soundalike

This post seems to have died, which is a shame because I'm in the same position and thought I'd struck gold when it showed up in my search results! I currently use an NH900 with GreenMachine's mics and battery box through line in. This has served me very well but I'm going to be recording at lot of festivals and at some very quiet gigs over the summer. Also (and I'll say this quietly) I've just bought a cheap JB3 from Ebay as a backup and for festivals. Initial results indicate that I need some more oomph and at least another battery box so that I can use both units at the same time. Anyone got direct experiences of a small and relatively low cost stereo mic preamp that will increase the quality of the recording (through line in) and double up as a battery box to power the mics? Cheers Richard

Cheers. 2 quick questions: What does a zero crossover point look like? What's the difference between fade in/out and crossfade in/out?

I had the same issue as you until I bought one of GreenMachine’s battery boxes. Highly recommended it is too! I typically record through the BB to Line in at between 16/30 and 22/30, depending on the type of music and venue but never get clipping. The trick is to not set the level too low to avoid getting loads of separate tracks (but that’s another story). The smaller venues are usually great for small acoustic shows but often have worse sound systems (and/or engineers) so that bands with proper drums and bass guitars sound less than great when you get the recording home. When I close my eyes at the gig and concentrate what’s coming through my ears I’m often be surprised at the amount of bass actually coming through. For what it’s worth I don’t bother with bass roll off since it means that certain frequencies are not recorded (I think). If you don’t like it when you get home you can mess about with the eq then, but you can’t change what you don’t capture in the first place. Cheers

Thanks for the suggestions. In highlighting the bad sections here I've probably made it look like the whole recording is like this. However the show was about an hour long and there are only two or three songs that have this fault, and of those only the one shown here has a lot of crackle and numerous episodes of signal loss. That's why I'm keen to patch it up rather than 'mess up' the whole show when the majority is perfectly ok. I have other shows where the right channel is completely missing so that one's a no-brainer. Cheers

I've got a few damaged recordings due to a faulty mic. The right channel comes in and out in places - probably because the connection to the right caplet had worked loose. I've got new mics now but what can I do with the damaged recording to make it 'stereo' again? This is what it sounds like: [attachmentid=1771] Here's what the tracks look like in Audacity: [attachmentid=1772] And in more detail: [attachmentid=1773] I've tried to copy and paste from the left channel to the right to patch it up but it's really difficult to line it up to make it sound exactly right. Are there any shortcuts or easy ways to do this, or is it just a matter of patience and trial and error? Cheers Sample_Audio.mp3

Thanks Guys I decided to leave the mics intact! I couldn't bring myself to take them apart never mind remove the faulty caplet. From last night's recording I've got most of the recording in mono (left channel) but one middle section of the concert in stereo (about 3 minutes). At least it will be fun to experiment in audacity to patch it up. Cheers

I've lost the right channel of my mics. Presumably it's just a loose wire because I can get it back with some wiggling! Obviously I need to get some new ones - I've not got the time, equipment or skill to take them apart and put them back together - but with 3 concerts this week alone, and one tonight, what can I do for now? Should I remove the right caplet with a pair of scissors (ouch! ) to record in mono (and double up the tracks in Audacity?) or leave it as it is and hope that I get at least half a concert in glorious stereo??? Cheers Rich

I may have clicked at the wrong time (i.e. if the site is offline to be updated) but it appears that the links in this thread now direct you to an adult dating site! GM, are you branching out into new markets or have you moved your site!? Perhaps someone could post another link? Cheers

PM Sent

Hi all It's getting near to music festival season again and I need an external AA battery case to power my Sony NH900 in the field. Please get in touch if you have one you could sell me. Many thanks

Just to say that I highly recommend GM's mics and battery box. I purchased one of each after posting pleas for help from my fellow European MD users! I've been using the mics and BB for live concert recordings with excellent results. I must have been to 30 or so different sized venues to make personal recordings of a range of diverse artists – never any clipping even when it was so loud my ears hurt! When I have more time I'll post some decent quality samples in the Gallery. I'd also say that the service is excellent too - mic and battery box arrived very quickly and well packed! PS GM does not know I'm writing this! Maybe it will come in handy when I order my next pair Cheers

Like most people I'm looking for the 'next best thing' for live recording. A 2Gb SD card could go straight into the appropriate slot on my laptop and it looks like it has firewire as well. Anyone found any more detailed specs?

Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated. I guess I'll just have to keep looking on ebay for the external battery case. It's so much more convenient for things like festivals where there's no access to mains power - I just take a bag of fully charged AAs and that's it. I could do the same with gumsticks I suppose, but they're much more expensive to replace. Cheers

Hi I need to buy an external AA battery case for my nh900. I left my old one on a bus while in Turin - I live in Leeds, UK! Can anyone help? I've looked on Ebay but not seen any. Cheers ps is this any good as a replacement gumstick? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GP1450-Gumstick-Mini...1QQcmdZViewItem

Genius! Need to grow my hair a bit though!

As far as I can tell there's no difference in the type of sound picked up between shoulder-mounted and croakie-mounted mics - although if you are quite short, croakies would be best. I try not to stand behind really tall people/obstructions that may block/muffle the sound. If you are standing next to a bunch of people that talk/sing all the way through you are stuffed either way and it's always a good idea to refrain from clapping yourself! The Low Volta is right though, it's a cleaner sound if you use croakies and for summer festivals I'll revert to this using sunglasses. I just feel more comfortable using the jacket at gigs as I can move around more freely and feel much less conspicuous. I suppose that it's a trade-off between enjoying the gig and capturing the best quality recording. I'd rather enjoy the gig and have a lower quality recording but I don't trade so it doesn't matter as much to me.

A top stealth outfit? I bought this from a smart gents outfitters in Savile Row, London and have found it most useful for stealth recording. OK so it cost less than £10 from H&M. But it has a few key modifications that make it a must-wear item for all musical outings! Can you spot the mics? Nope? Neither do the security gorillaz! A closer view: The inner workings: The mics are handcrafted by the mighty gm (see signature) and all I did was to cut a small hole in the fabric on the inside of each collar, and a hole where you can see the safety pin. (The pin was put in initially to secure the wire with the intention of adding a few holding stitches later - but I never got round to it.) The mics were then fed through the first hole so they go into the hollow collar at the nape of the neck and through to each side. The collar is elasticated but a few stitches hold the capsules in place. The wire goes down the inside of the jacket and into the pocket with the battery box/MD unit Positives: no hassle recording as detection is most unlikely - even with the jacket open, collars down and the mics on top, which is how I do the taping. no need to keep as still as when wearing croakie mounted mics most comfortable setup Negatives: Sound quality is not as good as with croakie mounted mics because they are lower, mounted against the chest cavity and there's no physical seperation between left and right. Nevertheless, I won't go back to croakies now because I always felt too restricted and conspicuous! Any suggestions for improvements are welcome. I'll add some recordings to the gallery later - check for edits here. Cheers PS for getting in I put the minidisc unit and BB in each sock. Spare discs and remote go to the bottom of my fiance's handbag!

Ah! Thanks. I did a search but failed to see this one! Cheers

Apologies if I'm way behind the times on this one but I've just seen an iPod that records in stereo. Is it any good? I don't want to ditch my NH900 (and I really DON'T want an iPod ) but am keen to find a way of recording long concerts (i.e. over 90 min) in a losless format without the fuss of changing disks. For live recording, is iPod the way forward (wash my mouth out ) ..... Mods - please move/bin this post where appropriate

I've tried this by 'tweaking' a very heavily distorted concert using Audacity and found it very frustrating (even upsetting!) as I've never achieved satisfactory results. That said, I'm rubbish at using Audacity (if anyone knows of an idiot's guide, please inform). I've found that the only solution is to get better at live recording - but this doesn't help you much I'm afraid!

Do you convert the files to MP3? If not it's porbably worth it as you will save on HD space and the loss of quality will not matter if it's just speech.

42 users watching - Does this mean we'll get to find the meaning of life? (or death!)

Now some video footage of this would make an extremely welcome addition to the gallery !!! I don't have a video camera - otherwise I'd be launching discs from a great hight sooner than you can say "ipod"! Although the comparison with portable HD units isn't really a fair one - there's no way I'd drive over my nh900!

You may have a point here, but as yet no-one has spotted me. Or should I say that no-one has said anything and I've not noticed anybody staring/pointing in my direction. If you mount them just over your ears and choose croakies that match either the colour of your glasses or your skin then there should be no problem. A fairly high collar or hooded top is also useful and if you've got longer hair it helps.

Indeed, if the picture that shows them next to a minidisc player is to scale, then these mics are HUGE compared with the sound pro (or DIY) mics. There's no way I'd feel happy about stealth recording with these monsters on my glasses! You would look like a freaky insect! You may get away with mounting them to your collar though. I mount mics to my everyday perscription glasses - so the rubber heat-shrink method was not appropriate. I opted for croakies (which can be removed easily) from a bricks and mortar shop in the UK - Nevisport I think. Try a large outdoor sports/ski/snowdoard shop. Mine were about £7 GBP. I'll post some pics of my setup when I've got some time.