oliverd05 wrote:
since the Church mics are way out of reach with Sheffield only being a matter of weeks away!! what does everyone reckon to these ive found on Amazon? can the experts shed any light on wether it will be good enough?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lavalier-Microphone-Smartphone-Camcorder-LF480/dp/B00MFDNSKY/ref=sr_1_5?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1422803425&sr=1-5&keywords=Sony+microphone
NO, DO NOT GET THESE!!! They do not have the kind of dynamic range that you need for recording live concerts.
The blog where people in the know talk about recording equipment and technique is Tapersection. They have a "Yard Sale" thread with equipment for sale that you could check out, but I don't see anything there at the moment.
http://www.taperssection.com/
You could email Church Audio and just see if there is any possibility of getting anything really quick. I think he is in Canada, so don't know how quickly shipping is from there to you.
My go to place, after Church Audio, is Sound Professionals. Here is a chart that shows what equipment is recommended for what type of music recording:
http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/category.cgi?category=concerts
Note that you want to go with the very loud performance, noisy crowd selection. Under this catagory, the recommended mics are SP-CMC-2. (The SP-SPSB-6 is a now discontinued batter box, but there are newer versions.)
http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/category.cgi?category=search&item=SP-CMC-2&type=store
On the SP-CMC-2 mic page is a list of optional features and items. You absolutely must get a battery box!!! Either the SP-SPSB-10 or SP-SPSB-11 will do. The *-11 version has a "bass rolloff" feature which is a low cut filter to filter out the really low bass sounds. I know people who use this religiously, but I never have. For the extra $10 USA, it is nice to have in case you ever need it. I would however, recommend getting the "removable output cable version" option. I have had one battery box from them with a non-removable cable and that unit now has a short in it where the cable enters the box. You will then need to buy a separate cable to connect the battery box to the recording unit.
The other optional equipment that you should consider is the windscreens. If you ever plan to do any recording outdoors, you will need these to help prevent the recording from being ruined by wind noise. Recorders are notorious for picking up wind noise even when our ears do not hear any!!!
Depending on how you plan to wear the mics, you may also want the optional clips. If you wear glasses, than I suggest getting the croakies as they are the best way to wear the mics.
http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-EMC-3
A few words on the technical specifications for your education. For very loud concerts, it is very important to look at the technical specifications of the mics. If you click on the "Specifications" tab of the mic web page, you will see a list. Look especially at the "Maximum Input Sound Level" numbers, 3 in this case. You will also see this referred to as maximum SPL (Sound Pressure Level). It is a measure of how loud of a sound the mics can record before distorting. The 1st number, 116 dB, is the Max SPL with no battery box. The 2nd number, 131 dB, is the Max SPL with the battery box. The 3rd number is for a XLR connection to a recorder, which your recorder does not have - it is for a more professional type of setup. According to the Tascam web site, the built-in mics on the DR-22WL has a Max SPL of 120 dB. So, by adding the battery box to the SP-CMC-2 external mic setup, you will increase the loudness of sound that you can record without distortion by 11 dB, which is really significant!
