Advice on high quality portable rig

[bardo]

I'm new to the forum and would welcome some views. I've been out of the recording loop for a while and back in. Along the way I've acquired various bits of gear which I'm reviewing as part of a move to get the right sound. I'm not attached to any of my set up and willing to sell on if needs be.

I'm looking for a small 2/4 track set up which I can use in studio locations and outdoor to record musical instruments which often have a low volume, so I need a fairly high signal without the hiss. My compositions are acoustic ad quite intimate. They include gongs, metal singing bowls, string instruments (zithers, spanish guitar) and on occasion male vocal. There's a lot of silence in my work so I need mics/pres with a very low self-noise. Character wise I've always liked analogue tape/valve sound, that said I'm looking for a sound that's detailed, clear across the range and will capture the subtle nuances/harmonics.

Items under consideration:
Schoeps CMC6 MK2 (stereo?)
Sennheiser MKH 8020
AKG C414B-XL
Peluso
Nearfield monitors (suggestions?)
Headphones (suggestions?)
Separate mic pre/ad converter (suggestions?)

I have a macbook pro running Logic 8, Apogee Ensemble and a Tascam Hdp2 which I'm considering getting modified by Chris Busman (any comments?)


Thanks!

[John Willett]

My rig is based on the Sennheiser MKH 20/30/40 series - but I'm now getting the MKH 8020 and 8040 matched pairs (and will add the MKH 8030 when it comes out).

Mic pre / AD is the Audio Design DMA2 - superb quality and neutral (will probably get another one soon).

Monitors are K+H O110D in a custom padded bag by KTS (though K+H do a flight case now).

Controller is Grace m902b.

Headphones are Sennheiser HD 650 and HD 25-1 (need both on location).

At the moment the recorder is a Fostex FR-2, but I plan to get the new Nagra VI next month when it comes out.

I don't trust a laptop on location. I have a Samsung X50 with Sequoia and an RME FF400 but would not trust a computer for a live recording - too risky. Backup maybe, but not as the master.

I hope this helps.

[ghellquist]

Of course once up in this quality level of stuff it gets down to taste. I tend to run a Sound Devices 722 with various mics for the easily portable occasions. Outdoors it comes down to what I put in the Rycote blimp, generally MKH30+MKH40.

Indoors in the easily carried version, my clear favourite is Schoeps MK4 capsules in ORTF (I use a MSTC64 mic). Works in most locations. First choice when possible is a pair of omnis, current favourite is probably Microtech Gefell M296 although I use other mics. Omnis, when they work which is far from always, gives a much more loveable sound than the ORTF setup. One mic that seems to have been mostly forgotten is the omni Neumann KM183 that gives a lot for the money. It can be a bit sharp with the high frequency rise but that can easily be tamed by not pointing the mic straight at the source, often straight up is a good choice.

When portability is less of a concern, a laptop with external soundcard and converters it is. Recording directly to laptop hard-disc has worked without problems for me the last few years. Mics then mostly the same but more, but favourite setup is Decca tree which takes a bit of hardware to get in place.

On-site monitoring tends to be Sennheiser HD280, I´m used to them and they are among the best when it comes to isolation. I almost never have the possibility to run monitor speakers on the locations where I record, not enough sound isolation.

So from the list you have given I would strike out the AKG-s, they are more for studio work according to my ears. The Schoeps are well-known and really good but here taste comes in as not all love them. The verdict on the 8020-s is still not really in yet -- very few people has used them in earnest for any long time. The preliminaries seems to be raving, but we all know that this might be moderated a bit once they are more commonly used. Some people really dislike the MKH20/30/40-s others love them so what can you say really -- all about taste (personally I find the extremely rugged, quite and versatile but sometimes not always giving the most inspiring sound from some reason).

Gunnar

[boojum]

I am with Gunnar on the SD 722. Rugged, simple and sounds good. I have a CMC64 ST Schoeps pair, and Schoeps Mk8 for use with one Mk4 for MS and a pair of DPA 4006TL's. I use Etymotic in my ears as they are light, small, rugged and sound very good. And they are quite neutral. I have ER4's, the binaural set. The binaural is more flat in the playback curve. They will fit in your shirt pocket. I have a good rig here. I would like the small DPA 4022 or 4026.

The Nagra and the Swiss one whose name escapes me are nice, but expensive. SD is rugged and reasonable.

I hope this helps some. It is where my tastes and research have taken me. Good luck.

[John Willett]

I do agree on the quality of the Sound Devices and a step up from the FR-2 I have now.

I almost upgraded to the 744, until I heard about the Nagra VI - this is just a tad more than the 744 but with two extra mic. pres and two extra channels. About £3,200 is the projected price.

The other Swiss one is the Sonosax - also excellent.

[bardo]

To everyone who has contributed to this thread so far!

[bove]

Originally Posted by bardo

There's a lot of silence in my work so I need mics/pres with a very low self-noise.

