advice wanted re: binaural field recording? please?

[WaywardTraveller]

I'm going to China in a month to backpack around various different places for between 1 and 2 years (including various different climates, from SE Asia to the Himalayas).

I'd like to do a fair amount of field recordings - souqs/markets, street performers, quiet/more ambient sounds, etc. etc...I should be pretty much prepared for anything that presents itself!! I'd also like them to be secret - not because I'm a spy or anything, but because I'd like to catch an immersive experience of people at their most natural instead of pointing mics in their face and watching them eye me with suspicion.

I already have a pair of the Sound Professionals' SP-TFB-2 in-ear binaurals and they work fine...except that when I ordered them I didn't know much about mics and didn't get windscreens or anything like that, and I don't even know if they're the high- or low-sensitivity model. I also have a fair bit of trouble keeping them from slipping out of my ears sometimes...

I don't know much about the terminology or technology, so I thought I'd ask you experts.

I'm ideally looking for a setup which will allow me to record to the line-in, as the quality is supposed to be better (but I understand I'd need a battery-powered preamp or something?), but I'd settle for a mic setup if the mic quality/portability/secrecy factor was right. I'm not sure if I need anything for bass-rolloff (I don't plan on recording loud concerts or anything). It needs to be something portable, i.e. something that can be carried in a pocket or inside vest pocket as I walk through a market, street, or stand before a street musician or something.

I was looking at the SP-HMC-1 (http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/category.cgi?category=search&item=SP-HMC-1&type=store) and it looks promising, but I'm worried the headphones would get mushed during backpacking.

I also saw the SP-BMC-2 (http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-2) with the "Croakie" option (which would work very well for portability), which also looks good.

Any suggestions would be massively appreciated.

Edit: for what it's worth, I will most likely be recording with one of the following: MZRH10/RH910, NH600 with line-in, maybe an NH900.

peace

WaywardTraveller

Edited April 3, 2006 by WaywardTraveller

[A440]

Both of those are the same microphone capsules as your current ones in different housings. So they will probably sound about the same minus whatever filtering effect your ears provide--perhaps a little more open all around. It's really a question of which feels most stealthy to you.

You don't need bass roll-off for anything that's not loud club music--and as far as I'm concerned, not even there.

Have you tried taking your binaurals out into American streets? How do you like the results? (Using Manual level, of course.) There's so much ambient noise in a streetscape that I would think you're fine with the MD's own mic preamp.

Recording very quiet natural sounds, like crickets or birds, would be a different story--there you might be better off with a preamp going through Line-in.

The cheapest preamps I know of are Church-Audio, on Ebay (or as a member of MDCF). Sound Professionals and Microphone Madness also make them. With their gain turned off, current preamps double as battery modules, in case you ever need to record a loud source: Mic--Preamp(no gain)--Line-In.

But are you going to have a battery supply in the Himalayas? You'll also need them for the MD itself. Don't get anything with an unusual battery.

Here's a guy who does ambient recording with super-duper (and super-expensive) mics:

http://www.quietamerican.org/

Here's his eloquent advice on mics:

http://www.quietamerican.org/links_diy-mics.html

Edited April 3, 2006 by A440

[rayzray]

this all sounds sweet and fun; but; what if they catch you at it? will they arrest you?

i know that when i take my Hi-MD into a coffee shoppe here; and i say this is a great "Recorder" (even though i am NOT recording); everyone clams up; .

some ppl may be discussing "Private and covert matters; etc; and if they suspect you or catch you at this; will you be arrested or as in Morrocco in the 60's; escorted to a Police/Gendarm (sp) barracks and never to be see for a while (long time sometimes).

has times changed; i myself wouldnt keep it too much of a "secret"; someone in authority should know so they can "Bail you out" if caught.

or, am i too paranoid; good luck anyhows; you are sooooo lucky to be going there.

i would love to go there and do some field recording; if only just to get away from the 14 grandchildren; and their BD Parties; concerts; recitals; problems etc etc etc.

Edited April 3, 2006 by rayzray

[greenmachine]

For a long trip to distant places you most likely want to keep the gear you have to carry around to an absolute minimum - without sacrificing usability and quality too much of course.

From your signature i can see you have a NHF800. This - or a NH700 would be my weapon of choice for field recording in distant places since these take standard AA batteries internally and offer basically the same recording options and quality. AA's (rechargeable or not) are available virtually anywhere and rechargeables (if you have access to a wall socket) are available in higher capacities than 'gumsticks'.

RH10/910 and NH900 also accept AA's in the add-on but this seems like a somewhat fragile solution for long trips. The NH600 - as you know - lacks a mic-in (built-in microphone preamplifier).

I wouldn't use an external preamp in distant places for several reasons:

-it requires additional battery power

-it adds bulk to your gear

-it is another gadget that is susceptible to break in rough conditions

-if you use miniature ('binaural') microphones, which have a relatively high self-noise as a matter of principle, it won't be worth the effort to use additional, lower noise preamp since the theoretical benefit would be masked by the microphones' self-noise

That said, my experience with the built-in preamps of Sony (Hi-)MD recorders is rather positive - it propably would need expensive outboard preamps and microphones to make a difference.

As for the microphones, there are several good choices. Most importantly look for 'omni' or 'omnidirectional' pickup pattern and a flat, 20-20000 Hz response for ambient recordings. For a realistic, 3-dimensional stereo effect, microphone placement is of uttermost importance. If you put them as close as possible to your ears (and thus use your head as a separator), the stereo effect will gratly improve compared to conventional techniques. Chances are that your SP-TFB-2's should be (virtually) perfectly suited for this job. Some kind of windscreens are most important when recording outdoors. As far as i know, Sound Professionals offer windscreens for these microphones, but they seem rather tiny and thus propably won't block much wind noise. Better than no windscreens though. If you should happen to record indoors, take them off since they usually have some minor side effects - besides blocking wind noise, they often tend to 'diffuse' the sound and slightly (depending on the size) and filter high frequencies.

