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HiMD recording really LOUD things

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PattiMichelle

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Hi All: I'm using my HiMD to record really LOUD things, like explosions. I have a pair of Behringer ECM8000 microphones which appear to be overdriven by the shock wave(s). I'm guessing that the element(s) of the microphone are driven to their physical limits of movement. Does anyone know of a recording forum where people might know how to prevent this? My first thought is to enclose the microphone in some sort of box to attenuate the sound, but I'm afraid of messing up the frequency response of the microphones (they're very flat).

THANKS!

Patti

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I'm not a microphone person but you might try searching here (if the site search is useless try a Google search and add site:sonyinsider.com on the end of the phrase) on "greenmachine battery box".

I believe that the recommended treatment is to use a battery box and feed that into line in instead of the mic input on the MD. Not sure, this is definitely the right place to ask. Good luck.

Stephen

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I'm not a microphone person but you might try searching here (if the site search is useless try a Google search and add site:sonyinsider.com on the end of the phrase) on "greenmachine battery box".

I believe that the recommended treatment is to use a battery box and feed that into line in instead of the mic input on the MD. Not sure, this is definitely the right place to ask. Good luck.

Stephen

OIC - I guess there's more than one issue here. I was recording into the mic input with sensitivity set to low and AGC set to "loud music." It did not saturate, but the shapes of the peaks suggested the microphone diaphragm "bottomed out" at several places - sort of a "mechanical saturation" - which is more of a microphone issue than a MD issue... I was just looking for folks who might know of a forum where they discuss such things.

Patti

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OIC - I guess there's more than one issue here. I was recording into the mic input with sensitivity set to low and AGC set to "loud music." It did not saturate, but the shapes of the peaks suggested the microphone diaphragm "bottomed out" at several places - sort of a "mechanical saturation" - which is more of a microphone issue than a MD issue... I was just looking for folks who might know of a forum where they discuss such things.

Patti

Hi Patti

It's on my other hard drive, but I think it's called recordersforum.com, or something similar, lots of good stuff. Stephen's mention of the battery box is good advice, there used to be instructions on building one here, but any gear shop should have them.

Good luck, and welcome

Bob

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Me again.... did you find some stuff here, for example this?

Also reading that triggered something in my memory. I recently did a recording with my "new" NH900 and I had a problem that I've never experienced with the RH1, namely a loud sudden chord from piano (chamber music) being more than the microphone/AGC can cope with.

It may be that there are some improvements between NH900 and RH910 and RH1. I got a complete opera using NH700 (quite similar acoustic and volume levels), and no problems at all, so it may have been the microphone (I used a better one for the opera). Or just the problems (since fixed) with marginal battery supply for the NH900.

Certainly for live classical music (everything from tiny to massive ensembles) I have had much better luck with AGC than with manual levels. However the rock concert guys seem to say that very high volume levels are simply better with a battery box to modulate things.

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Certainly for live classical music (everything from tiny to massive ensembles) I have had much better luck with AGC than with manual levels. However the rock concert guys seem to say that very high volume levels are simply better with a battery box to modulate things.

Thanks - I'm not really sure what you mean by a battery box - my microphones require phantom power supplied by batteries - via the XLR cable. Is that what you mean? I think the saturation can happen physically when the microphone membrane bottoms out - I think very loud sounds can displace the microphone element to the limit of its travel. When I've gotten *electronic* saturation before, the signal clips at a peak voltage and you can see that when you display it in, say, Audacity.

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Hi Patti,

Remembered the site I was thinking of, it's http://www.taperssection.com/

can't explain the operation of a battery box, but as Stephen say's it goes into line in, and acts as a buffer, other forum may explain it better

TTFN

Bob

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If I understand, you are using mics that take a phantom power source and an XLR-to-mini-stereo adaptor.

What happens if you put that adaptor into the Line-in (white) jack instead of the Mic (red) jack? Do you get any signal?

The mic jack has a preamp that overloads with bass or loud sounds. If you can get a signal through the line-in jack, you should be able to record a wider dynamic range. But it may also be too quiet.

I run an electret condenser mic through a battery box (9V of power, not 45V like your phantom power) and into Line-in for loud recordings. Most of the time it works, though super loud sub bass makes the mic overload.

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  • 1 month later...

Hey Patti,

You really don't want to use an electret or condenser microphone to record explosions. I would suggest a dynamic mic, and possibly an attenuator between the mic and the minidisc. The reason for this is because your sound source could be overloading the diaphragm of the mic itself, overdriving the element in the mic, or overdriving the preamp in the minidisc, or all three. A good dynamic mic should run you about $100 to $150. Expect to pay about $50 for the attenuator. One option is to use an XLR adapter that has passive faders, which are basically a variable attenuator.

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