fatboy01 Posted October 25, 2005 Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 I just bought my first MD recorder, a Sony RH910 along with a Sony MS907 mic. I'll be recording my first concert with the MD next Friday, and I want to get a quality recording. In the past, I've always used my laptop and a mic, but that was only at gigs which I had permission to record. I bought the MD for stealth use. From what I have read on this site, my best route for good sound while staying out of sight, would be to build my own mics, affixed to glasses or my sleeves, and use a battery box. I have been into building tube guitar amps and guitar effects for years now, so I am sure I could rig up some decent devices. Only problem is, I am having a hard time finding some good mic capsules online. I search google and usually find whole microphones, not just the capsules. And the capsules I do find, I am not sure if they are what I need/quality parts (here are some from Mouser). Any recomendations as to what parts you all have had success with?Since I probably will not have my homebrew mics made in the next two weeks, any tips on using my MS907? I have ordered parts for a battery box from mouserelectronics and will be building it as soon as they arrive, and also plan on trying out the Radioshack headphone control. Hopefully I can find a show around here before next friday to see what setup works best. Sorry if this is a somewhat random post, I am just a MD newb and I want to get some good recordings from my new unit. Any help is appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenmachine Posted October 25, 2005 Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 As for the capsules:http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?s=&sh...indpost&p=74748Once you're at it, you might also want to try the source follower mod to improve the mics' performance at high SPLs (scroll up). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted October 25, 2005 Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 Welcome, fatboy01.How much experience do you have? It'd be wise to practice as much as possible before the concert, to make sure that you're comfortable with unit operation and know your limitations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatboy01 Posted October 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 Thanks for the post about the capsules, good info there. As for my recording experience... I have never used a MD. However, I have recorded many times in studios as well as at gigs straight off the soundboard. I know a fair amount about the effects of mic placement, volume levels, ect. But I am not familiar with MD. I'm planning on getting out to a few shows before the concert next friday to test out my new recorder and see what works best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatboy01 Posted October 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 (edited) Alright, Im checking out Digikey now, and they have both the WM-60 and the WM-61 available for around $2 a piece. For each, they have a "MICROPHONE OMNI" and a "MICROPHONE CARTRIDGE", Im guessing I should go with the Cartridge? Anyways, I hope to have a perty sleek rig setup soon with my mics and a tiny battery box with some other goodies inside to help improve overall tone and balance. I'll post some pics and hopefully some sound files if they turn out well. Im excited about the capabilities of these MD recorders, I just hope to be able to use them to their potential.Also, I have read that mic capsules need to be matched.. about how many should I pick up to ensure being able to match up a pair? And you have an easy way to match them up? Edited October 25, 2005 by fatboy01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenmachine Posted October 25, 2005 Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 The wm-60 are unfortunately discotinued. If you look closely, you'll see 'non-stock' in the quantity table. Go for the wm-61a (part no. P9925-ND) - the 61b might be hard to solder. Pick up at least four pieces to have at least two acceptably matched ones. You can use your loudspeakers for matching. Solder two capsules to the wires, put them as close as possible together and play some kind of sweeptone / noise / music through one speaker. Use the MD recorder's level meter for a rough matching or connect the MD output to your soundcard's line input and compare levels in your favorite audio editor.If you want to do it perfectly, fix the mic to a certain distance from the speaker and use one channel only. Write down the value(s) and connect the next capsule to the same channel, only one capsule at a time... Use different frequencies for the process (e.g. 60, 600 and 6000 Hz) to get a better idea of their overall behavior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orangezero Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 As far as matching the caps, to do a quick test to see which are going to be similar you might try measuring the resistance over the two connections. get ones that are close together in their readings.. i think the guy from core sound told me that is a "decent" way to get similar caps if you have no other way to test them. the other way, with test signals, would be better i think, but time consuming.good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatboy01 Posted October 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 Glad you guys are so quick in your responses, you've been a big help and I appreciate it. I learned how to build guitar amps and such by reading websites and askings LOTS of questions in forums and mostly through taking old amps apart and making them work again. This site has been the biggest help in educating me on how to get good performance from my MD recorder. I'll post some pics up once I get my setup built. Many thanks,FB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenmachine Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 By experience i found that measuring the resistance of the caps unfortunately tells virtually nothing about their response. If you want to do it properly, you have to choose the less convenient way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orangezero Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 I would guess that would be true, but never had the time to do all that.with my new battery box (which could affect things also), my recordings are about 1.2 to 1.4 dB off most of the time between the two mics. I have been experimenting in soundforge to come up with the best way to equalize these. I have been mostly just normalizing each channel separetly based on the peak dB. if i use the average i have a hard time without going overboard.i guess i should put this in a new thread. any good websites for how live music should sound? i assume its mostly the ear of the beholder. outdoor show was way too bass-y but the indoor one turned out real good, (despite my heavy drinking)take care, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenmachine Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 (edited) 1.2 - 1.4 dB ain't too bad, you must've been lucky then - it could be much worse without proper matching. Edited October 26, 2005 by greenmachine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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