From: flawn@...

>
> One way to get fairly lightweight and stable height in the field is to use a
> monopod typically made for camera use, with threaded bushings to adapt for
> your mike mount.  This is by itself a handy way to get at least five to seven
> feet in the air, plus the height you provide by holding it or the height of
> whatever you lean it on or lash it to.
>
> Some monopods can be easily adapted to add a 5/8" thread section at the
> narrow end (the end that would normally rest on the ground) for your mike. 
Then
> you can use the threads at the "business" end of the monopod to connect to a
> lightweight camera tripod. The combination can get you about eight to ten feet
in
> the air without much weight and with good hands-free stability.  I've used
> this combination with my Gitzo monopods with good success, including doing
quad
> omni surround by adding an adapter that holds two crossed fiberglas tent poles
> to space the array.

Note that Gitzo, and others, make microphone booms in all sorts of
lengths. Both aluminum and carbon fiber. Ready made for holding mics.

You need a bunch of height, even ten feet is still in the ground clutter
in my experience.

Walt
wwknapp@...

>    From: "Neville Recording" <songbird@...>
> Subject: Wood Frog
>
> Hi Walt;
> I thought you would be interested to know that I found Wood Frogs calling
above the Arctic Circle, all the way to Inuvik NWT at the 68th Parallel. We were
on the Mackenzie Delta, a little short of salt water, so their range probably
extends just a little further north.

So much for frogs being delicate creatures. Interesting!

Walt
wwknapp@...

From: Dan Dugan <dan@...>

>
> Walt, you wrote,
>
>
>>>Look into the Sennheiser 1000 series digital wireless system. It
>>>transmits a 44khz 16bit digital signal, avoiding the analog problems.
>
>
> I found an interesting review, but I can't find anything about them
> on the SennheiserUSA site. Search for 1000 or 1092 gives nothing.

Neither can I, it was there very recently. Wonder if they have dropped
them, stick with the old stuff, never improve...

I do have the owner's manual in pdf if you are interested.

They turn up quite commonly on Ebay, usually the version for guitar
(1092). That's where I got mine.

Walt
wwknapp@...

If somone's really interested, I might be able to score one from the
good folks at Sennheiser. No guarantees, but I'd be willing to give
it a try.

Bernie

>From: Dan Dugan <dan@...>
>
>>
>>  Walt, you wrote,
>>
>>
>>>>Look into the Sennheiser 1000 series digital wireless system. It
>>>>transmits a 44khz 16bit digital signal, avoiding the analog problems.
>>
>>
>>  I found an interesting review, but I can't find anything about them
>>  on the SennheiserUSA site. Search for 1000 or 1092 gives nothing.
>
>Neither can I, it was there very recently. Wonder if they have dropped
>them, stick with the old stuff, never improve...
>
>I do have the owner's manual in pdf if you are interested.
>
>They turn up quite commonly on Ebay, usually the version for guitar
>(1092). That's where I got mine.
>
>Walt
>wwknapp@...
>
>
>
>
>"Microphones are not ears,
>Loudspeakers are not birds,
>A listening room is not nature."
>Klas Strandberg
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>


--

Wild Sanctuary, Inc.
P. O. Box 536
Glen Ellen, California  95442-0536
Tel: (707) 996-6677
Fax: (707) 996-0280
http://www.wildsanctuary.com

Hi Walt. Please do let us know what you discover
with the 1092 in the field.  Price mentioned was
$249 (new) which would be much lower than the
Letrosonics. The spec sheet says it has a 1/8"
mono in (guitar~line?) and xlr balanced
out.  Hopefully Interference won't  be a problem
away from city, but you never know these days.
900 - 925 MHz seems to be just below GSM and
maybe be in a portion of the spectrum set aside
for use for the railroads and other special
puposes.  Just have to try it to find out. Thanks
for the tip.   Rob D.
   - - -


