#787

Reminds me of this!
Such a cool recording!

3 Likes
#788

Anybody done anything with the H3-VR? I was talking to an old friend about 3d printing tetrahedral harnesses that would allow for the use of any 4 identical mics, but this thing decodes to binaural for monitoring/stereo and also has a gyro in it so you can maintain directional reckoning (assuming this feature is also optional). Just curious if anyone’s used or heard it yet, especially in a decent Ambi array…

#789

I’ve recorded a bit in quad - with cardioids in a X formation. It worked well when simply sent to quad speakers, but I’d probably use an ambisonic mic for it these days…

#790

Did a brief test on this setup yesterday. It’s a fun setup, I can handle them in one hand too. I cannot say much on technical perspective, to me I would prefer H4n Pro or Mixpre to do the task, after all if carrying along shock mount, wind protection and tripod, with all these added up, I don’t mind to carry a bigger recorder.

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#791

If you don’t need to be able to record 6 channels, you can get the H5 for a decent savings, which has the same performance but loses 2 inputs and some onboard editing functionality

2 Likes
#792

there will often be the problem of extraneous sounds getting in the way (planes, roads, HVACs) but if the area is particularly quiet, any low self-noise, sensitive mic placed very close to a tiny sound will yield something interesting.
A simple piezo disc stuck inside an anthill (depending on your local ants, check that they won’t try to eat you in retaliation) can do wonders.You can also stick the piezo to a larger object (or plant) that will become a walking/roaming etc area for those little insect footsteps.

Last year i discovered that when clamping a piezo to a tree branch, you are somehow listening to the environment “through” the tree, as the leaves act as membranes and their vibrations are conducted down the wood fibres to the contact mic (it is quite obvious but i never thought about that before hearing it). I suspect this might be more interesting with quality contact mics with a fuller bandwidth.

tl;dr: For tiny sounds, 1/if in a silent environment, putting an appropriate mic very close to the source works. 2/ contact mics may also work.

9 Likes
#793

Thank you! Very inspirational. Sound recording is both simpler and far more complex than I ever think it will be.

I’ve got to go gently mic up a tree.

#794

does anyone perhaps have a recommendation for a dynamic omni lav-style mic? looking for a compact way to introduce atmosphere to modular through my 4ms listen i/o.

i once saw a demonstration of a composer submerging a contact mic in boiling water—it sounded exactly as interesting as one would think!

1 Like
#795

As far as I’m aware most dynamic mics are omni, but I’ve never heard of a dynamic lav unfortunately and I have some doubts as to whether that would even be possible.

#796

In my experience dynamics are almost always cardioid…

I’ve also not encountered a dynamic lav mic myself, but a quick search shows a Shure model. Never used one, so can’t speak to how it compares to other options.

3 Likes
#797

The Cold Gold hydrophone that i’ve got can “safely be boiled or frozen”, neither of which I’ve tried yet, though last night I placed it into my glass of whiskey on the rocks to listen to the ice fighting the alcohol.

6 Likes
#798

our research yielded similar solutions—i only found the shure and an equivalent electro-voice.

ordered the shure for now, but if anyone knows of anything boutique-ish please chime in!

this is a great sentence—post the aural results next time!

1 Like
#799

is it that you don’t want to have to deal with phantom? I have been kinda curious about but haven’t tried any yet myself, but I have seen some cheapo lavs that use a little battery pack. Also not a lav but if you want something more sensitive without needing phantom maybe look at some older mics for mini disc players?

1 Like
#800

yes—my available input is very much passive i’m afraid.

most battery packs i’ve seen are encroaching on being too large to be worth it, so to speak—ideally i’d like something that can cohabit with my patch cables when not in use.

the minidisc idea is an interesting one—i’ll look into it!

#801

Check these guys out. If they don’t have it, he can steer you in the right direction and he’s very responsive:

https://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/category/140/mics

1 Like
#802

This may be obvious to most here but using my cheap piezos recently with my old r-09 I found that turning on plug in power for the 1/8th input killed the hum and changed the character of the sound quite a lot. I hadn’t thought to try that until I read that powering piezos helps.

#803

There are such things as in-line mic preamps for ‘plug in power’ mics.

I’m slightly concerned that the Shure is not going to be sensitive enough to record atmos tbh. Could be wrong though.

The other option is to buy a small portable recorder and just use the line out while the recorder is in record/pause mode. Most let you monitor output in this state I think. You’d get stereo too then.

1 Like
#804

very possible—thankfully it was very cheap, so neither harm nor foul should it fail to perform :slight_smile:

any recommendations for something particularly small, preferably with 3.5mm in and out? this may well be my move if so.

power is likely more important than pre, if that narrows anything down—my input offers +30db of gain.

#805

Having said that, no actually! I do definitely remember seeing some for sale on a wildlife recording site, but now can’t find it. There are some on ebay, but could not vouch for them.

1 Like
#807

i’d just solder a quick XLRf → miniTS cable to test with any dynamic mic on hand and hear how it goes.

1 Like