KVR Audio

james0tucson · Post by **james0tucson** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 5:57 am

Here's what I *really* want:
http://www.sounddevices.com/products/7.htm

Spratman · Post by **Spratman** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 7:07 am

I'd like to see you put it in your pocket James

james0tucson · Post by **james0tucson** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:47 pm

Spratman wrote:I'd like to see you put it in your pocket James

I could get it in my camera bag, and that's all I need

drinelli · Post by **drinelli** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 7:24 am

I have a Md with 1gb discs don`t remember the exact version number, but I had a lot of hiss on my first recordings, but when loading them into my pc, the hiss seems to be gone, are you all sure the same is not the case with the Microtrack.

drinelli · Post by **drinelli** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 7:53 am

Eh why has Microtrack become Orange.

Well, My point is that it could be the headphones, or the headphones output that is noisy, as I exsperienced the same with a md recorder I own. Also I think that there could be an other explanation, if you took a recording with a noise floor of lets say 100db eh -100db, whatever, and monitor it on a pc, would you not then have to add, the noise floor of the soundcard, and the monitors, that could add up, or when you record in nature there will allways be background noise, that you would not hear before the recording was made, depending on the microphone. You would in any case have to meassure the noise floor in a wave editor, not in ones Daw. Further more hiss can easily be filtered out making this a very good recording indeed, you would have to filter out low frequensy rumble anyway, when doing recordings outdoors. The 96 Khz 24 bit would make a big difference, when filtering/equalizing.

drinelli · Post by **drinelli** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 7:55 am

Eh why has Microtrack become Orange. Question

Forget it, it is gone.

John Vulich · Post by **John Vulich** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 7:56 am

drinelli wrote:Eh why has Microtrack become Orange.

It's a text highlight from using the forum's search function.

drinelli · Post by **drinelli** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 7:59 am

Me using it, or somebody else

drinelli · Post by **drinelli** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:00 am

dump question of course

junebug · Post by **junebug** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:34 pm

drinelli wrote:are you all sure the same is not the case with the Microtrack.

yes, i did all these tests by looking at the actual .wav file in soundforge on my pc

JB

Scotrick · Post by **Scotrick** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 3:20 pm

I own the Edirol R-1, and I bought mine just before the wave of compact flash units came out... at first I was disappointed, thinking I should have gotten the M-Audio unit, but using an Audio Technica battery powered Stereo Mic plugged into the Edirol I get great recordings of my band's practice sessions... which was the main reason I bought the thing...

What I don't like:

The Edirol Metering is TERRIBLE... just some large text blocks for both channels...
No independent control of left or right...
It's just large enought to be an awkward size... and I have big hands...

Oh, and if the power is interrupted during recording the recording will be corrupted... though you can fix that in windows using FDISK or whatever it's called...

I haven't checked the noise floor, but for my purposes not an important factor...

drinelli · Post by **drinelli** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:48 pm

junebug wrote:
drinelli wrote:are you all sure the same is not the case with the Microtrack.
yes, i did all these tests by looking at the actual .wav file in soundforge on my pc

JB

Are there more people here who have the same exsperience with M-Audio Microtrack, it would be quite out of my leaque of finances to buy the Edirol device, or where there other alternatives, for people with low budgets other than MD.

SuperFly76 · Post by **SuperFly76** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 6:41 pm

I am also extremely disappointed with the microtrack. The hiss is just too loud to use for anything other than a sketchpad. I have had mine for about 7 months and have tried it out many times and the hiss is too much. I do nature recordings and the hiss makes every nature recording I make sound like it is near a waterfall. I would like to be able to use it but it is unusable for me as it is. I have tried it with many mics and the preamps are just too noisy. What a waist of $. Has anyone tried using the digital inputs? I wonder if it is less noisy?

Doug

james0tucson · Post by **james0tucson** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 12:12 am

SuperFly76 wrote:Has anyone tried using the digital inputs? I wonder if it is less noisy?

Doug

It's the preamps that are noisy. Get a real mic and a real preamp, or realize that -27dB is what passes for "silence".

Frustrating, I know. The built-in mics, or any "plug-in-power" condensor really, is not going to be good for foley work or nature sounds. This problem isn't unique to your recorder.

james0tucson · Post by **james0tucson** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 1:01 am

alabamian wrote: I haven't checked the noise floor, but for my purposes not an important factor...

The Edirol has 3 noise floors, different between digital input (very, very good), "plug-in-power mic" (there are some good mics out there, and some very good parabolic designs), and the built-in mics. The preamps are pretty hissy, and then the built-in mics contribute even more noise to that.

The frustrated original poster has several options, but he should rule out changing equipment -- they *all* suck for what he wants to do (the holy grail of field recording, noise-free wildlife foley.)

There are two ways to improve the signal-to-noise ratio in any recording situation: a. lower the noise, and b. increase the signal.

a. Is not a realistic option when the "noise" is already well under the -30dB range. That's pretty damned good, actually. So you're left with option "b."

Serious Wildlife folks either use a super directional mic (Sennheiser K6 + ME66 or ME67, for instance), or on a budget, there are some good camera mics that work well (AT55), or they use a cardioid mic and a parabolic reflector.

Windscreen is important too, even in what feels like still air. Windscreening a parabolic is an art in itself. Windscreening a shotgun is a job for Rykote.

If you can get your signal higher up above your hiss, it won't be such a disaster.

But you should be aware that you are trying to do "nature recording" which isn't exactly the easiest thing to do! In fact, I'd say it's the audio equivalent of bird photography -- and you will not believe what bird folks spend on stuff like lenses and tripod heads.

It's tough. The sound you want to filter is awfully close in spectrum and dynamics to the sound you want to record

You *don't* want the air to make noise as it travels across your microphone but you *do* want to hear the leaves rustling

Anyway, I know it's frustrating, but don't blame your recorder. No recorder's built-in mics are really going to do a great job of "nature sounds". But there is a wide range of solutions, between homemade parabolics that cost almost nothing, to $60,000 foley rigs, to things you can only lease from Panaflex.

"Hiss-free" recording with M-Audio Microtrack - HO