Recording in Inner Mongolia

[MrQuincy]

Hello,

I will be traveling to Inner Mongolia from the United States and plan to be there for a few years. I'm not sure that I can afford a real field recording device. Instead, I'm considering purchasing a Pelican 1620 and having a custom 4u rackmount frame built to sit in the surrounding foam. Inside I'd like to have a BLAudio modded 002R, some kind of 1u piece with 4 pre's like the API 3124 but cheaper (open to suggestion), and some other TBD stuff to fill out the rack (also open to suggestion). Budget for everything can be up to $4500ish.

I've read several threads posted around 2003 that talk about modifying the Pelican 1620 case for international travel, and I'm curious to know if there are any more ideal transport cases made today.

Thank you!

[JEGG]

'Sounds like you have an interesting experience ahead.

What sort of recording and production do you have in mind? Knowing that might facilitate more detailed replies, as well as satisfying my own curiosity!

[NorseHorse]

"Traveling to Inner Mongolia" and "rack case" should not ever be found in the same paragraph. No BLA 002R, no APIs.

With $4500, you can get any number of portable recorders with built in preamps (Edirol, Tascam, Sound Devices, Nagra?), extra batteries, and four nice mics. You'll be able to keep it all in a satchel.

Travel light.

Unless you are going there for some studio projects?

[EDIT: Just re-read the post and re-replied. See below.]

[DannyL]

If I was going to Mongolia, I would seriously consider bringing bullet-proof equipment that has been vigorously tested and subjected to all sorts of use and abuse internationally. I would avoid anything that had been modded by a custom audio shop.

My personal choice would be Sound Devices equipment. Sonically their gear is excellent, it can be battery or DC powered and is extremely durable. It is also relatively light in weight.

I would look into a solar panel for generating DC power.

You will not always have a dependable AC power source, but you can generally find a car battery or similar, which can be recharged from a variety of sources. You not have ANY access to a pro audio shop. You will have to wait for very long periods of time if you have to ship and receive equipment by international post, if your gear does not simply evaporate.

Therefore choose something that will just work. Always. That has few moving parts. That has rugged connectors. That can be interfaced into a variety of systems. That will run on batteries.

My 2¢.

Regards;

Danny

[Johnny Dance]

I know it sounds far away, and still is pretty wild west, but Inner Mongolia (depending on where you are) is not all that 'backward'...

Global Luxury Brand LV Settled In Hohhot Of Inner Mongolia Market | Latest Fashion

[JEGG]

Agree strongly with NorseHorse and DannyL, but until we know what the OP really wants to do, and we don't know that yet, it's impossible to say much.

[NorseHorse]

Oh yes! I apologize. I just noticed the original poster said he plans to be there for a few years, and I would assume in a pretty modernized area.

In that case, ignore everything I said. Bring anything you can't live without. Condensing it to a single rack case sound like a great idea and will help you keep up a little project studio wherever you live (with electricity...). Speaking of which, what type of power do they have there?

Good luck!

[boojum]

OP has not told us what he is going to record and under what circumstances. Nevertheless, I would go with what NH says: take an SD machine. They are rugged and sound great. This has been demonstrated. If OP can get by on two tracks an SD 722 or 702 would do fine. And they are available used. They wear well and can be sent to the factory for a check-up and that would be the cost of an hour bench rate. I would have them check any machine I was taking out of the country for a couple of years.

Mics? Sennheiser are supposedly very rugged. I do not have any but on a price/performance basis they are hard to beat. A small pair of DPA 4060's might work if you want small omni's.

Regardless of the luck of Louis Vuitton I would regard the chances of getting reliable electronic work done (repairs) as slim to none. It is a sparsely populated autonomous region of China. When was the last time you heard a mayor give you an honest appraisal of his town? ;o) Better to count on reapairs not being possible and being pleasantly surprised than counting on them and being disappointed. Trust me on this one.

Inner Mongolia travel guide - Wikitravel
Inner Mongolia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Disclaimer: I have SD devices.

[MrQuincy]

First, thanks so much for your interest and responses.

I should have been more clear that this will be a personal project studio, and I hope to find spaces to record local modern and traditional groups (I'll be staying in Ordos; a city filled with empty buildings). For my general purposes, this means: 4x inputs for percussion, 2x inputs for instrument mics, 2x inputs for vocal mics. I would like to have a mobile rig that can be used near reliable power sources. Of course, I would love to record traditional Monoglian throat singing in the field to capture the elements that inspire the vocal techniques, but it won't break my heart if I can't. I would love to have sound devices equipment to allow for this possibility, but the 788 brand new is a bit out of reach for me financially. I prefer to have at least 8 inputs, so a BLAudio sig series + an API 3124 is a combination I'm considering. However, I'd prefer to spend between $1000-$2500 on a 1u 4x pre.

