johnny86 Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 i use a sony mz-g750 md recorder with a sony ecm-ms907 microphone to record my orchestra and band concerts. I have the md recorder set so it changes the recording level automatically. However, when the music is loud, the mic+md seem to not be able to cope and the sound is really bad. Is this because the levels can't be changed much? Should I set the recording level myself? - i play in the orchestra, so during the recording i cannot change the levels. Any ideas how to get a better quality sound? Ps- the bands are very very loud, and we play in a very echoey concert hall! Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnty Posted July 10, 2004 Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 don't use auto levels EVER... unless its for voice.... the best way is to try a few settings, and see what happens. make note of what level you used, and listen to the results. you'll get it after a few times. another way would be to get a batt box that will increase the dynamic handling of the mics. but that requires more $$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A440 Posted July 10, 2004 Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 The Radio Shack headphone volume control will also cut the incoming sound to appropriate levels--a volume knob on a cord--$6.59. Turn the knob all the way UP for all but the loudest shows. Easier to carry than a battery box, and the resulting recording is louder, with a slight loss of fullness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anti Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 The Radio Shack headphone volume control will also cut the incoming sound to appropriate levels--a volume knob on a cord--$6.59. Turn the knob all the way UP for all but the loudest shows. Easier to carry than a battery box, and the resulting recording is louder, with a slight loss of fullness.will this do the same as turning the recording level down via manual volume control? im just asking cause ive been recoding in v loud clubs and i get some distortion. ive been using the auto level setting, so im not sure if its the microphones fault or im recording too loud for the md. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Otaku Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 You could be either a) overdriving the mic [exceeding it's max. SPL] or overdriving the mic input [which doesn't have a lot of headroom on portables like MDs]. If you're using a MS907 then a battery box won't help you since it's only powered by its internal battery. [***I might actually be wrong on this, some mics of this type can detect external power and bypass their own battery in favour of it, but I haven't known the 907 to do this, and I've used them a lot] If the problem isn't that the mic is being overdriven [and is that the mic preamp is] then an external preamp would likely fix your problem. Most external preamps are also battery boxes, and include gain and/or level controls. Sound Professionals have a very decent portable preamp that runs off one 9V battery and plugs into the line-in on your MD, skipping the [clipping] mic preamp altogether. The line-in has a lot more headroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anti Posted July 30, 2004 Report Share Posted July 30, 2004 how can you tell which is being overdriven? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Otaku Posted July 30, 2004 Report Share Posted July 30, 2004 The easiest way would be to test the MD recorder with more than one mic, with known sensitivty ratings. Or to test the one mic with more than one recorder. You need a basis for comparison, basically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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