Ursinus
Member
Sorry for the novel - I tried to be concise
---
Hello all, I'm new and would greatly appreciate some expert feedback. I'm a professional nature photographer, and I'm new to audio recording. I will be recording birds, weather, mammals, ambient nature. I work a lot in isolated wild areas in the tropics that are fantastic for noise-pollution-free audio, and also in Western US wetlands. I don't have a huge budget. I've outfitted myself with the following to get started:
1. Sony PCM-M10 recorder
2. Rode NTG-2 shotgun mic
3. Pearlstone DUSM-1 Shockmount
4. Pearlstone LMT100 xlr to minijack
5. Rode WS6 dead cat (the good one apparently)
6. Sennheiser HD 280 pro headphones
7. Pearlstone Hand Grip
I edit with Sony Vegas and Sound Forge
First impressions are the Sony is very quiet but of course struggles to pick up faint or distant ambient sounds. The Rode is quiet too and does its job well. I shot some video in the past, and associated audio, with a Canon XH-A1 video camera and a $300 Sennheiser shotgun and this setup seems much quieter. My questions are both basic and specific.
So, my questions:
1. For quiet ambient audio, what does one do to capture it better? A more robust recording unit with a more powerful pre-amp, or get closer to the source/find louder sources, or just deal with it and that's that? Do higher end recording units like a Sound Design 702 offer better ability to record low ambient sound? Is it because the have stronger pre-amps, and because you're using them with more sensitive external mics than on something like the Sony?
2. After much searching, I found what seems to be a good parabolic dish on Ebay, just a dish, but it looks good. 22" clear plastic. I've read that you can't use most shotgun mics (see here, section two). Could I use mine? I assume it would point in? If so, how far away and where - dead center?
If I can't use my shotgun with it, would this dish help the Sony and its built-in mics? Erect the dish and then tripod mount the recorder pointing into the dish? Would this help amplify ambient sounds with the Sony? Photo of the dish with the built-in mic is here - I wouldn't be getting this whole setup, just the dish is here, and the guy's example photo of it with a shotgun is here.
3. In general if you had my setup and were able to invest another $2-300 for the time being, what would you acquire to increase your options and the quality of your results? Would a mic like the Rode NT3 (here) provide any improvement over the Sony built-in mics in terms of quality or ability to record faint ambient sound?
Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it!
Brett
---
Hello all, I'm new and would greatly appreciate some expert feedback. I'm a professional nature photographer, and I'm new to audio recording. I will be recording birds, weather, mammals, ambient nature. I work a lot in isolated wild areas in the tropics that are fantastic for noise-pollution-free audio, and also in Western US wetlands. I don't have a huge budget. I've outfitted myself with the following to get started:
1. Sony PCM-M10 recorder
2. Rode NTG-2 shotgun mic
3. Pearlstone DUSM-1 Shockmount
4. Pearlstone LMT100 xlr to minijack
5. Rode WS6 dead cat (the good one apparently)
6. Sennheiser HD 280 pro headphones
7. Pearlstone Hand Grip
I edit with Sony Vegas and Sound Forge
First impressions are the Sony is very quiet but of course struggles to pick up faint or distant ambient sounds. The Rode is quiet too and does its job well. I shot some video in the past, and associated audio, with a Canon XH-A1 video camera and a $300 Sennheiser shotgun and this setup seems much quieter. My questions are both basic and specific.
So, my questions:
1. For quiet ambient audio, what does one do to capture it better? A more robust recording unit with a more powerful pre-amp, or get closer to the source/find louder sources, or just deal with it and that's that? Do higher end recording units like a Sound Design 702 offer better ability to record low ambient sound? Is it because the have stronger pre-amps, and because you're using them with more sensitive external mics than on something like the Sony?
2. After much searching, I found what seems to be a good parabolic dish on Ebay, just a dish, but it looks good. 22" clear plastic. I've read that you can't use most shotgun mics (see here, section two). Could I use mine? I assume it would point in? If so, how far away and where - dead center?
If I can't use my shotgun with it, would this dish help the Sony and its built-in mics? Erect the dish and then tripod mount the recorder pointing into the dish? Would this help amplify ambient sounds with the Sony? Photo of the dish with the built-in mic is here - I wouldn't be getting this whole setup, just the dish is here, and the guy's example photo of it with a shotgun is here.
3. In general if you had my setup and were able to invest another $2-300 for the time being, what would you acquire to increase your options and the quality of your results? Would a mic like the Rode NT3 (here) provide any improvement over the Sony built-in mics in terms of quality or ability to record faint ambient sound?
Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it!
Brett
Last edited:
You can't beat the inverse square law. The trouble is, most critters scarper if you push that too hard.
