AndreBlanks

Ok, thanks a bunch for all the help.

Ok, so my manual level was at 12 yeah. haha I only had the battery box plugged in for about 4 hours max before recording. I don't have a screwdriver that small, so I'll get one tomorrow but I thought maybe I was supposed to put a 9 volt in there (don't laugh--I'm new : P) but then I read on the mic.madness site that the 3 3 volts come with it, so. . . ugh. This is frustrating. But it was probably the fact that I was keeping the level at the -12 and my record level at 12. Thanks for all the help--but one last rediculous question: How the heck do I turn this thing off? I've just been popping out the battery!

I used Sound Professionals BMC-2 and this guy that you suggested: http://www.microphonemadness.com/products/mmcbmminminc.htm

Before I go on, I think I should mention the venue and what kind of music it is. It's real raw real loud punk music and it was played in a basement--so I think some of my problems might stem from there. Anyways, I used the MZRH1 Line-In>Battery Box>Microphone. Well first off, I get a ton of people talking in the background. It was St. Patricks day so I'm sure not everyone was there for the music, and I'm sure this could be solved by standing further away/closer where there isn't as many people. Unfortunately the biggest problem was before the band started things sounded real clear. I moved up closer (stood by the sound board) and the sound is VERY low. You can barely make it out on my computer even when the volume is all the way up. There's also a bit of feedback. When I recorded I used Mic Sens. Low, Manual Rec. Levels, all that stuff. I kept it at the -12 mark pretty consistently, but there's still quite a bit of feedback. I messed around in Audacity and was able to make it loud enough to hear, but there's still some distortion. In certain parts the kick drum seems too punchy. I've never used Audacity so I'm using this crap recording (the bands equipment also screwed up and there's just feedback/banter for like 10 minutes) to mess around and try and learn about it a bit. I downloaded someone else's recording from here and yeah theirs is definately way better. My mic placement was just on my jacket within an inch or two from my ear and I was standing on a step so I was above everyone else. I was going to clip them from a wire hanging from the ceiling but I didn't want some drunk idiot asking, "HEY! WHAT'S THAT!?" Like I said I think most of it stems from the setting in which it was recorded. Not to mention punk music has some distortion to begin with--from what I've read everybody else seems like music that's played in much better venues. I'm going to try it again April 7th at an actual club that I've been to before and I'd imagine it's definately a better setting than a basement full of loud crowded people. In summary I guess, just to bullet it, the two biggest things are: - Volume too soft and distorted - Kept levels at -12, used recomended settings (Man. Rec. Levels, Mic Sens. Low, AGC Man., record through line-in, etc.) Thanks in advance for any help. - Andre

When I've had trouble with flash usually a google search for Flash contact form tutorial or something will get me answers. Although I'm sure you've tried that already. . .

Some people still like using CDs. I am one of them. I don't have an iPod or any mp3 player. The only mp3s on my computer are ones I've ripped from my CD collection. I also have the 10 basic TV channels and have to use the rabbit ear antennas and still use dial-up! haha

I bookmarked a thread that mentioned a couple free ones, but what do you guys usually use?

I feel like an idiot asking this, but I'm going to anyways just to make sure. When they say battery/FILTER--that also means the batt. box includes a bass-roll off filter? Thanks.

I was wondering what you guys consider a good but decently small microphone suitable for if you had to sneak it into a venue? Thanks.

Thanks a bunch. That all makes sense. And sorry about the wrong section post.

Reasearching things, I fell upon these bulletin points on another site: * Hi-MD units are mechanical devices, and as such, emit a noise intermittently as the disc spins up to read from or write to the disc. During recording operations, if a microphone is directly connected to the unit (ie. without a wire attachment), or simply in close enough proximity with a relatively quiet background, this intermittent motor noise can be audibly present in the recording if some basic precautions aren't taken. This contrasts with flash-based recorders with no moving parts for recording, who are able to record in silence with no self-noise (unfortunately, too many flash recorders in Hi-MD's price range are simply poor recorders). * relatively poor storage capacity (1GB per disc) compared to recent hard-drive and flash-based digital audio players * the slow transfer rate of MiniDiscs/ Hi-MDs when transferring audio (and data) to and from the computer. Flash memory-based and hard drive-based devices offer far faster speeds * the relatively large size of Hi-MD units when compared to far smaller (predominantly flash-based) units Also, this was in another post on the board: * Of course, why use a mechanical format when flash memory is so much more reliable and cheaper, etc. But the end-user experience is what counts to me. So taking into account that I'm a total noob--what are the pros that led you to choose HI-MD over flash/hard-drive recorders and also the cons of the flash/hard-drive that made you choose HI-MD? Thanks in advance. - Andre

I was wondering if there are any other fans of punk music on here at all? I am currently saving up for a recorder to record local and touring bands in Chicago/Milwaukee. Just curious. Favorites are stuff like Blanks 77, the Boys, Anti-Nowhere League, Blitz, Oxymoron, Ramones etc. etc.

This is my first post and I just found this site today but I'm already happy I did. It seems to have a lot of great posts and things for me to learn. Anyways, I'm saving up to get an MZ-RH1, but when I was reading some of the reviews I noticed people talking about Japanese versions, European versions, and North American versions. Are there any real differences between these? Thanks in advance. - Andre