question about 2 settings of audio : Sound devices MP1, pcm-m10, rode lavalier

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deleuze3

Well-known member
hi,
I have a question concerning the quality i can get out of the mic rode lavalier.

Here are 2 possible settings :


SETTING 1
I plug a rode lavalier with micon 5 into a Sound Devices MP-1 ( i use the phantom power at 48v on the MP1).
I plug the "line out xlr" of the MP-1 to the "line in" of a Sony pcm-m10 audiorecorder.
(MP-1 is at 54dB, pcm-m10 has the level recording at 3)


SETTING 2
I plug the rode lavalier directly to the 3.5mm "mic input" of the audiorecorder pcm-m10.


I HAVE 2 QUESTIONS:
Do i have an advantage of SETTING 1, i.e. feeding the pcm-m10 with the MP1 (i know many people who use the sound devices to feed audiorecorders (h4n, pcm-m10)


2) In SETTING 1, when i put headphone into the pcm-m10, i hear only 1 channel. Is it possible to hear in both channel (maybe by using a xlr to 1/8'' mono instead of xlr to 1/8'' stereo ?


Thanks in advance
Have a good day,
deleuze3
 
Now that you've sorted that out...

You have been coming here with these "test" and "comparison" questions and videos for seven months now.

Seven. Months. Often repeating questions and running in circles around one issue for days or weeks.

Here's a request: make something. Don't make another test. Don't make another comparison. Make an actual short film, or a documentary... just make something real and tangible. Put whatever it is we hope you have learned in the last seven months to actual, real-world use. When you've done that, come back with the end product. If there's something you aren't happy with, ask us for advice in doing it better. If you just want an overall opinion, ask for that.

Just bring a finished product that you can show for all this posting. Provide something that we can take a bit more seriously.
 
Well, I asked for better questions and you have actually asked a much better question. I agree with Alex but this is actually a question that can be answered about practical considerations.

Anyway the first scenario is a better choice because you are using a much better mic pre and minimising the use of the pre in the recorder. In all likelihood with that recorder you are not actually bypassing the mic pre but just not using much gain out of it.

While monitoring off the recorder has some pluses monitoring from the MM-1 would probably sound better. You also can send a feed from the recorder back to the MM-1 if you want to monitor the recorder but use the MM-1 headphone amp.

I would set this up the same as a MixPre. use the limiter and set the recorder so it's "clip proof". Crank the mic and point it at something really loud so you know the limiter is working (MixPre has an indicator but I don't believe the MM-1 does) and adjust the recorder so you are three dB or so below clipping.

After that you can push for solid levels when recording and not have to worry about an unexpected loud sound clipping.

This works for all normal things. If you are recording something very quiet then you will probably need to raise the recorders level a bit.

Good luck and go record something.
 
Noiz2 said:
While monitoring off the recorder has some pluses monitoring from the MM-1 would probably sound better. You also can send a feed from the recorder back to the MM-1 if you want to monitor the recorder but use the MM-1 headphone amp.

I would set this up the same as a MixPre. use the limiter and set the recorder so it's "clip proof". Crank the mic and point it at something really loud so you know the limiter is working (MixPre has an indicator but I don't believe the MM-1 does) and adjust the recorder so you are three dB or so below clipping.
Click to expand...

The MM-1 does have a limiter indicator LED, but the OP instead is working with an MP-1, the less expensive version, that does not. Nor does it have any kind of monitor return. XLR in, XLR out, that's it.

deleuze3 said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSYiL4wTPGg
something i did. After the interview at 7min, it is more of a report on a french immigrant program. It finishes in a melodramatic tone.
Click to expand...

Something you did, posted in June of last year... before you started posting all these questions. The point is not to show us that you have done something sometime in the past; it's that you go out and make something new, after all this repeated questioning on the forum, and come back with that. It's that you ask questions based on a real project in a real working environment.

In regards to the piece you linked... it's a few minutes of interviews edited with jump cuts and no b-roll, and lavs that are draped outside wardrobe (dress the cable or it just looks lazy and sloppy), followed by 15 minutes of b-roll with no narrative. Maybe there's a story in there, but unfortunately I do not speak French. It sounds like most of that was on-camera mic, which makes it even worse overall with no kind of interview or narration to keep it moving. I could not watch all 22 minutes.
 
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Does the MP-1 have the ability to send tone? I can't remember. I always set my level on the recorder based on tone I send from the mixer. Always. That's just what you do. From there I set my input gain on the mixer gain to the proper level and I'm off and running. I never touch the recorder. Always the mixer (If I have a mixer in front of the recorder). Unless I'm using a high end recorder like a 633 or Nomad, I almost always put a mixer in front of my recorder.
 
Alex H. said:
Neither MP-1 nor MM-1 have tone generators.
Click to expand...

Ok..then I would recommend a tone plug. Have you seen those? It looks like an XLR connector with an LED where the cable would come out. You plug it into a mixer and turn on phantom power, and it generates tone just as if the mixer had its own tone generator. I used to sell them by the boat load at Coffey Sound.
 
Off hand, the Goldline GL-1K, is a small Phantom Powered XLR connector sized, the Behringer CT100 is likely the lowest cost option and includes a rudimentary cable tester.
I'm sure there's many others available.
 
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