wrote in message ...
"Zigakly" writes:

"C.J.Patten" wrote in message
...
Howdy. Looking at MiniDisc and flash based recorders.

Do all MD recorders have mic-preamps on their audio inputs?

I realize some units don't have *any* kind of audio inputs so I'm
limiting
this question to portable units that have inputs.

Any concerns I should have about the quality of different MD recorders
for
mic recording? (specifically thinking of the analog section - I
understand
the data is stored in the same format)

I was considering flash based recorders such as the Creative Nomad
Jukebox
3
but all the ones I've looked at don't have mic-pre-amps ... and the
idea
of
buying another "gizmo" starts to increase the cost of these flash
based
recorders beyond my means.

I've looked at the Neuros and Marantz units - waaaaay out of my
league.

Thanks,
Chris



All minijack mic inputs suck. Even when they're not getting overloaded
by
any relatively high input (record level doesn't prevent it either), they
still typically do more harm than good. If you're stealthing there's
not
much choice, and good quality solutions start at around $500, but if you
have the space a Nomad Jukebox 3 and a Behringer MXB1002 is very tough
to
beat for even 3x the price. At loud shows a self-powered mic can
typically
be plugged straight into the line input and the results are comparable a
basic mixer preamp.

Can you say the specific problems with the mic premaps? Are they too
noisy?
Do they distort somehow? Do they overload (not sure what this means)? I
seem
to get OK results using a Sony HiMD model 800 setting "mic gain" to low,
and
setting "rec level" to manual. I'm running AT853 and Sennheiser MKE2.
I'm
taping moderately loud rock/folk music (from the audience). I am *not*
using
plug in power. Instead I have a separate (self-made) power module that
powers
the mics ("three wire" powering, running the FET as a source follower).

One thing I have noticed is that there appears to be some kind of
"compression" effect going on, but I can't identify it exactly. The mic
and
line in on loud signals and they somehow sound a bit different. Any
ideas?

Thanks,
Richard

The mic preamps are really crappy quality, and they're positioned before the
rec level, designed for dictation. Some recorders have a -20 dB pad, but
with a powered mic that often isn't enough for a loud show, so you have to
use an outboard attenuator, like an inline headphone volume control used
backwards. I've heard recordings done with electret mics like the AT853's
and guitar stomp boxes as preamps, and it was a definite improvement over
the internal mic pre's.

In your case it seems that you're not overloading the preamps, so the signal
is probably not high enough for the line inputs. I would use an MXB1002 or
step up to a Core-Sound Mic2496 and run optical into the HiMD.