Hey, I recently did an experiment with a pair of sound professional's SP-TFB-2 binaural microphones on a Tascam DR-07. I simply went to a rock concert and recorded it from the center front row.
I was stupid not too look at the mic's max input level before going forward with the recording, but needless to say I heard quite a bit of distortion and maxing out on playback.
The mic's max input is 120 db (around the average volume of a front row concert experience) with phantom power (which I was using). The distortions were only in the bass (house sub was pounding away). There was no clipping at all, as the recording level was relatively low.
Obviously an easy solution would be to buy a microphone with a higher max input (more expensive though). Are there are any tricks of the trade for situations like this? The mics sit in your ears, so wrapping them in something really thick and dense wouldn't work (I guess I could wear a thick beanie, cover my ears, or both.) However, since the distortions were in the bass, I wonder if that wouldn't help too much considering the amount of vibration going on. I'm afraid that would just cut down on treble and make the recording a wash of thumping.
What do you guys think?
EDIT: I found these adapter-like devices called passive in-line pads. So far the only one's I can find are 10db pads from M-Audio. Seems like a possible route. Here the blurb about it:
"The MicroTrack 10dB Pad is a specially designed attenuator for the 1/8” microphone input on the MicroTrack—or any device with similar output impedance and phantom power characteristics. It reduces the output of a connected electret condenser microphone by approximately 10dB, which protects the input stage of the MicroTrack from becoming overloaded and distorting when recording high-SPL sources. The in-line pad attenuates the audio signal from the mic while passing unaltered the 5V supply needed to power the internal preamp of electret condenser microphones."
EDIT 2: I've also found a Rolls DB25 Matchbox Direct Box/Pad/Ground Lift that says it can pad the input signal from -20dB to -infinity dB. More control but it adds more bulk and I'm not sure whether it would create power issues.
I was stupid not too look at the mic's max input level before going forward with the recording, but needless to say I heard quite a bit of distortion and maxing out on playback.
The mic's max input is 120 db (around the average volume of a front row concert experience) with phantom power (which I was using). The distortions were only in the bass (house sub was pounding away). There was no clipping at all, as the recording level was relatively low.
Obviously an easy solution would be to buy a microphone with a higher max input (more expensive though). Are there are any tricks of the trade for situations like this? The mics sit in your ears, so wrapping them in something really thick and dense wouldn't work (I guess I could wear a thick beanie, cover my ears, or both.) However, since the distortions were in the bass, I wonder if that wouldn't help too much considering the amount of vibration going on. I'm afraid that would just cut down on treble and make the recording a wash of thumping.
What do you guys think?
EDIT: I found these adapter-like devices called passive in-line pads. So far the only one's I can find are 10db pads from M-Audio. Seems like a possible route. Here the blurb about it:
"The MicroTrack 10dB Pad is a specially designed attenuator for the 1/8” microphone input on the MicroTrack—or any device with similar output impedance and phantom power characteristics. It reduces the output of a connected electret condenser microphone by approximately 10dB, which protects the input stage of the MicroTrack from becoming overloaded and distorting when recording high-SPL sources. The in-line pad attenuates the audio signal from the mic while passing unaltered the 5V supply needed to power the internal preamp of electret condenser microphones."
EDIT 2: I've also found a Rolls DB25 Matchbox Direct Box/Pad/Ground Lift that says it can pad the input signal from -20dB to -infinity dB. More control but it adds more bulk and I'm not sure whether it would create power issues.
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