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Microphone choices for outdoor ambient sound recording?

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zendog

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I'm a newbie, armed with a NetMD MZ series recorder and almost no idea of what I'm doing. Theoretically, I'd like to record ambient sounds (frogs, birdsong, human voices), then mix them into new audio creations on my MacBook Pro. I'm not sure where to begin--with recording, obviously, but I'd appreciate advice on microphones. I have a honker of an EV dynamic omnidirectional mic, but I'm not sure if that's workable for my current purpose, plus it's annoyingly gigantic. Any ideas? I'd also appreciate guidance on search terms to use that might help in my general education. Thanks, guys.

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You didn't mention a price range but I'll assume you're on a budget. You might try either a AT Pro24 or a Sony ECM-MS907. People say the AT is actually better but I know the stereo imaging is great on the Sony (I have one of them). Both are relatively small. Neither has great bass response but that usually isn't a big problem for recordings of the type you refer to. The Sony is particularly good with voice (which is not true of all single point stereo mics) because of the M/S design of the capsules. You would probably be happy with either mic.

There are lots of other mics of course but these are popular choices for someone who doesn't want to spend a lot of money. The Sony is around $75 and the AT is slightly cheaper I think.

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I'm a newbie, armed with a NetMD MZ series recorder and almost no idea of what I'm doing. Theoretically, I'd like to record ambient sounds (frogs, birdsong, human voices), then mix them into new audio creations on my MacBook Pro. I'm not sure where to begin--with recording, obviously, but I'd appreciate advice on microphones. I have a honker of an EV dynamic omnidirectional mic, but I'm not sure if that's workable for my current purpose, plus it's annoyingly gigantic. Any ideas? I'd also appreciate guidance on search terms to use that might help in my general education. Thanks, guys.

as King said it depends on your budget , but I do a LOT of outdoor recording , and there is an old saying "Speed costs , how fast do you want to go " My absolute main standby for the MD is the Audio Technica AT-822 The Sony of the same price range , has less sibilance and a warmer sound, but not as high an output, plus if you lose the cable( its a 5 pin XLR not a 3 , and Sony wants a LOTTA money for that cable) with the AT 822 I can just make another no prob.

a list :

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/304055.html AT-822

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/293559.html Shure VP88

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/330222.html Rhode Video mic

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/314915.html Apex T mic ( VERY Cheap) 13.00

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/254738.html Sanken Push/Pull CMS7S ( Very nice mic) has a Battery box ,4 AA's

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/261144.html OKM In ear stereo pair

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/233927.html BeyerDynamic MCE 72 ( I want this mic ,Very nice) 349.00

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/298736.html Sennheiser MKE44P ( another very nice field mic)

all of these mics are under 500 dollars and just a SMALL sample of what is out there but these ar favs most of them I have heard some of them used . The Sennheiser 44p has a very unique sound to me , very airy and broad spacious, the AT-822 sounds a little boxed in in comparison but at the time that I bought my 822 The 44p wasnt in my budget range , now it is .

Beyer Dynamic has always been on my Favs list , I have owned quite a few BD's and have always been happy with them ,Their studio mics are low output and require a good preamp , but when yu do preamp them , just feels good, the Stereo mic is self powered though and very natural sounding

Just my two cents

Edited by Guitarfxr
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The sounds you want, like frogs and birdsong, are among the most difficult to record because they are quiet, and the recordings you get will also include noise from the microphone--it is impossible to build a noiseless microphone--and also from the microphone preamp. You want to look for a mic with high sensitivity and a high S/N (signal-to-noise) ratio. You probably also want a directional mic, called cardioid.

There's also an occasional contributor to these forums who runs his own fantastic website of ambient recordings.

http://www.quietamerican.org/

Since you're going to be mixing those sounds with other things, you have a little leeway, but when recording birdsong, for instance, you'll also be recording any cars in the vicinity, barking dogs, TVs a block away, etc. You will also get the whir of the MD unit itself, unless you put the mic on a nice long extension cord and point it directionally away from the unit.

Since there are websites for everything, I suggest you hook up with these folks:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/naturerecordists/

And do some Google searches on things like "low-noise microphone" "recording ambient sounds" etc.

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Visivox offer a dual system microphone -- one for each channel -- which has some reputation in capturing bird sounds. It's an excellent price and the delightful corollary is that you can simply remove one mic from the lead and use that when you don't want that surround, ambient sound to be so broad. For broad ambient, simply extend the mics as far away as possible from each other and take in the all you can gather .

