Mic Upgrade

[Static]

Hi all

I have been using a cheap radio shack mono Mic to adjust myself to recording with my nhf800. Well Now I am pretty competent and realize that I need a stereo mic for my purposes one channel just doesnt cut it on playback. I will be recording myself playing acustic instruments/singing. I noticed that some mics I have been looking at have the option for being either low sensitivity or and that some are high sensitivity. i have my eye on So the question is for my purposes would it be better to purchase a low or high sensitivity mic. I tend to play and sing fairly loud. I am looking at a Sound Professionals SP-PSM6

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-PSM-6

Well any help from anyone would be great to help me to get steered on my way.

Thanks

Gerald

[A440]

Short answer: if all you're recording is your own fairly loud music, get low sensitivity.

It makes overloading less likely.

If you're seriously considering that Sound Professionals mic, then call them and ask directly, and tell them exactly what you plan to record. Unlike, oh, Sony, they actually understand what they sell, and they're very friendly. It would be great if you could report back here what they recommend.

With your current mono mic, you can easily find a mono-in, stereo-out adapter for a few bucks at Radio Shack, and you can experiment with that. Try high- and low-sensitivity settings with that mic, and you'll see: high will pick up everything, including the rustle of your clothes, while low is more forgiving.

The advantage of high sensitivity is more detail, but at the risk of overloading the MD's preamp.

[nickjr]

I have the NH900 with the sony 907 mic. I played my guitar and sang with the mic about 3 feet in front of me. Hi sen. gave me a pretty clean recording, when I switched to low sens. the sound was so soft I could barely hear the recording.

This is with an acoustic guitar.......

Edited February 7, 2005 by nickjr

[Skradgee]

Hey hey, I have two of those Radioshack microphones, and make them into a stereo signal with an adapter which I also got at Radioshack. (This is starting to sound like a Radioshack commercial). Anyway, I've been very happy with them in terms of sound quality and the overall, umm...value. I love having two seperate mics to make recordings with a variable stereo range (by placing them close together or far apart) instead of having both left and right mic elements built into one capsule. So, if you're happy with what you've already got and want to save some $, you may want to consider buying another mic to match...and a Y adapter that makes a stereo signal out of two mono sources. Or don't...just my 2¢.

[Mr Sim]

you are going about this all wrong .

you should be using a PA (you know like a sound board) they arn't hard to find and even renting one a couple of times is cheaper than buying one of the mics everybody is showing you. The quality will be insanly better. go to you local music intrament store and they'll shw you how to set yourself up.

[Static]

you are going about this all wrong .

you should be using a PA (you know like a sound board) they arn't hard to find and even renting one a couple of times is cheaper than buying one of the mics everybody is showing you.  The quality will be insanly better.  go to you local music intrament store and they'll shw you how to set yourself up.

←

Thanks but I have a PA and routinely use it, along with my four track while playing with my friends. I am just looking for a mike so I can take the minidisc on the go and kind of record ideas if they should happen to pop up when i am away from my main gear.

[A440]

If you're just using your mics for rough ideas, then don't splurge: just get the basic binaurals from Sound Professionals (or the Microphone Madness ones based on the the same capsules and design). Listen to some of the recordings at livefrommd (at) yahoo.com , password 1minidisc1, the fidelity is just fine.

[Static]

If you're just using your mics for rough ideas, then don't splurge: just get the basic binaurals from Sound Professionals (or the Microphone Madness ones based on the the same capsules and design). Listen to some of the recordings at livefrommd (at) yahoo.com , password 1minidisc1, the fidelity is just fine.

←

Thanks I was actually thinking of getting a set of binaurals and one of those old beauty shop styrofoam heads and mounting them on just slightly more forward facing than normal ears. I'll look into these, and while I'm at it could I get some pro's and cons of using a volume attenuator vs using a separate powered preamp, i mean budget wise I will definately be going the attenuator route unless someone really has a smoking gun on why preamps are $100 or so better. thanks for everything so far by the way

[A440]

The cons for the attenuator are:

1) It introduces a small degree of noise, while the preamp/battery box lowers the noise by bypassing the built-in preamp. In practice, for loud live music, the noise from the attenuator is minimal.

2) There's static when you adjust the volume on it, so no fiddling.

3) They wear out, so at some point using one you'll end up with a static-ruined recording.

The pros are the price and portability.

If you're recording acoustic guitar and voice, though, you may not even need the attenuator--the Low Sensitivity setting on the MD could be enough, unless you're recording something bass-heavy.