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Posts Tagged ‘Sound Devices 744’

Rode NTG3 vs. Sennheiser ME66 noise

Posted in Óflokkað, tagged , , , , , on 14.2.2012| 1 Comment »

Some months ago my plan was to buy Rode NTG3. I was looking for a low noise and better sounding microphone than ME66 I already own. But after some research at home I found this microphone even worse than ME66 for nature recording.
The audible noise and sensitivity between these two mics was almost equal, but NTG3 have noticeably higher low frequency response.
But what surprised me most was all the noise in NTG3. If something, it was even more than in ME66. But spectrogram shows a shocking pictures for NTG3, a white noise in the whole frequency spectrum up to 50Khz. See spectrogram.
This NTG3 was sent back to the shop, but I was never sure if I did some mistakes in this measurements. So last week I vent to the shop and picked up some recording samples on the same NTG3.
The recorder was Sound devises 744 at 24bit/48Khz. NTG3 was in channel 1 and for comparison ME66 was in channel 2. They were laying side by side and the gain was in full position. Input filter for both channels was at 80Hz, 12dB/oct.
It is no doubt. There is some strange white noise in NTG3.
The sound sample below is about two minutes long. First minute is NTG3 and the second is ME66.
This particular NTG3 can be defective, so I am waiting for next supply of Rode NTG3 in the shop.
I will update this post as soon after I have got a chance to test some other NTG3 mics.
See more pictures and spectrogram in this last test.

Conclusion – Summary

The spectrogram looks very bad for NTG3 but the mic is not as bad as it looks. The ME66 datasheets display referred noise as 10dB(A) and the NTG3 datasheets display referred noise as 13dB(A), so  ME66 has lower referred noise than NTG3. This difference is probably what we see on the spectrogram.  This microphones does not have exactly same bandwidth, as the ME66 has a reduced audio bandwidth which in turn reduces the referred noise. The ME66 top end roll off starts around 14Khz (0dB) and is -6dB at 20KHz, NTG3 is +2dB at 14KHz and -2dB at 20KHz.
NTG3 is RF biased microphones designed to withstand high humidity and harsher environments than the ME66 condenser microphone. So while the NTG3 and ME66 are both shotgun microphones they are designed for different operating conditions.
NTG3 would be my choice for most “normal sound pressure” level. But for quiet nature sounds where most audible sounds are in low level and mid-high frequency, I would choose some other mic.
In my opinion Rode NT1a is one of the best.  Sadly NT1a is not a shotgun or small diaphragm condenser that can be fit nicely in a Blimp. But NT1a have only 5dB(A) noise and that makes the whole different for those who don’t like to use noise reduction software.    See solutions how to fit NT1a in Blimp in NOS and XY setup.
For those who are searching for sound quality in NTG3 I recommend this search: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=NTG3+vs+ME66&meta=
Also this one:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=NTG3+vs+MKH416&meta=

Download mp3 file (192kbps / 3Mb)

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Áramót á Las Américas, Tenerife

Posted in Mannlíf, tagged , , , , on 4.1.2012| 5 Comments »

Fireworks at Tenerife

Áramótin 2011-2012 voru heldur óvenjuleg þetta skiptið þar sem ég dvaldi með tengdafjölsyldu minni á Tenerife. Eins og á Íslandi þá var skotið upp flugeldum. En á Tenerife er það ekki almennt almenningur sem skítur upp flugeldum heldur sjá hótelin um það, allavega á suðvestur horni eyjarinnar. Á H10 Conquistador hótelinu þar sem ég gisti hafði flugeldum verið skotið upp á Jóladag í tveimur tilkomumiklum sýningum. Hótelið var því ekki með flugeldaskothríð á áramótum. Þess í stað sáu nágrannahótelin um það.
Hljóðnemarnir voru á svölum á 4 hæð og snéru til norðurs. Staðsetningin var því ekki upp á hið besta til að fanga flugeldana sjálfa, en það sem einkennir þessa hljóðritun er skemmtilegt bergmál sprengingana frá eldfjallinu Teide og háum hótelbyggingum. Flugeldasýningin á Las Américas var þægilega hófstillt miðað við íslenska gauraganginn þar sem venja er að upplifunin hverfi í ofboðslegum hávaða og þykkum eitruðum reyk.
Varúð! Þessi upptaka getur skaðað heyrn og hátalara á háum styrk

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New year’s eve at Las Américas, Tenerife
I spent new years eve 2011-2012 at Tenerife. It gave me a nice opportunity to compare the fire works between Tenerife and Iceland. The microphones was based on balcony´s 4th flour at H10 Conquistador hotel, facing to north. It was not the best location to record the fireworks it self, but instead it picked up a nice echo from Mt. Teide and some large buildings in the area (sounds like a thunder).
This session start three minutes before midnight.
Warning! This recording can damage hearing and speakers on high volume.

