simple but high-end location recording rig?

[Dot]

I've been wanting to get into offering services to make purist recordings of choirs and small ensembles. Maybe the occasional jazz or bluegrass band. Mostly really great audiophile-level stereo recordings.

I already have more than enough high-end pres and mics.

I have my studio at home and could dump the recordings - if they're 2-track - into BIAS Peak 4, or if it's more channels I have Nuendo 2.

What should I use as a recording medium for working on location? 44.1 or 48K would be fine to get started. I somehow like the idea of digital tape better than a hard drive. I dunno'. I thought maybe a Tascam DA something.

I want a simple, small high-end rig I can walk in with and set up quickly.

Any thoughts from anyone who already has experience doing this is appreciated!

[Nathanael]

How about a Masterlink?

[Mike Tholen]

It might be overkill for your needs but NOTHING comes close to RADAR as an ultra reliable, insanely amazing sounding recorder.
Super easy to set up too.
considering what it has/does it is a great buy.

[Remoteness]

I'm not sure if Rick sold his rig yet but,
Here's a link you maybe interested in...

Location recording rig for sale

If the Genex 9000 or Masterlink XL9600 HDs don't do it for you.
And tape based recording is truly your bag, the Tascam DA98HR & DA78HR DTRS recorders come to mind.

IMO, you should go with at least 8 tracks. It keeps your options open. Recorded various recording techniques, choose which setup works best later.

[fifthcircle]

I've recently gone DAW for my location recording and I'm thrilled... I've used DA-78s for years and I also regularly use Tascam 2424s. I really don't like the sound of the 2424 (but it is great for Sync gigs) and the DA78 sounds great but requires real-time loading into the workstation for post.

I have built a Sequoia DAW around a Lynx 2 card in a shuttle (form factor) PC. The monitor is mounted on the inside of a briefcase (there is a picture of it in another thread in this forum). It is small, sounds great and is a breeze to set up.

--Ben

[Remoteness]

And, heeeeere's the thread

[logichead]

I understand your fear of tape. I did a remote outdoors in the Carribean with an iBook and MOTU 828. I borrowed an MX2424 as a backup, which proved to be unnecessary. BTW, there is a way to *trick* the MX2424 into behaving like a tape machine. You set up a song that is longer than the concert and record blank audio from top to bottom. When you get to your remote, you will be doing an overdub, recording over the blank audio, so if you lose power (the nightmare of the live show), the MX2424 retains everything you've already recorded, just like a tape machine.

This would be a great feature for Logic or Pro Tools.

Also, tape has more *environmental* limitations (heat, humidity) than a hard disk. Tape might have been nasty in the tropics. Alesis used to tell me they could plot the course of a storm across the country as humidity related calls came into the service department!

A laptop shouldn't care if it loses ac power, although the audio interface won't be happy. Computer crashes are more to be feared, but if you have done your homework (do a few test sessions to find out if it crashes and what the causes are), you should be fine.

I have a Mini-Me (with USB option) and a laptop - sounds and works great for stereo location recording. Mic pres very clean, soft limit / compression can be transparent or ridiculous. Very easy (in Mac OSX), portable, tiny, and fast. Just recently used it as an auxilliary studio when I mistakenly started a full ("general use" instead of "multimedia") Speed Disk optimization on my 200 gig audio drive (3 hours plus!). Singer showed up and we used the mini rig to great result. Only bummer is 48k limitation of USB. Firewire option coming. For 8 channel remote sessions, I can borrow any number of firewire interfaces until the Firewire cards for the Rosetta 800 come out.

For cheaper, the MBox isn't bad. Did a jazz location recording with 2 ribbon mics that came out fine, a few vo sessions. Won't touch the Mini-Me though....H

[flatrockmobile]

LOGICHEAD,
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Your workaround for the Tascam unit is great. I rushed to my Alesis hd24 and tried it. Record enabled all tracks, recorded about a minute of silence, located back to zero, record enabled 1 track pushed record and started speaking in a mic. I unplugged the unit without hitting stop. Powered back up and the speaking was intact.

[Ari]

Hey Guys !!

