MZ-RH10 + MM-BSM-8 for live gig= bad result. Why?

[alexisvas]

Hi to all

I have bought MZ-RH10 and MM-BSM-8 microphones. I have used them for a couple of live recordings of rock concerts but the result was bad. In both cases the bass was recorded huge and couldnt hear anything else. The only manual adjustments I made were: REC LEVEL = very low. MIC SENS = low. For loud recording. Did I do something wrong?? Any help?? Do I need a battery module to reduce bass??? I placed mic into the mic hole. Should I place it in line-in??

Please someone reply!!!

[greenmachine]

Aside from the quality of the gear itself, mic placement has a great influence on the resulting sound quality. Make sure the mics were not covered by anything with acoustic influence, otherwise high frequencies might get muffled. This includes a high enough position in order not to have ta great part of the sound blocked by objects / persons in front of you. Headworn mics roughly capture what you hear, so if you didn't have a good position to begin with, don't have too high expectations on the recording.

Also your playback equipment will additionally color the sound. Distant miked recordings are best listened to through relatively neutral headphones, loudspeaker playback usually requires close miking (to minimize room reverberations)and some EQ adjustments to sound good.

[A440]

When you play back your recordings, can you hear all the music but the bass is just extra loud? That would be a question of mic placement and playback, as greenmachine says. But with ear-worn mics you should be recording what you hear.

But I don't think that's your problem. I suspect that what's happening is that whenever there's a bass note the whole thing just distorts and sounds awful.

Loud music, especially bass, will overload the preamplifier at your mic jack.

The best solution is one more gadget: a battery module.

http://www.microphonemadness.com/products/mmcbmminminc.htm

Record with Mic-->Battery Module-->Line-in. Set Manual Volume to 20/30. Voila--good recordings. Be sure to unplug your mic from the module whenever you're not using it, because the module's battery runs as long as the mic is plugged in.

If you need to record a concert before Mic Madness can send you the module, you can also get an attenuator: the Radio Shack Headphone Volume Control, pictured in my avatar, about $8. Put its volume control all the way UP, mic sensitivity low, manual volume 20/30. Not quite as good a recording as the battery module, but it won't have the distortion unless the band is deafeningly loud.

[62v8]

I do own a set of these mics and have recorded plenty of shows with them.

Here is the trick and there are 2 options available to you.

a) get yourself a 9V battery box with either fixed or variable rolloff (aim for 110 / 120 HZ) and run line in on the recorder (MM and others do make them)

don't buy / build a battery box and just run the recording through a high pass filter (at around the above corner frequencies) in software.

Personally I prefer Option A which powers the mics at the optimum 9V level.

The mics will brickwall but that only happened when I did Dinosaur Jr (and boy was that loud).

For most other shows that I've attended and recorded ... these mics are fine.

Hope that helps

Cheers

[A440]

a) get yourself a 9V battery box with either fixed or variable rolloff (aim for 110 / 120 HZ) and run line in on the recorder (MM and others do make them)

don't buy / build a battery box and just run the recording through a high pass filter (at around the above corner frequencies) in software.

I agree about the battery box but not about the bass rolloff. Bass rolloff is to keep the preamp from overloading, and line-in doesn't have that problem. I just recorded a booming techno show--mic-->battbox-->line-in--with no distortion, and there was serious bass. In fact, I could have recorded it a bit louder, but I was overly cautious.

Option B probably won't work. Once the distortion is there, it obliterates the whole recording--not just the bass frequencies that you would cut out on playback.

[deadwing]

Record with Mic-->Battery Module-->Line-in. Set Manual Volume to 20/30. Voila--good recordings. Be sure to unplug your mic from the module whenever you're not using it, because the module's battery runs as long as the mic is plugged in.

Well there you go..you know..that had never even occurred to me!! I wondered why a brand new Duracell had run flat on me after only 4 or 5 shows spread out over two or three months...hadn't occurred to me that the battery was draining with the mic plugged in..DOH!!

[royalrepis]

I do not own a set of these particular microphones. But it seems like you have a set of omnidirectional element capsule mic's. Since omni's have a 360 degree capture pattern, they tend to pick up any extra reverberation in the venue. Which of course will transfer to your recording and causing too much rumble or bass in the recording. The easy way to fix this is as the previous posters have suggested by using a battery box with a bass roll off filter to roll off the excess bass. Or you can do it in post recording with some software. The other option is to purchase a set of cardioid element microphones. Cardioids have a narrower polar pattern therefore only capturing anything in front and on the sides, thus cutting out excess reverberation. But be careful when trying to select the correct polar pattern becasue there are advantages and disadvantages to every polar pattern.