KVR Audio

JerGoertz · Post by **JerGoertz** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 2:12 am

I have an M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 that I just got back from being serviced, and I'm not sure that the electret T-mic that came with it is recording things at a good volume. I say this because I took it on a family outing, recording ambient noises at the park, and with the input gain all the way up I was still getting a pretty low-volume signal.

What's your experience using the T-Mic to record ambient outdoor sounds? I had the L/M/H on M, tho I don't think it matters for the 1/8" input. Is there a way I can tell whether it's recording at the proper volume? I didn't have the 27dB TRS turned on, but it seems like it shouldn't be necessary if it's functioning well, because this feature is supposed to be used (as I understand it) for particularly quiet sounds.

C00kie · Post by **C00kie** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 10:55 am

JerGoertz wrote:I took it on a family outing, recording ambient noises at the park, and with the input gain all the way up I was still getting a pretty low-volume signal.

It's actually quite hard to record soft ambient noise, since it's very faint. Devices like this are more suitable for louder sounds.

JerGoertz wrote:I had the L/M/H on M, tho I don't think it matters for the 1/8" input.

That's what the manual says indeed...

JerGoertz wrote:I didn't have the 27dB TRS turned on, but it seems like it shouldn't be necessary if it's functioning well, because this feature is supposed to be used (as I understand it) for particularly quiet sounds.

For ambient noise I'd switch it on. The sound level of normal speech is around 70 or 80dB, while ambient noise is usually well below 50dB. Ofcourse this will also amplify the self-noise of the mic + preamp, so normalising the WAV afterwards would do the same thing.

JerGoertz · Post by **JerGoertz** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 10:32 pm

C00kie wrote:
JerGoertz wrote:I took it on a family outing, recording ambient noises at the park, and with the input gain all the way up I was still getting a pretty low-volume signal.
It's actually quite hard to record soft ambient noise, since it's very faint. Devices like this are more suitable for louder sounds.

JerGoertz wrote:I had the L/M/H on M, tho I don't think it matters for the 1/8" input.
That's what the manual says indeed...

JerGoertz wrote:I didn't have the 27dB TRS turned on, but it seems like it shouldn't be necessary if it's functioning well, because this feature is supposed to be used (as I understand it) for particularly quiet sounds.
For ambient noise I'd switch it on. The sound level of normal speech is around 70 or 80dB, while ambient noise is usually well below 50dB. Ofcourse this will also amplify the self-noise of the mic + preamp, so normalising the WAV afterwards would do the same thing.

C00kie, I take it you have a Microtrack?

If it wouldn't be too much of an imposition, could you do a little outdoorsey recording (a few minutes' worth) with it using the T-Mic and send me the .wav so I can compare levels with mine?

C00kie · Post by **C00kie** » Tue Sep 04, 2007 6:18 am

Sorry, I don't own one... I just read the manual and found anything I needed there to confirm some facts for you.

Anyone owns the same equipment that can do this simple test for JerGoetz?

Any M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 owners, T-Mic Question