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The Rode Video Mic mentioned has an excellent reputation and is a shotgun mic. If it's actual sounds from a particular source a shotgun can be a good choice. If it's true ambience that you want then your recordings will include all those things in the area (A440 you really need to get out of town some : ). The Rode VM can be bought for $119 from Jack's music factory but it is made to be mounted to a camera. It can be mounted to a mic stand also but it's a rather odd shape. Still for the money it's a hard mic to beat.

I'd also suggest the Nady CM-2S. It's a single point stereo cardoid condensor. It also sells for $119 though I've heard of people getting it much cheaper on eBay recently. It's a bigger mic than the Sony ECM-MS907 but it isn't huge or anything. It's a very sensitive mic and it is full range. It's similar in design to the AT822. In fact many people thought it was an AT822 clone when it first came out. It is a decent mic at a decent price.

If you want to get very cheap you might go with a Giant Squid omni. It's a lavalier mic but for $25 it's an excellent deal on a good sounding mic. If you want a small lavalier that is super sensitive and also is priced under $30 you might look for an Aiwa CM-S20. They're getting very hard to find now but they are super sensitive and fairly accurate. I knew where to find them up until I checked today but I can't seem to find anywhere to order one riht now.

You really should give us a price range to go by. There are many mics available and the prices range a great deal.

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(A440 you really need to get out of town some : )

A while back I recorded some birdsong to test the MD preamp--I think it's still in my album in the Gallery. It was recorded on a country road in upstate New York where the houses are on multi-acre lots. You'd be amazed how the sound of one car half a mile away can be picked up by a microphone on a quiet night.

But I was recording with omnidirectional mics.

Zendog, in case you're not familiar with the terminology, there are degrees of directionality. A cardioid pattern is heart-shaped (imagine the microphone at the bottom point of the heart)

Hypercardioid is narrower; shotgun is narrower still. For birdsong, a shotgun mic like the Rode Video Mic KG mentions would be very helpful.

By the way, when you make those recordings you are going to have to get them into the Mac by recording them again out of the headphone jack in realtime.

http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=7070

Edited by A440
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A while back I recorded some birdsong to test the MD preamp--I think it's still in my album in the Gallery. It was recorded on a country road in upstate New York where the houses are on multi-acre lots. You'd be amazed how the sound of one car half a mile away can be picked up by a microphone on a quiet night.

Yeah I know A440. I was just joshing a little there. You can hear trains for over 20 miles or more and any heavy machinery at a factory or cars on a race track or hot rod motorcycles or trucks on a highway all carry great distances. There are lots of sources of noise pollution. I've only been in a very few places where you couldn't hear anything at all except airplanes and you'll never get completely away from them unless you are at the south pole or something.

The only place I have gotten away from all sounds was way out in the mountains and down in a deep hollow and that was only when there weren't any ATV's in the area. I guess I was so used to always hearing something that it was really weird to be totally away from all of it and I live in the country. Here at home I routinely hear cars on race tracks from over 15 miles away and I'm talking pretty loud at that distance. I hear trains almost all of the time and there's a factory about 3-4 miles away that I can hear all the time. Plus there's those planes.

Finding the right spot to do nature recordings can be tough. I've had lots of trouble finding good spots to do outdoor interviews. That's where a good dynamic mic comes in handy because they only pick up for a short distance. I wish I had one that I could get to work with my equipment. Recording nature sounds is probably just a matter of catching them in between the other noises in the area.

Edited by King Ghidora
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Wow. I realize living where I do is luxury sound pollution wise... Hardly ever any planes, & one can drive for miles without seeing any road vehicle... & at night full dark sky can be enjoyed. :)

Hey Wiz , if you can afford the shipping , I have a 5" diameter Newtonian , on a Full Equatorial mount sitting in my Closet

Short tube focal length 750 mm or so I Rebuilt the mount , now I have to do the mirror alignment , The guy who had it before was a Astro PHoto guy , took it apart to clean it and didnt know how to get it all back together,.....I Do tho :dirol:

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  • 3 weeks later...

hi folks,

I was about to post almost the same questions Zendog did when I happened upon this thread.

I'd spent 8 weeks doing field recordings in Australia last year using a basic Sony stereo mic and so wished that I'd thought things through a little more when I got back to Ireland and started working with them.

I'll shortly be heading to Morocco to spend a few weeks hiking in the Atlas mountains so am on the lookout for a new microphone to plug into my cute little NHF-800.

Many thanks to all who posted their thoughts and recommendations. I'm sure I'll find the perfect solution within them.

Party on

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