automatic record level or manual on the N1?

[bcutlerj]

I've got a new toy and lots of questions. that's good right? here goes:

On the MZ-N1 i find the on the fly adjustment of recording levels easy to use. But the lack of a backlit lcd display terribly frustrating. So why should I not use the auto set recording level/default setting? Is it too low or too high etc. ?

Also, I have a sony ecm-719 mic. its like the little ds70 except that it has a battery power option (powered with LR44 ). Can i use this additional power, and plug in power of the N1 simultaneously or will The input be too high?

Here's a toughie. Is the music - voice switch on the ecm-719 an omni to unidirectional switch? would I prefer voice mode sometimes to cut out crowd noise behind and beside me?

Any and all assistance appreciated.

[Guest Anonymous]

I had asked a question about AGC which hasn't received a reply, yet, but I'll post what I've discovered so far.

The music purists generally suggest NOT using AGC while doing recordings, because dynamic range is much of what makes up music.

I have been using AGC on meeting room recordings (with the MZ-N1 set to low sensitivity), although I now wonder if I should be using the high sensitivity setting, because the recordings sometimes seem a bit low.

On an outdoor jazz fusion (i.e. loud) concert using Sound Professional (low sensitivity) mics and MZ-N1 low sensitivity setting, I discovered that 8/30 seemed to work well.

On conference (voice) recordings using Sound Professional mics and MZ-N1 low sensitivity setting, I had mostly used AGC, but recently had manually set 24/30 or 26/30 with good results.

On a meeting recording (actually initially following the speaker around, and then sitting at a conference table) with a Sony ECM-MS907 mic (known to be a low sensitivity mic) and the MZ-N1 (low sensitivity setting) with AGC, the recording was okay, but plays back at a rather low level. I wonder if the AGC had set the gain up to maximum (i.e. 30/30) and thus peaked it out. This could mean that it may be appropriate to set the MZ-N1 for high sensitivity when using the ECM-MS907 for recording conversations.