At 12:12 PM -0400 7/1/04, Walter Knapp wrote:
>From: Dan Dugan <dan@...>
>
>>
>>  Walt, you wrote,
>>
>>
>>>>Look into the Sennheiser 1000 series digital wireless system. It
>>>>transmits a 44khz 16bit digital signal, avoiding the analog problems.
>>
>>
>>  I found an interesting review, but I can't find anything about them
>>  on the SennheiserUSA site. Search for 1000 or 1092 gives nothing.
>
>Neither can I, it was there very recently. Wonder if they have dropped
>them, stick with the old stuff, never improve...
>
>I do have the owner's manual in pdf if you are interested.
>
>They turn up quite commonly on Ebay, usually the version for guitar
>(1092). That's where I got mine.
>
>Walt
>wwknapp@...
>

> I found an interesting review, but I can't find anything about them
> on the SennheiserUSA site. Search for 1000 or 1092 gives nothing.
>
> -Dan Dugan

http://www.lexiconusa.com/Equipment/Sennheiser/ew/d1000.html

Is this what you are looking for ?

Regards, Roberto van Eijden. ( very interesting list price )

Pardon me, it should be

Pardon me, it should be :

http://www.lexiconusa.com/Equipment/Sennheiser/ew/d1000.htm

Roberto

>    From: Rob Danielson <type@...>
> Subject: Re: Sennheiser digital wireless (was surround recording)
>
> Hi Walt. Please do let us know what you discover
> with the 1092 in the field.  Price mentioned was
> $249 (new) which would be much lower than the
> Letrosonics. The spec sheet says it has a 1/8"
> mono in (guitar~line?) and xlr balanced
> out.  Hopefully Interference won't  be a problem
> away from city, but you never know these days.
> 900 - 925 MHz seems to be just below GSM and
> maybe be in a portion of the spectrum set aside
> for use for the railroads and other special
> puposes.  Just have to try it to find out. Thanks
> for the tip.   Rob D.

There are three of them on Ebay right now. Two have buy it now's, of
$200 & $235. All three are the guitar version, about all I see there.
The list price is pretty high, but you don't have to pay that.

The input to the transmitter is a 1/8" ministereo plug with a locking
collar. A standard ministereo plug would work, with the risk of
unplugging. It uses one contact for line level input, another for mic
input. The mic input has plug in power. It's not balanced inputs, of course.

There's also a mic version in addition to the belt pac transmitters. But
that's not of much interest for our purposes. The sets I have are all
the 1092 sets designed to work with guitars or other such instruments.

Output out of the receiver is intended to go to a mix board and is
either 1/4" unbalanced or balanced XLR.

I believe that's all fairly typical for sennheiser's wireless setups.

The transmission is of a digital data stream, the 16bit 44khz samples,
so is much more interference proof than the analog wireless setups. And
carries the full dynamic range of digital.

There are 4 channels, 905, 915, 920, 925 MHz, so up to four can be used
simultaneously. Since each is a mono channel, it takes two for stereo. I
have seen where use of one of the common hand held radio communicators
next to the receiver could cause dropout. Since the antenna is inside
the plastic case you'd have to add the expensive special antenna for it
to be able to shield the receiver. I've not seen any of those antennas
on Ebay. As they would maximize the range, I would like to find some at
a reasonable price. It's a special antenna, the ones for other wireless
won't work and may damage the receiver.

Since there is some interest and Sennheiser seems to have dropped the
info from their site I've put the pdf owners manual up:
http://naturerecordist.home.mindspring.com/digital1000Manual.pdf

At the moment, I need to make a carry case for two receivers and make a
battery pac to go in that. They assume you are plugging the receiver's
wall wart in. The receivers are set up for rack mounting. Once I get
that done I'll have something portable in the field. It uses 12 volts
DC, so could be connected to a car battery, I think. Need to check with
Sennheiser as to how much voltage variation it will tolerate.

Walt
wwknapp@...

--- In naturerecordists@yahoogroups.com, Walter Knapp <wwknapp@m...>
wrote:
...
> Since there is some interest and Sennheiser seems to have dropped
the
> info from their site I've put the pdf owners manual up:
> http://naturerecordist.home.mindspring.com/digital1000Manual.pdf
>

Interesting.
Hard to say what their digital format is.
It does appear lower than 44.1 khz as it is listed as 15,000 cycle
max.
It states 18 bit transmit and 16 bit receive and a audio range of
120db.

Not sure how that magic works but look I forward to your review of
the audio quality.