Can we talk about some mics for "simple but high-end location recording"? Neumann's, SCHOEPS, DPA? Is this de direction to go?



Thanks

Ari

[fifthcircle]

Depends on the kind of music you are recording, of course, but they are all great mics.

I own and use AKG, Neumann, Microtech Gefell, B&K and others regularly. I rent or borrow Sennheiser and Schoeps regularly...

When I'm on set, a lot of Sankens are used...

--Ben

[Ari]

Ben !!

Your site is amazing. Very straight and talks about every thing. A nice marketing model.

___________________________________________

Dot, sorry to take a ride on your thread because at the end, I need the same high-end results... At least, I wish
___________________________________________

I'm not a pro and I have a small studio at home. But, like Dot, I intent to make some Gregorian Choir recordings.

The first one will be at a Benedictine monastery here in Brasilia. And I want give then a real good audio CD. There will be 10 persons, one Yamaha organ and the chapel is small and wood walls, but not perfect.

The recorder I have is a "bedroom" Boss BR 1180 CD. I may go to a Masterlink in the near future. But the 1180 has made some good recs. (don't fire me...)

Taking this recorder upgrade in mind, should I get some KM 184? Or some DPA like 4011 0r 4021? Or AKG 414??? SD or LD???

And the outboard? Please help me guys !

I apologize for my English...

Best regards

Ari

[fifthcircle]

Thanks for the kind words Ari...

Anyways here is a thread with some pictures of a session I did of chant- (the first set of pictures).

In this session, I set up 3 "zones" of micing. The first was close- to capture the diction and the words. This was a very live room and the singers needed the additional clarity. The second was a midfield stereo microphone. This was used for about 70-80% of the sound. In this case, I used a blumlein pickup. The positioning was to get a good ballance of room and direct singer sound. The last zone was room only. I took a pair of omnis and placed them up really high and far back. These mics were B&K 4006s placed so that I could add as much room as I wanted.

Now if you don't have those resources, I would consider perhaps only 2 zones of micing... A main pair that caputers the natural sound of the ensemble and a second set to capture the room. With music like chant, the room plays as much of a part in the sound as the performance itself so it is important to have a good room and to make sure the recording reflects that good room.

In an ideal situation, the mic pair for the ensemble should be the best quality possible. Look at mics like Schoeps, DPA (B&K), or Sennheiser MKH. You'll probably get the cleanest sound using small diaphragms, but sometimes I use large because they give me more "character" to the sound. As for room mics, it doesn't really matter. When I do some gigs, I'll use an old pair of Shure SM-96s for room. They aren't great mics, but they do the job for that... Obviously, use the best-quality and least colored possible, but it is more important to get a main pair that is first rate.

Outboard shouldn't be needed- get it right on tape. In mastering, you may want a touch of EQ, but no compression and assuming you got the room well, probably no reverb.

--Ben

[Ari]

Ben !!!

I thank you very much. There is a lot of information to digest here. I will read it and respond to you later.

I appreciate very much your help and patience.

Have a good week.

Best

Ari

[Dot]

Thanks a lot for the info, folks! I think I'm going to look into starting out with a Masterlink.

Ari, you're not highjacking anything. Glad you popped in. I've spent several months this year evaluating [ link ---> ] over 40 pairs of small condenser mics. There's some good ones out there, but I've got to say for purest location recording I really like the Earthworks mics. And having evaluated over 40 mic pres, Millennia HV-3 wins hands down in my book.

You can listen to a pair of Earthworks QTC1's on drum OH's through a Millennia HV-3D on this jazz recording. You can download a 320 bitrate MP3 of "NY Blues" at http://www.thelisteningsessions.com/jazzooo.htm

All the "space", "air", and 3-dimensional imagery is mostly the QTC1/HV-3 combo.

[Ari]

Dan !!!

What a fantastic work you guys made !!! That's a bible now !!

I'm using a poor sound laptop now. I will bring home my desktop and listen every think on your project.

So, Earthworks QTC1's and Millennia HV-3D is the best synergy. That's great ! Would you like QTC1 for choir recording ?

Man, thank you very much, congrats on your tremendous project !

Have a good week !

Best from

Ari