A SD722 with a pair of Schoeps CMC6/MK2 will give you a very low noise floor. You should be very happy listening to silence recorded like this (done it myself). And it's super easy for you to take outside!

[hughesmr]

Originally Posted by bardo

I'm looking for a small 2/4 track set up which I can use in studio locations and outdoor to record musical instruments which often have a low volume, so I need a fairly high signal without the hiss. My compositions are acoustic ad quite intimate. They include gongs, metal singing bowls, string instruments (zithers, spanish guitar) and on occasion male vocal. There's a lot of silence in my work so I need mics/pres with a very low self-noise. Character wise I've always liked analogue tape/valve sound, that said I'm looking for a sound that's detailed, clear across the range and will capture the subtle nuances/harmonics.

Tell ya what I'd get:

Sennheiser 8020s: insanely quiet mics, nearly half the price of Schoeps these days, by all accounts a top drawer omni.

Mic pre: Benchmark PRE420. 4 channel world-class pre, with 4x2 stereo mixer with pan and monitoring capability, internal PS, all in a 1RU box.

Recorder: Korg MR1000. You want analog-like sound? Try this puppy in DSD 5.6. You can nix getting an A/D too!

Nearfields: a real matter of taste, but I'm LOVIN' the NHT M-00s. $400 for a pair of these active nearfields. You can add an NHT sub if desired. Great quality/price ratio.

Cheers!

[tapermark2006]

4 channels of lush Grace.....

[bardo]

Originally Posted by tapermark2006

4 channels of lush Grace.....

744 + ???

[tnjazz]

Originally Posted by bardo

744 + ???

A couple of Grace V2 pres. A good compact setup if you like the Grace sound.

[Jonathan Starr]

The Ensemble (I have the mobile version which I run off of video battery belts) and the Duet both are remarkable with Schoeps MK2 omni caps in a good space.

We are doing similar tracking, with berimbau, bowls, all kinds of percussion and light vocal. It's a very quiet setup.

Since you have the Ensemble and Logic, you can add a Duet for less than $500 for field work and it will run off the Mac battery and spares.

[bardo]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Starr

The Ensemble (I have the mobile version which I run off of video battery belts) and the Duet both are remarkable with Schoeps MK2 omni caps in a good space.

Thanks Jonathan. Have you compared your ensemble with other preamps/converters using the Schoeps?

[Jonathan Starr]

I have a Grace Lunatek V2 and a FMR RNP rack mounted with the Ensemble, to give me 8 channels of Preamps.

In my current field project I use 5 Schoeps mics for surround and a Sennheiser shotgun. Two of the Schoeps in the surround matrix get plugged into the V2 and some directly into the Ensemble.

The difference is very slight.

I slightly prefer the converters in the Ensemble to the ones in the Digi 192, though my comparison was not that scientific.

I am very impressed with the quality of the Ensemble. I wish the Maestro software for configuring it were less confusing.

Using the Schoeps Omni (in my case CMT32) into an API or Great River or Pacifica has a thicker and less clear sound. I like the less colored preamps better with the Schoeps in most cases.

The Schoeps Omni has surprising and wonderful bass response. It is a very "big" sounding mic.

[bardo]

Jonathon, how do you find the Schoeps CMC as a studio microphone?

For recording acoustic music? Spanish guitar, voice?

[Jonathan Starr]

I've only started acquiring the Schoeps mics a few months ago, and in that time I have found them far superior to my other SDC's. I had KM184's, Gefell M200, 4041's, Pelusos, and Oktavamod 012s. They are easy to place, and don't have harshness or bad habits.

I don't use them for vocals. For me, that is the province of larger mics.

I currently use a Schoeps or pair) on most acoustic instruments, often in combination with an LDC or ribbon when I'm recording one instrument at a time.

If I'm doing an ensemble, and it's delicate, I'll use a pair of SDCs. If it's more boisterous, say Tahitian Drums, it will be with a Schoeps Mk2 or 21 up high and a blumlein or XY or AB pair of LDC's. Sometimes, with big Hawaiian drums, I'll sneak an RE20 down underneath for thud.

I haven't messed with MS, but that's a direction I'll be exploring by & by.

[bcgood]

Korg MR 1000 recording @ 1bit 5.6 MHz

Matched Pair DPA 4041 SP

Stereo DACS Clarity MicAmp

[David Spearritt]

How are you blokes recording DSD with your Korg's editing stuff?

[videoteque]

Korg's stuff is just a dsd>>pcm converter.

You go from dsd to pcm and edit in your daw!

[RickZ]

To add a little detail . .

AudioGate will convert the 5.8 DSD to 96KHz 32-Bit IEEE Float, losing very little in the process, imho. Then edit in DAW of choice, same as any PCM.

A step up from recording in PCM 96/24, to my ears.

Rgds,
Rick Z