Rich Peet

>Since there is some interest and Sennheiser seems to have dropped the
>info from their site I've put the pdf owners manual up:
>http://naturerecordist.home.mindspring.com/digital1000Manual.pdf

Maybe they had a patent problem or something. I'm very interested in
hearing your report of how they sound--how quiet is the mic preamp,
overall fidelity of the A/D-D/A. Could you A/B them with straight
wire for us?

-Dan Dugan

Thought you might like to know the price for the Winpac available mid July


The WINDPAC will be available mid July, and retails for $849.  See the
WINDPAC in action at
http://www.windpac.com.

Martyn


Martyn Stewart
Bird and Animal Sounds Digitally Recorded at:
http://www.naturesound.org
N47.65543   W121.98428
Redmond. Washington. USA
Make every Garden a wildlife Habitat!

When the animals come to us,
Asking for our help,
Will we know what they are saying?

When the plants speak to us
In their delicate, beautiful language,
Will we be able to answer them?

When the planet herself
Sings to us in our dreams,
Will we be able to wake ourselves, and act?

                                -Gary Lawless

From: "Rich Peet" <richpeet@...>
> Subject: Re: Digest Number 1421

> Interesting.
> Hard to say what their digital format is.
> It does appear lower than 44.1 khz as it is listed as 15,000 cycle
> max.
> It states 18 bit transmit and 16 bit receive and a audio range of
> 120db.
>
> Not sure how that magic works but look I forward to your review of
> the audio quality.

I believe the 18 bit is their A/D, they transmit 16 bit. Not uncommon
for A/D's to be higher bit rate than the format.

Only sampling rate I've seen quoted for it over the years I've been
aware of it was 44khz. Of course all those folks could be wrong. There
are other ways to limit frequency range as well.

Walt
wwknapp@...

From: Dan Dugan <dan@...>
> Subject: Re: Digest Number 1421
>
>
>>Since there is some interest and Sennheiser seems to have dropped the
>>info from their site I've put the pdf owners manual up:
>>http://naturerecordist.home.mindspring.com/digital1000Manual.pdf
>
>
> Maybe they had a patent problem or something. I'm very interested in
> hearing your report of how they sound--how quiet is the mic preamp,
> overall fidelity of the A/D-D/A. Could you A/B them with straight
> wire for us?

The technology came from X-wave, who handed all their audio stuff to
Sennheiser as far as I can tell. That occurred at least 4 years ago.
X-wave is in that huge crowd of companies working the computer wireless
field now. I don't think they are interested in audio anymore. The
original X-wave wireless seems to have primarily interested the guitar
folks, it was a 20bit transmission instead of 16bit.

I'll see what I can do about running a recording or two. I really should
get them set up, I've had them for a while.

Walt
wwknapp@...

Pretty nifty. The price makes more sense considering that it comes with a
universal shockmount.

Thought you might like to know the price for the Winpac available mid July


The WINDPAC will be available mid July, and retails for $849.  See the
WINDPAC in action at
http://www.windpac.com.

Martyn


Martyn Stewart
Bird and Animal Sounds Digitally Recorded at:
http://www.naturesound.org
N47.65543   W121.98428
Redmond. Washington. USA
Make every Garden a wildlife Habitat!

When the animals come to us,
Asking for our help,
Will we know what they are saying?

When the plants speak to us
In their delicate, beautiful language,
Will we be able to answer them?

When the planet herself
Sings to us in our dreams,
Will we be able to wake ourselves, and act?

                               -Gary Lawless





"Microphones are not ears,
Loudspeakers are not birds,
A listening room is not nature."
Klas Strandberg


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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In naturerecordists@yahoogroups.com, Walter Knapp <wwknapp@m...>
wrote:

I can understand the idea that a V8 engine with 6 pistons is still a
V8. Where I really have trouble understanding is with 16 bits how do
you get 120 db audio performance?  As far as I understand that will
take some magic, but maybe.

Likely it is 44.1/16 and they made the cutoff 15,000 so that they
could get by with a simple filter before the a/d.  If that is what is
going on you should see 96 db as the floor when tested with your mkh-
80. Not greater than 110 s/n and no 120 db audio range.

