This two midsummer recordings were made around four o´clock in the morning 15th of July 2017 nearby Arnarholt farm in Stafholtstungur, in west of Iceland. It is recorded on two stereo channels with two different microphones because usually every time I recorded in this place the recordings has been disturbed by traffic noise all night long. But somehow for some unexplained reason no car went around nearby road for more than two hours, so I got a wonderful recording this morning.
I placed those two microphone rigs very close to each other and pointed them toward north. Afterwards I could not decided which of those recordings were better so it is yours to decide which you like.
There are many bird species in this recording. Common Snipe, Golden Plover, Whimbrel, Common Redshank, Black Taled Godwit, White Wagtail, Black headed Gull, Winter Wren, Northern Wheatear, Snow Bunting, Rock Ptarmigan, Common Starling, Redwing, Great Northern Dever, Whooper Swan, Graylag Goose and probably other species. Birds like Starling and Redwing are flying between branches in nearby trees.
My favorite microphones for nature recordings are Sennheiser MKH20 an omni-directional condenser microphone and Rode NT1A (slightly modified), a large capsule cardioid polar pattern studio condenser microphone. Both these mics have lowest self-noise available on the market.
I am used to use MKH20 in AB setup which mean the mics are in 40-45cm spaced parallel position (AB40). Then I turn the capsules 2-5° outward which gave me sometimes slightly „wider or more open space feeling“. This setup give me a stereo recording, 360° surround the rig.
My second best omni-directional ultra low noise mic for nature recordings is AT4022 but it does not sound as „musical“ or „natural“ as MKH20, so it is not as often in my tool box,
Cardioid mic detect sound mainly from one direction. so I use NT1A in different circumstances.
Lets say I like to record a birdsong. At the same time it is disturbed with unwanted noise, coming from another direction like waterfall, river flow, surf or traffic noise. I can place the backside of the cardioid mic to the noise source which mean I will get less of the unwanted noise and more of the birdsong.
In last two or three years I have not used NT1A in ORTF or NOS setup for outdoor recordings. But instead use AB4, same as for MKH20, which seems to give less phase error for the sound behind the rig.
These two recordings are NOT good examples for this two different mics in critical circumstances because no car passed by behind the rigs and most of the birds activity was also front of the rigs. But it gives a nice insight how this two different mics sounds and how the self-noise act in „quiet“ nature recordings.
NT1A was inside Rycote Cyclone + fur. MKH20 was inside Rycote WS2 windshield + fur. Both rigs are in AB40 +3°
I use MixPre6 in this recording. There is no doubt, the new Sound devices Kashmir mic preamplifier is ultra low noise and a sweet step forward to get better field recordings.
The HPF was at 40Hz and the gain was at 50dB for NT1A and 43dB for MKH20. The gain settings mainly get this arrangement because then both rigs sounds have equal level in the headphones while I was recording. In post the gain was increased almost 30dB on both stereo channels, up to -10dB.
Specrogram shows „all“ frequencies was bellow 8Khz so to lower unwanted mic self-noise I pull everything above 10Khz down with EQ (-5db @ 11Khz & -30dB @ 15Khz) .
This is a „quiet“ recording which mean you should listen to it at low level in quality headphones or speakers in quiet place.
NT1A recording
(mp3, 256kbps / 50,6Mb)
MKH20 recording
(mp3, 256kbps / 50,6Mb)
Here are two shorter version of this recording but now without high frequency cutoff and the gain level is normalized up to 0dB, so it should be easy to hear the mic self-noise in low quality headphones and PC amplifiers.
It is also easy to notice that MKH20 is covering 360° of the surround soundscape, while NT1A is only covering 180° with less bird songs and other activity.
NT1A. Without high freq cut off, normalized to 0dB
(mp3, 256kbps / 11Mb)
MKH20 Without high freq cut off, normalized to 0dB
(mp3, 256kbps / 11Mb)
Recorder: Sound devices MixPre6
Mics: Rode NT1a and Sennheiser MKH20 (AB40 setup)
Pix. Canon EOSM
Location: 64.673460, -21.629304
Weather: Calm, cloudy, ca. 7°C
Thanks for this Magnus. Great recordings as always. I’m interested to know what power supply you use with the MixPre 6 for long form recordings. I’m very happy with my MixPre 6 – but it eats batteries!
I have use the MX-LMount battery sled. Very useful in my case because I have a huge collection of NP-F batteries. With only two 4,4Ah (8,8Ah) it looks like I can record about 12 hours. I have never had a power consumption problem since I got MP6, It is a big step from my previous SD recorders
I have also fix in the MX-4AA battery sled a small 3Amp DC/DC converter which can withstand almost any 10-40 volt power supply. It is similar solution as Pinknoise-systen.co.uk offer. This means I can use all the same power options (with 4pin Hirose plug) I use for SD744 and SD78 (and Sonosax). I can also use my solar panel, which works even better with MP6 because MP6 use less power than previous recorders
I can say the same as you. I am very happy with the MP6 recorder. It is almost like custom made for my needs. Four mic channels + PIP/aux input. For nature recordings I can not ask for more. It seems like this Kashmir preamp is the best preamp of all in my recorders collection. I think it is even better than in Sonosax SX-4R+ or SD788. It seems to be both sounds nicer and have less noise.
I just wonder to know how the PRO line will sounds in the future.
Nice writeup and lovely recordings! Can I ask what DC/DC converter you used?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-3A-DC-DC-Adjustable-Converter-Step-Down-Power-Supply-Module-Replace-LM2596S-/252454205456?var&hash=item3ac7717810%3Am%3AmhvdkntsnkChezvLFCYsyhw
SPEC:
Input voltage: 4.5-28V
Output Voltage: 0.8-20V (adjustable)
Output current: rated current 3A(MAX).
Switching Frequency: 1MHz
Output Ripple:less than 30mV
Efficiency:96%(max)
Operating temperature: Industrial grade (-40 C to +85 C)
Module Properties: Non-isolated step-down module (buck)
Size:22*17*4mm
Thank you, that helps real good! And then you set the output to around 8 volts i’m guessing. Was told on facebook mixpre site the battery terminals handle a max of 8.4v.
What I like with this DC/DC converter is the 1MHz switching freq. But what I don´t like is this adjustable resistor which can fail, so just in case, I connect a 8,1 volt zener & 9V 5W supressor diode to the output and adjust the voltage to 7,8Volt
I also use F2A fuse & 220uF 10V with ultra low ERS between the recorder and DC/DC converter.
Thanks Magnus. Very interesting. I shall order the MX-L Mount battery sled. I think Sound Devices have struck gold with the Mix Pre 6. As with you, it suits my needs perfectly and I agree with you about the wonderful Kashmir preamps.
[…] I visit this place so it is interesting to listen how this place sounds six months later, in July. Listen here. Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at low or medium […]