Power in this region of china is 220V @ 50 Hz

I'll likely use a Furman in 1u, so that leaves 1u for something else, effects processing perhaps. I have a feeling my $4500 budget will end up growing to about $5500...

However...if I have to check my $5500 in a cargo bay for overseas flights and baggage handling destroys my rig, I'll be kicking myself for not buying the proven rugged SD 788. Not sure if the Pelican 1620+ rack in foam will be sufficient protection for a relatively consumer grade interface like the modded 002.

As far as mics are concerned, I'll bring some relatively cheap workhorse mics such as the Sm7 and the Fathead Cascade II's. I'm hoping to find Chinese knockoffs to experiment with when I visit Beijing.

Still happy to hear feedback on sources for quality used equipment, equipment choices, and transport options. Thanks again!

[boojum]

Power is not a problem. The wall wart for SD, and others too, handle 50 - 60 cycle, 100 - 240 volts. You are good to go there. I can get more than three hours out of the largest LiIon battery on a 788T. When the 788T is plugged in the battery is a UPS.

SM57's would work as mics when you are not using them as hammers. A pair of SM58's would be good, too. Maybe, just a teeny-weeny maybe, SD might be interested in helping you out here. It would be good PR for them to have a box in OM for two years doing its thing and coming back bathed in glory. I am not guessing; I am hoping for your sake. Write Jon Tatooles and see what happens. Make a good pitch and he might help you out. The Tascam is a less expensive solution but I do not know how rugged it is. SD is designed for work in the field. Perhaps someone here on GS can help with the Tascams.

Plan for the worst, pray for the best. And a word of caution: I have lived in a Third World country. Some of those folks can steal a radio and leave the music so watch your gear. Better overly cautious than overly disappointed.


PS - It is all lamb in OM so fill up on that KC steak before you go. You won't see any for a long time. ;o)

[DannyL]

Funny, now that I think about it.... I am reading:
"Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World"
by Jack Weatherford Published by Three Rivers Press in New York.

I would absolutely read this book, if for no other reason than it is a great book to read. I think that you would find some of the modern commentary of the greatest value. Dr Weatherford teaches anthropology at
Macalester College in Minnesota.

And after reading some of the other posts, Sound Devices is really the way to go. Use them as a front end with either Reaper or Audacity, or use them as stand alone units.

When designing electronics for the field, there are many considerations:
power supply, high quality sealed pots, heat dispersion, overall case integrity, and a thousand other factors that you might not even be aware of. SD focus is on reliable field gear. No one does it better.

BTW have a look at the ATI 8MX2 mic pre's: 8 excellent mic pre's in a 1 rack space. I have these units and they are extremely rugged and sound great at a very good price point. The mixer and monitor circuits are quite good as well.
I have even used them for submixes and as PA consoles.

Regards;

Danny

[JEGG]

Hello again, Mr. Quincy:

Yours is an interesting scenario for this forum, because most of us here, I think, are much more oriented toward acquisition than production when we are "remote." So I think there's natural proclivity among the "Remote Possibilities" people to emphasize acquisition. We all go home or to work from our remotes to do the production part of a project.

You, OTH, want a transportable "project studio." That being the case, what you've sketched seems to make sense to me. If so, you should go for it.

Here is a path much more oriented toward acquisition. Not so much oriented towards being there for a few years.

Condenser mic's for stereo image and other high quality needs:

1 MKH30 -allows you to make any other mic "stereo"

Options: 1) AKG 414B/ULS-bigger, heavier, clunkier,more difficult to mount, etc., but provides more patterns and you'd have an LD mic

2) Or Shure stereo MS mic-I don't like it too much, but plenty of others use it with good results. "All in 1 stereo"

One or two more MKH mic's, maybe MKH40 and/or 50

In place of some or all of the above:

One or two Shure KSM141 mic's (dual pattern medium diaphragm condenser "pencil" mic's), not expensive and quite good mic's. Made by Shure-they'll work!

Dynamic mic's for spots, vocals, rugged use, etc.:

From Sennheiser or EV, ex. RE20, Senn 441, 421
and your Shure "7", or a 57

I'd leave the ribbon at home.

Some sort of multi-track: Sound Devices, or something like the DR-680-new and not proven,

Need more inputs: small mixer for sub-mix input, and useful for a monitor controller (SoundCraft, Mackie, Ashly, Sound Devices...)

Keep in mind what the dynamics need for gain.

You'll get very good preamps with Sound Devices and Nagra products. The Tascam pre's would be OK for me. I'd rather put the money into mic's than pre's, but that's just me. Tascam pre's will not provide nearly the gain that SD's will.

Monitoring:
Closed back phones for remotes and low frequency checks
Open back phones for "studio"
Smallest AudioEngine speakers for imaging

Determine in advance the availability and price for real monitors.