You most propably won't need battery boxes, bass roll-offs, attenuators or the like in the 'jungle', since these were primarily designed to record loud sounds like amplified, bassy live (rock) concerts.

So in the end what i suggest is

-a recorder which takes AA batteries (internally) and has mic-in

-to use your SP-TFB-2 microphones with addition of (good) windscreens

A few general recording tips:

-set your recorder's mic sensitivity to 'low' and use manual levels for best results.

-since you'll propably be away from 'civilisation' for quite a while, plan ahead:

-get a fair amount of high quality spare batteries (alkalines, if you don't have the possibility to recharge) or -

-get a mobile AA charger (12V for the car or even a solar charger if you're away from any electricity). Try and get used to these before you leave.

-protect your gear against humid or hot climates and transport damage

-if you aim for high quality recordings but cannot afford to carry around too many discs, use Hi-SP. This mode will give you almost 8 hours recording time per 1GB disc without significantly sacrificing quality. Get as many blanks as you think you'll need. Upload and backup as often as possible (if at all).

-carry a small pair of earphones with you for rough monitoring/playback/editing

Good luck on your journey!

You're welcome to share some of your recordings with us in the gallery.

Edited April 3, 2006 by greenmachine

[WaywardTraveller]

For a long trip to distant places you most likely want to keep the gear you have to carry around to an absolute minimum - without sacrificing usability and quality too much of course.

From your signature i can see you have a NHF800. This - or a NH700 would be my weapon of choice for field recording in distant places since these take standard AA batteries internally and offer basically the same recording options and quality. AA's (rechargeable or not) are available virtually anywhere and rechargeables (if you have access to a wall socket) are available in higher capacities than 'gumsticks'.

RH10/910 and NH900 also accept AA's in the add-on but this seems like a somewhat fragile solution for long trips. The NH600 - as you know - lacks a mic-in (built-in microphone preamplifier).

I wouldn't use an external preamp in distant places for several reasons:

-it requires additional battery power

-it adds bulk to your gear

-it is another gadget that is susceptible to break in rough conditions

-if you use miniature ('binaural') microphones, which have a relatively high self-noise as a matter of principle, it won't be worth the effort to use additional, lower noise preamp since the theoretical benefit would be masked by the microphones' self-noise

That said, my experience with the built-in preamps of Sony (Hi-)MD recorders is rather positive - it propably would need expensive outboard preamps and microphones to make a difference.

As for the microphones, there are several good choices. Most importantly look for 'omni' or 'omnidirectional' pickup pattern and a flat, 20-20000 Hz response for ambient recordings. For a realistic, 3-dimensional stereo effect, microphone placement is of uttermost importance. If you put them as close as possible to your ears (and thus use your head as a separator), the stereo effect will gratly improve compared to conventional techniques. Chances are that your SP-TFB-2's should be (virtually) perfectly suited for this job. Some kind of windscreens are most important when recording outdoors. As far as i know, Sound Professionals offer windscreens for these microphones, but they seem rather tiny and thus propably won't block much wind noise. Better than no windscreens though. If you should happen to record indoors, take them off since they usually have some minor side effects - besides blocking wind noise, they often tend to 'diffuse' the sound and slightly (depending on the size) and filter high frequencies.

You most propably won't need battery boxes, bass roll-offs, attenuators or the like in the 'jungle', since these were primarily designed to record loud sounds like amplified, bassy live (rock) concerts.

So in the end what i suggest is

-a recorder which takes AA batteries (internally) and has mic-in

-to use your SP-TFB-2 microphones with addition of (good) windscreens

A few general recording tips:

-set your recorder's mic sensitivity to 'low' and use manual levels for best results.

-since you'll propably be away from 'civilisation' for quite a while, plan ahead:

-get a fair amount of high quality spare batteries (alkalines, if you don't have the possibility to recharge) or -

-get a mobile AA charger (12V for the car or even a solar charger if you're away from any electricity). Try and get used to these before you leave.

-protect your gear against humid or hot climates and transport damage

-if you aim for high quality recordings but cannot afford to carry around too many discs, use Hi-SP. This mode will give you almost 8 hours recording time per 1GB disc without significantly sacrificing quality. Get as many blanks as you think you'll need. Upload and backup as often as possible (if at all).

-carry a small pair of earphones with you for rough monitoring/playback/editing

Good luck on your journey!

You're welcome to share some of your recordings with us in the gallery.

Thanks to everyone who posted for the wealth of information and good ideas!

I know I have to tinker more with this, but I find that setting a Low mic sensitivity on my RH910/RH10 makes my recordings sound a bit too muffled; setting it to High and walking down the street usually means I have to lower my manual rec level to 12-14 at some points (judging from the input meter)! As a result, I usually set my mic sensitivity to High and adjust the recording level accordingly so that either way I catch some of the more ambient sounds. Any thoughts/opinions?

I have a 24-MD carrier which I am gonna cram full of Hi-MDs, so I look forward to recording exclusively in PCM (except for spoken-word journals, which I do in Hi-LP with more than satisfactory results).

Another question: can I assume that MIC AGC is useful/relevant only if REC LEVEL is set to auto (AGC)?

peace

WaywardTraveller

[A440]

Yes, Manual Volume turns off AGC.

On the sensitivity question, use what works best for you. I generally use Low, but I mostly record music, not ambience. As long as High doesn't overload, there's no reason not to use it.