line-input recording questions

[WaywardTraveller]

Hello,

This morning I made a 40min recording of morning chants at a prominent Mongolian Buddhist monastery here in Ulaan Baatar. I was using my NH700 recording in PCM mode with the Sound Professionals' ISI-HMAB-1 mics encased in headphones (battery module in right ear compartment). The mics are High Sensitivity Omni-Directional +7dB.

As far as I can tell things turned out all right, but while monitoring the input levels I couldn't help noticing that the recording volume rarely made it past the lowest (leftmost) threshold indicator. The Rec Level was 30/30, and the volume knob on the mic unit itself was turned up all the way.

The volume still seems ok if I turn up the playback volume...but I had a couple questions:

- If my mic batteries were low, would this affect the throughput of the microphones?

- Is such a low rec-volume level normal or preferred for a line-input recording? For almost all of the recording mic sensitivity was set to LOW, but I switched to HIGH while recording and the level didn't seem to change at all.

Did I do anything wrong? If anyone can shed some light on this, please do!

peace

WaywardTraveller

[A440]

Are you going to be in Mongolia long enough to try a couple of different takes with different settings? I'm sure these are precious recordings, but experiment is the only way you are going to find out what works best.

Since the chanting is unamplified--though do they use those big trumpets and cymbals?--perhaps you should use Mic-in instead. Line-in needs a loud signal. I'd suggest Mic-in at Low Sensitivity to see what you get. If it's obviously overloading, then switch back to Line-in.

You could try replacing the batteries too, depending on how long you've used them. In my experience, however, dying batteries tend to produce staticky noise and dropouts rather than low volume, but I don't have your mics and battery setup.

Sensitivity doesn't affect Line-in recordings--it's gain for the preamp at Mic-In.

And I trust you're using Manual Volume.

[WaywardTraveller]

Are you going to be in Mongolia long enough to try a couple of different takes with different settings? I'm sure these are precious recordings, but experiment is the only way you are going to find out what works best.

Since the chanting is unamplified--though do they use those big trumpets and cymbals?--perhaps you should use Mic-in instead. Line-in needs a loud signal. I'd suggest Mic-in at Low Sensitivity to see what you get. If it's obviously overloading, then switch back to Line-in.

You could try replacing the batteries too, depending on how long you've used them. In my experience, however, dying batteries tend to produce staticky noise and dropouts rather than low volume, but I don't have your mics and battery setup.

Sensitivity doesn't affect Line-in recordings--it's gain for the preamp at Mic-In.

And I trust you're using Manual Volume.

Well, tomorrow is my last day here before I take the train to Mongolia...I might be able to make it there tomorrow morning one last time.

Yes, the chanting was unamplified...it was fairly loud, though, and steady. I thought I'd use line-in because I always thought it was a cleaner channel than mic-in. the mic batteries have rarely been used, and I always take them out of the mic and store them separately when not in use. And yes, I always use Manual volume.

Thanks for the advice...I will definitely keep it in mind!

peace

WaywardTraveller

[A440]

You're right that Line-in is cleaner, but it is quieter as well, and amplifying a too-quiet recording with an audio editor is also going to amplify any noise.

I record amplified concerts with Line-in and the battery module. But when I went to a symphony orchestra concert, I found I did better with Mic-in. Since you have a line-in recording already, it might be worth it to go back to the monastery and see what you get with Mic-in.