And your favorite computer, of course.

Check to see how and where Sound Devices, Shure, Sennheiser, etc., are represented there. All these companies have strong international presence. (Don't know about EV)

You could go a different route, splitting acquisition and production. Maybe one of these areas is easily available there.

[studer58]

I'd suggest SD or CF card based recorders, as there's no hard drive or moving parts, and they aren't as sensitive to temperature variations or knocks and bumps. Very compact to carry too, and cheap. The Zoom R16 or R24 is worth a look, runs off a mains transformer or 6 "AA" cells, has apair of reasonable inbuilt mics, 8 XLR mic inputs (2 of which are phantom powered) and you can spend the money saved by not buying an SD unit into some good mics, eg DPA or Sennheiser MKH's. All this makes for a very portable, compact package too ! A good set of compact or foldable headphones (Sennheiser HD25) or perhaps good in-ears such as Etymotics are vital. If you want to up the quality of your mic pres, get a rackable 1U pack of 8 such as DAV or Focusrites or similar.

[Toy Robot]

Originally Posted by NorseHorse

"Traveling to Inner Mongolia" and "rack case" should not ever be found in the same paragraph. No BLA 002R, no APIs.

With $4500, you can get any number of portable recorders with built in preamps (Edirol, Tascam, Sound Devices, Nagra?), extra batteries, and four nice mics. You'll be able to keep it all in a satchel.

Travel light.

Unless you are going there for some studio projects?

[EDIT: Just re-read the post and re-replied. See below.]

+1 this is good advice IMHO

[Brackish]

Too bad he needs 8 tracks otherwise I would say bring two recorders.
One main recorder and the other backup just so that, if something
happens to the main, he can still continue on without it all coming to an end.

[DannyL]

Originally Posted by boojum

PS - It is all lamb in OM so fill up on that KC steak before you go. You won't see any for a long time. ;o)

Isn't this in rather baaaaad taste....

Danny

[boojum]

Originally Posted by DannyL

Isn't this in rather baaaaad taste....

Danny

No feijoada, either. Yikes.

[Brackish]

Originally Posted by DannyL

Isn't this in rather baaaaad taste.

You're referring to the taste of the lamb here? I would agree about the bad taste.

[DannyL]

Referring to your case dilemma, Pelican makes shock mount rack cases.

Rack Dimensions

Regards;

Danny

[Marlan]

Whatever you decide to do, make sure you have a back-up device of some sort. It's probably safe to say that if something fails where you're going, it's gonna be a bitch to get it fixed or replaced within reasonable turnaround times. HAVE A BACK-UP DEVICE AT ALL TIMES.

Secondly, If you have your heart set on Pro Tools, you can do better than a BLA002 now that you can use any non-Avid interface with Pro Tools 9.

You've probably already thought of this, but see if you can find deals on used gear from a trusted pro audio dealer. You may be able to get a lot more for your money.

Another option is to get a 1 year 0 percent credit card and just go over budget slightly in order to get everything you need without compromise. This may be risky if your income is unsure or fixed while away, but only you know what will work with your budget.

Good luck!

[Gaston69]

I have a
1.)Nagra VI in a Pelican case which works more then fine however I do mainly live recordings not multitracking/dubbing.
2.)Metric Halo ULN-2 & 2882 is very compact, light and has loads of inputs.

[MrQuincy]

Hello again,

I've ordered a babushka doll of a case via Cabbage Cases in Ohio. It's a pelican 1620 with the foam insert hollowed out to accommodate a custom made 5u rack. Rack slides in for transport; slides out to be plugged in and juiced. I spoke with JD at BLAudio and he tells me that these units are sturdy enough to handle shipping/baggage handling in cardboard boxes?? When I explained to him that I would be shipping this overseas he didn't flinch; apparently they ship these overseas in cardboard boxes all the time without any problems. He was thinking my Pelican case might even be overkill. In the end, the case is a small investment to ensure the product stays in one piece. I explained the situation to the guys at Cabbage Cases and they were also very confident that this solution would protect my investment, and again they seem to feel it's overkill.

Perhaps I am overshooting my budget, now that PT9 is native. I've been eyeballing some solutions from Focusrite but their pre's have less gain...it is a bit frustrating not having the opportunity hear the units I'm interested in back to back. It seems most people who have mentioned the BLaudio go on and on about how wonderful the quality is...but is it worth $1900 when other portable project studio options with similar features are available starting at around $600.

I think my complete solution will be:

002r, interface including 4x burr brown 4134 pre's
SSL Alpha VHD (4x pre's)
API A2d via spdif (2x API 312 pre's through API A2D, I already own this piece so no additional cost)

So that's 10 inputs for multitracking, a few different pre-amp/conversion colors to play with, and $5800 total investment. Now...berate me if I've overspent.

