 13/30, but defaults to 13/30 if you've previously set it *below* that. Presumably on Planet Crackpipe where the Sony engineers live, this makes perfect sense. Personally, I blame Dick Cheney.

I've just been informed by an audio-savvy friend that the LOW SENS setting likely *is* a built-in attenuator, sitting between the mic in jack and the preamp. So yeah, I'll try that first, thanks.

That wasn't you, it was Sony - Hi-MDs all reset to 13/30 whenever you shut them down. (Just like the "feature" that resets them from manual levels to AGC.) You'll need to reset the levels each time you switch discs. Anyway, this thread has been fascinating, thanks. I consider myself somewhat of an experienced taper, and I still learned a lot. One other suggestion, for fiddling with a non-backlit control in the dark: I bring a mini-Maglite with me: http://www.maglite.com/product.asp?psc=1AAACELL&pt=R The light's a bit bright, so I cut out a circle of red construction paper to stick over the light to dim it. The result is plenty bright enough to read numbers by, but dim enough so it just looks like I'm wielding a lit cigarette. (Not that that helps much in NYC, where there's a no smoking law, but it makes me feel less conspicuous anyway...)

I have the regular CS cardioids, not the low-sens ones, but it sounds like what you're describing is just their lack of bass. That rolloff, plus the cutoff at 40Hz instead of 20Hz, makes a huge difference in my experience. For examples, check out this recorded with my cardioids: http://www4.archive.org/details-db.php?med...2004-03-12.shnf with this recorded with CS (low-sens) binaurals: http://www4.archive.org/details-db.php?med...2005-02-25.shnf Different venues, but still, a huge difference in "richness." Of course, the upside is that no bass means no preamp overload - I never had a distortion problem in all the shows I used my cardioids, whereas the binaurals haven't been so lucky. (As noted in the other thread I just started.)

I'll definitely report back here on how things work out, though it may be a while - I don't get to that many shows, and not all are as loud as this one was. Just so I'm clear, though: Setting the MD to Low Sens can definitely prevent preamp overload? Because I'd seen another post here that implied that the High/Low Sens setting didn't come into play until *after* the preamp stage, so I was worried it might not help with my problem.

I just posted about this in another item, but I'm not sure anyone's still reading that one, so: I have a Sony MZ-NH900 Hi-MD recorder, which I use with Core Sound low-cost binaural mics. (These mics have the low-sensitivity option - more about that later.) Until recently, I've used this setup, going straight in to the rec in jack on the MD, for quiet to moderately loud live performances with great results. Then, last Friday, I went to a show at Maxwell's in Hoboken, which as some here may know has enormous speaker stacks on either side of the tiny room. No problem, I thought, as I stuffed tissues in my ears - I have the low-sens mics to protect my preamp, and the rec levels on the Hi-MD aren't close to clipping (they were peaking around the first hash mark, -12dB), so I'm good to go. Famous last words. The resulting recording was full of distortion, the vocals all blown out. It's the first recording I've ever made that's completely unlistenable. The one thing I discovered as I sifted through the wreckage: My MD recorder had its MIC SENS setting on HIGH throughout the recording. This is a bad idea, I know, but I hadn't realized it beforehand - and actually, I think all of my previous recordings had been made on HIGH without any problems. This is, no doubt, thanks to the low-sens mics I've been using, which output a signal 15dB below normal. (If you're wondering why I bought these things in the first place: I used to have a Sharp MD, which had worked wonderfully with Core Sound's cardioid mics, but when I switched to the binaurals I started getting preamp distortion, as they're much louder and more bassy. Len at Core Sound recommended the low-sens option, so I swapped my high-sens binaurals for those.) So my question: What now? The way I see it, I have three options: 1) Switch MIC SENS to LOW, and cross my fingers that that was the problem. 2) Shell out the money for a battery box, and go into the line in - though I'm not sure my low-sens mics put out enough signal for that. 3) Shell out even more money for both a battery box and high-sens mics. Clearly the last is the one that's sure to work, but it's also close to $200 at a time when I'm strapped for cash. So I'm seeking advice: Anyone think one of the less costly options will be sufficient?

Wow, I had almost this exact situation on Friday night: Core Sound Low-Cost Binaurals, Sony MZ-NH900, going direct into mic in, no battery box. I had the manual rec levels set to 8/30, and it was peaking at -12dB or just above, but when I listened back the vocals were completely blown out and distorted. Only later did I realize that the REC SENS was set to HIGH. I have no idea how long it's been like that - the controls on the NH900 aren't exactly user-friendly - but I've been probably getting away with it until now because I have low-sensitivity mics, and haven't recorded any extremely loud shows. For this I was standing right in front of the amps at Maxwell's, though, which may have been enough to overload even the low-sens mics... I guess next time I'll try the LOW SENS setting, since I'd like to avoid the expense of a battery box - though the post above saying that the mic sens isn't applied until after the preamp worries me a bit. Would a battery box even do me any good, as I think these low-sens mics don't put out enough signal to work with the line in jack?