rholland Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 I'm going to Lollapalooza this year, and I may try to tape some of the shows. I haven't ever taped before. After digging around on this site (which is awesome, by the way), I've determined that I need to buy mics (obviously) and a battery box. The trip itself is costing me lots of money, so I'd like to do this for as cheap as possible ($100 - $150). I already have an old Sony MZ-N505, and I'm going to run mics through a battery box and into the line-in (optical) input. I plan on buying Sound Professional SP-HMC-1 mics:http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/...&type=storeand a battery box:http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/...item/SP-SPSB-10I plan on wearing the headphone mounted mics around my neck, as these will have to be stealth recordings. I know the quality won't be awesome, but will this at least produce a decent, listenable recording? If not, I'll probably just leave the stuff at home and not worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A440 Posted June 8, 2007 Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 Actually, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how good it will sound. The MZ-N505 has a line input, not a mic input, so you will definitely need the battery box, but with the battery box you should get a good recording. Those are the same basic mics as the BMC-2, and they sound fine. Keep the headphone as high up as you can around your neck. If you can bear to carry a bunch of discs, I recommend recording in SP even though you only get 74 or 80 minutes per disc. To save space, I recorded a lot of concerts in LP2 on my old MZ-N707--same generation as your N505--and now that I've been spoiled by Hi-SP, I find the LP2 recordings a little lackluster. If you feel you have to be really stealthy, use LP2 so you don't have to make obvious disc changes, but use SP if you get a chance. And get ready to do a lot of walking at Lollapalooza. The two main stages are at least 1/2 mile apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenmachine Posted June 8, 2007 Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 The quality will be much better if you put the mics close to your ears. Headphones in a concert may look suspicious but if you use separate mini mics and mount them on the rim of some eyeglasses, you will get the best possible recording without looking too suspicious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rholland Posted June 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 Very helpful, thanks. I may just get the regular BMC-2 mics with clips and put them on my hat. My only real concern is getting caught. How easy would it be to sneak a MD recorder, 10 md discs, a battery box, and the BMC-2 mics through the gate? Once I'm inside, I'm not too worried given all the people that will be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A440 Posted June 9, 2007 Report Share Posted June 9, 2007 You can hide the BMC-2 mics under your shirt (button-front shirt, fold the mics over the top button and tuck them in. Even metal detector wands are rarely traced over the front of your shirt. The recorder depends on the gate person you get. You could just say it's your "walkman." Battery box is pretty nondescript. But 10 discs....you're going to have to be creative. You could try cargo pants or something with lotsa pockets and a few MDs in each....Or look for someone headed for the gate with a photo pass and a camera bag, and be friendly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenmachine Posted June 9, 2007 Report Share Posted June 9, 2007 The NH600 (not to be confused with the unsuitable NH600D) is a 2004 model HiMD Recorder with line-in only and can be had fairly inexpensive usually. It will record almost 8 hours on a 1GB disc in high quality Hi-SP Mode, so you would only need one or two discs per day. Plus, you can digitally upload the content to your PC. Search ebay or other places for a used one in your price range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyo Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 The NH600 (not to be confused with the unsuitable NH600D) is a 2004 model HiMD Recorder with line-in only and can be had fairly inexpensive usually. It will record almost 8 hours on a 1GB disc in high quality Hi-SP Mode, so you would only need one or two discs per day. Plus, you can digitally upload the content to your PC. Search ebay or other places for a used one in your price range.Other than being able to make (apparently worse quality) recordings without a battery module, is there any advantage to having a mic-in port on your MD recorder? In other words, should I bother buying one with mic in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenmachine Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 Other than being able to make (apparently worse quality) recordings without a battery module, is there any advantage to having a mic-in port on your MD recorder? In other words, should I bother buying one with mic in?If you record loud sounds only, there's not much use for mic-in. For anything quieter like unamplified instruments, ambient, speech... you will need preamplification to get sufficiently high levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.