Short version
Download mp3 file. (192kbps / 1,8Mb)

Long version
Download mp3 file. (192kbps / 24.9Mb)

Recorder: Sound Devices 744 (24bit/48K)
Mics: Sennheiser ME62 30cm/110°
Pix: Canon 30D
Listen to Fireworks in Iceland

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Arlo Guthri og Franz Anton Hoffmeister

Posted in Music & release, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 15.12.2011| Leave a Comment »

Þann 27. nóvember 2011 hélt Sinfóníuhljómsveit áhugamanna stórskemmtilega tónleika. Á efnisskrá voru Mozart og fleiri furðufuglar. Tónleikarnir einkenndust af skemmtiatriðum milli og á meðan flutningi tónverka stóð þar sem Dean Ferrell bassaleikari, Gissur Páll Gissurarson tenor og Oliver Kentish stjórnandi voru í aðalhlutverkum. Hluta af tónleikunum má sjá hér á Youtube.
Tvö lög þar sem Dean Ferrell fer á kostum má heyra hér fyrir neðan. Fyrra lagið er The Pause of Mr. Claus eftir Arlo Guthri og seinn lagið er Menuett eftir Franz Anton Hoffmeister.
Dean er óvenulega fjölhæfur tónlistamaður. Hann leikur á fjölmörg bassahljóðfæri og er nánast jafnvígur á þau öll. Hann er sérfræðingur í afbrigðilegum stillingum kontrabassa (scordatura) og standa honum þar fáir á sporði. Hann hefur sótt fundi Alþjóðlega bassaleikarfélagsins undanfarin ár og getið sér þar frægð fyrir sérlega frumleg atriði sem finna má á Youtube. Þar sameinar hann afburða færni sína á hljóðfæri, leikræna tilburði og afrakstur rannsókna sinna á gamalli tónlist og hljóðfærum.
Lögin tvo sem hér má heyra eru birt með leyfi Dean og Olivers

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Arlo Guthri and Franz Anton Hoffmeister
In November 2011 I recorded a concert with Amateur Symphony Orchestra. Special guest and soloist in this concert was a Gissur Páll Gissurarson tenor and Dean Ferrell bass player. This concert was different from many others I‘ve seen and heard. Most of the time during the concert, Dean, Gissur and the director Oliver Kentish, were acting in a comedy.
Part of this concert is now visible at YouTube.
I have noticed that omnidirectional mics give the best result in sound quality. That is one of the reasons I use very often omnidirectional mics as Mid-side mic in MS setup.
In this concert I decided to use AB setup located over the orchestra.
For many reasons it gives a fabulous result. Compare using same multi polar pattern mics in MS setup it gives better result in the lower frequency resolution. The only negative thing was a bit too long reverb on the orchestra and too short on soloists. Six pieces of mics could also make a phase error.
At concert like this, I can´t act as a king. I need to make me as compact as I can. For many reasons I like that. It is a challenge to make a nice recording without be necessarily in the best place, or have a trailer of recording equipment.
During the concert I tried to beware the phase problem. But the soloist was “acting” almost everywhere. Most of the time they were far away from the best place for the mics so I got some phase failure.
Following two songs are made by Arlo Guthry (The Pause of Mr. Claus) and Franz Anton Hoffmeister (Menuett). In this recording Dean Ferrell bass player is singing and playing on his fabulous Bass. Violist, Celloist and Bass player in the orchestra are playing with Dean in the Menuett song.

  Download mp3 file (224kbps / 12.8Mb)

Recorder: Sound Devices 744 w. 552 preamp
Mics: SE4400 in AB setup. 60cm apart in 2.5 meters over the orchestra. For bass soloist, SE 4400 in MS setup (mid mic omni). For tenor, SE1a in XY setup (not used in this web session).
Pix: Canon 30D. (more pictures)

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