[charles maynes]

Originally Posted by MrQuincy

Hello,

I will be traveling to Inner Mongolia from the United States and plan to be there for a few years. I'm not sure that I can afford a real field recording device. Instead, I'm considering purchasing a Pelican 1620 and having a custom 4u rackmount frame built to sit in the surrounding foam. Inside I'd like to have a BLAudio modded 002R, some kind of 1u piece with 4 pre's like the API 3124 but cheaper (open to suggestion), and some other TBD stuff to fill out the rack (also open to suggestion). Budget for everything can be up to $4500ish.

I've read several threads posted around 2003 that talk about modifying the Pelican 1620 case for international travel, and I'm curious to know if there are any more ideal transport cases made today.

Thank you!

I dont think it was covered so far in the responses, but be sure to check on import restrictions on anything you are 1. bringing into the country, and 2, on any replacement gear that might need to be shipped to you.


good luck on your trip- and be sure to have a good data backup plan, ideally one that regularly sends the material home.....

[MrQuincy]

Thanks for your response Charles. The customs list I've run into doesn't prohibit the items I'll bring along, but I can't help but wonder if customs officials might give me some trouble without knowing exactly what this equipment does. The prohibited items that most concern me on the customs list are:

-Radio transmitters-receivers and principal parts
-Manuscripts, printed matter, films, photographs, gramophone records, cinematographic films, loaded recording tapes and videotapes, etc. which are detrimental to China's politics, economy, culture, and ethics

(from China Travel Tips - Customs and Regulations)

I don't have a radio transmitter...but if I have a computer, a bunch of recording equipment, and a few microphones; this could raise eyebrows. Regarding the second customs restriction, I'll have 4 hard drives with me in a little SAN box in addition to 2 notebook computers. I wonder if they block media like this from entering because it's impossible to scan and verify no threats exist?

Can any experienced field guys tell me more about getting through customs with your gear? I won't be recording for any project or company in particular; perhaps when I mention this customs will think "he doesn't NEED this stuff, let's not take the risk". I don't want that to happen. Is it possible to get equipment like this pre-certified for customs? Of course they'll inspect the contents, but if I could get a list of what is supposed to be there pre-approved for declaration that would ease my mind tremendously.

Many thanks!

[boojum]

FWIW - Contact our consular corps in Inner Mongolia and ask for their help. They may be able to provide better input and to also smooth your way when you arrive. If we do have someone there, and we most likely do, he/she will be glad for a break from the ordinary. They can be useful. It is our tax dollars at work.

Smooth seas and following breezes; have a safe voyage out and back. And send us clips when you get back! thumbsup

[7rojo7]

Carnet ATA
you'll have to insure your kit and they may want a deposit and they will definitely ask you to fill out a bunch of forms and see your 1040 or similar form.
Otherwise they'll consider you an importer and hit you with customs.

[MrQuincy]

That ATA Carnet looks to be what I was hoping for. Thanks for all the input. I've purchased the equipment and I have a plan to transport that I am comfortable with.

Case closed!

[hbphotoav]

Whenever I travel to Carnet countries (England and Switzerland recently) I've used Roanoke Trade to handle all the paperwork. They're good people.

Seems like there is a warning about Macau...

CIB ATA CARNET ADVISORY

CHINA SUSPENDS USE OF ATA CARNETS TO MACAU AS OF AUGUST 10, 2007

United States Council for International Business has been advised by China that ATA Carnets will not be accepted to Macau, a special administrative region of China.

"Macau has been suspended by Chinese authorities from accepting ATA Carnets.

Please contact Curt Wilson at the CIB Carnet HelpLine®, (800) ATA-2900, for additional information if you are planning travel to Macau as this situation may change.

If you experience any problems or have questions about this change please contact the CIB Carnet HelpLine® at (800) ATA-2900 or e-mail us."

ATA Carnets - Apply Online For Duty Free Customs Clearance from Roanoke Trade

Since Carnets are primarily for documenting the temporary importation of goods, samples and professional equipment to a country not your own, I'd be certain to explain the length of the stay, your ownership and use of your equipment (I'm usually traveling with/for a 501c3 or a UN-certified humanitarian aid NGO) and, possibly, investigate the need for a work visa and further licenses or permissions for the gear. I've never been to China, but the only question I got about my audio, video and lighting gear in St. Petersburg (Russia) in 2000 was about the radio mics. Our local contact, who met us at the airport, explained our task (taping a week-long pastor's conference) and there were no additional problems. The Carnet simply guarantees to the country's Customs people that (1) the gear is yours; (2) the gear entered the country in your possession; and (3) the gear will leave the country in your possession (therefore the temporary importation counterfoil, at arrival... to be completed with the exportation counterfoil when you leave). US Customs will likewise be aware that you took the gear out of the country, and, therefore, may bring it back without additional duty owed.

HB