It could be my understanding is seriously flawed which would not be a
first.  Either way I think I want one of these if it sounds good.

Rich


.
>
> I believe the 18 bit is their A/D, they transmit 16 bit. Not
uncommon
> for A/D's to be higher bit rate than the format.
>
> Only sampling rate I've seen quoted for it over the years I've been
> aware of it was 44khz. Of course all those folks could be wrong.
There
> are other ways to limit frequency range as well.
>
> Walt
> wwknapp@m...

Rich; Bit shifting perhaps?

I mean, 15 years ago most CD players were 16 bit, nowadays they are
1 bit :)

Yes, 1 bit is all you need...

Well they would still be a bit short of bandwidth at 15,000 max freq
to get that audio range even with one bit.

I am into an area now that I am a bit fuzzy with but, I thought that
the 1 bit systems were for the data stream only. In order to get the
number of volume steps the a/d converter still has to function at a
full word length of 16 bit or whatever depth it is to convey the
volume level?

Rich

--- In naturerecordists@yahoogroups.com, "Evert Veldhuis"
<jeb_music@h...> wrote:
> Rich; Bit shifting perhaps?
>
> I mean, 15 years ago most CD players were 16 bit, nowadays they are
> 1 bit :)
>
> Yes, 1 bit is all you need...

Hi,

I have just had the pleasure of reviewing  a copy of John Neville’s latest
CD set, Bird Songs – Western Boreal Forest.  It is a fantastic set.  Almost
all of the recordings were made by John as he traveled across Canada’s
Boreal Forest. Most of the recordings are from Saskatchewan and Alberta.
The dialects you hear are of the birds from that region.  In the narration
he often gives a little extra insight into the species or into the
recording.  He has not limited himself just to birds.  There are a few
mammals,  including Deer, an interesting recording of a Black Bear, and
amphibians which are part of the Boreal soundscape. Some are very
interesting.  I never realized how much a Green Winged Teal could sound like
a jet plane but he has managed to capture a recording of it.  He has a
excellent recording of the song of the rarely recorded Hawk Owl.

John’s recordings sound very natural.  On some  bird song CD’s  some of the
recordings appear  to be of highly agitated birds which have been enticed to
vocalize by tape playback.  The birds on John Neville’s CD set sound like
they do when you are just enjoying their song in their natural surroundings.
John has stated that his own philosophy “is to present bird sounds in a way
that anyone can recognize them.  If more people recognize the critters then
more space will be saved and protected for birds.  I think knowledge of
wildlife is critical for the natural world in an environment dominated by
man.”

Each species is on a separate track in the CD which makes access easy.  The
set is arranged with them more common birds you would encounter in the first
group followed by the following groups of birds and other animals:
warblers, sparrows, raptors, shorebirds, waterfowl, marshes, mammals and
rodents, and finally gulls.  There are 55tracks on the first CD and 52 on
the second.

My husband and I  record natural sounds and realize the tremendous amount of
patience and work it takes to get each of the clips on this CD set  and to
get clips of the high  quality  that appears on these recordings.  Each is
like a painting of this very special region, a work of art.  If you love the
boreal forest you will love this CD set and the insights it brings into the
sounds of this marvellous region of the world.  If you love birds you will
enjoy these very fine recordings.

It can be ordered from John’s  Neville Recording web site:
http://www.nevillerecording.com/

Usual disclaimer I have commercial interest in this produce – just love good
bird song recordings

Barb Beck
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

<It can be ordered from John's  Neville Recording web site:
http://www.nevillerecording.com/

Usual disclaimer I have commercial interest in this produce - just love good
bird song recordings>


Well done John Neville, British extraordinaire!!!
I will have a look at the CD mate.....

PS. Barb you say you HAVE commercial interest? Or did you forget to put in
the NO?

Martyn

Martyn Stewart
Bird and Animal Sounds Digitally Recorded at:
http://www.naturesound.org
N47.65543   W121.98428
Redmond. Washington. USA
Make every Garden a wildlife Habitat!

When the animals come to us,
Asking for our help,
Will we know what they are saying?

When the plants speak to us
In their delicate, beautiful language,
Will we be able to answer them?

When the planet herself
Sings to us in our dreams,
Will we be able to wake ourselves, and act?

                                -Gary Lawless

1 bit systems operate in the 3 MHz sampling rate range, not 44.1 kHz.

They could be getting the additional dynamic range (120 dB rather than 96 dB)
by nonlinear conversion. Some of the earlier pre-DAT, pre-CD digital audio
systems (and the audio system on early 8mm camcorders) used a nonlinear 12 bit
system. Essentially these systems say that up in the upper volume levels the
step from one encoded audio level is small, but that at lower levels the steps
are larger.  This yields a wider dynamic range, and hence lower noise floor, at
the risk of audible "stairstepping" in the lower level signals, since the
larger change from one encoded level to the next is closer to being noticeable.

Am curious to know if the wind screen has to be cranked out to full
length to function.  It seems awfully long to be carrying around if
your not using a long shotgun mike.  Hope someone can lay hands on it
soon and let us know more about it.  Aside from the price it sounds
like something to consider.
su
marin, CA

I have just spent the early hours of the morning (4:00am until 7:00am)
recording the Black River Heronry, WA. After a request made by Suzanne Krom,
President Herons Forever.
http://www.heronsforever.org/index.htm

With maybe 130 active nests at the moment, this is the largest colony in the
tri-county region. Many of the young are still on the nests and the clicks
and screams are something of an auditory treat. I met with Suzanne
yesterday, a very passionate person and one that has dedicated her time
along with many others in trying to save this colony from property
development.

This recording is around 1:08 seconds, about 5 Megs in size, great if you
have DSL.... I did resample the file too!
Enjoy the sounds of the parent herons arriving at the nests to feed the
young, with the young screaming out as though they have been given their
favorite treat..
I have more recordings on request.
http://www.naturesound.org/Sound%20Files/Renton%20Heronry%20Sample.mp3

If you can not click on the above link then go to

http://www.naturesound.org/Workshop.htm


Black river herons are towards the bottom of the page.

Martyn


Martyn Stewart
Bird and Animal Sounds Digitally Recorded at:
http://www.naturesound.org
N47.65543   W121.98428
Redmond. Washington. USA
Make every Garden a wildlife Habitat!

When the animals come to us,
Asking for our help,
Will we know what they are saying?

When the plants speak to us
In their delicate, beautiful language,
Will we be able to answer them?

When the planet herself
Sings to us in our dreams,
Will we be able to wake ourselves, and act?

                                -Gary Lawless

From: "Rich Peet" <richpeet@...>

> I am into an area now that I am a bit fuzzy with but, I thought that
> the 1 bit systems were for the data stream only. In order to get the
> number of volume steps the a/d converter still has to function at a
> full word length of 16 bit or whatever depth it is to convey the
> volume level?

There are 1bit oversampling A/D's as well as the more well known D/A's.
I won't attempt to describe how they do it as I'd probably get it wrong.
But check in Pohlmann's "Principles of Digital Audio". He describes how
it's done. And why it's done.

Walt
wwknapp@...

>1 bit systems operate in the 3 MHz sampling rate range, not 44.1 kHz.

A scheme by Sony to get everybody (including studios) to buy new
equipment. For no benefit whatsoever except to Sony. Sounds the same
as good PCM (conventional digital).

-Dan Dugan

From: flawn@...
>
> 1 bit systems operate in the 3 MHz sampling rate range, not 44.1 kHz.

Internally they do, If not some other rate,3 MHz is not fixed in stone,
but the output is still 44.1 kHz, or whatever sampling rate they are
designed to produce.

> They could be getting the additional dynamic range (120 dB rather than 96 dB)
> by nonlinear conversion. Some of the earlier pre-DAT, pre-CD digital audio
> systems (and the audio system on early 8mm camcorders) used a nonlinear 12 bit
> system. Essentially these systems say that up in the upper volume levels the
> step from one encoded audio level is small, but that at lower levels the steps
> are larger.  This yields a wider dynamic range, and hence lower noise floor,
at
> the risk of audible "stairstepping" in the lower level signals, since the
> larger change from one encoded level to the next is closer to being
noticeable.

Since, in the case of the Sennheiser 1000, it's a closed digital system
that does not have to produce a digital signal compatible with something
else, it could be using all kinds of non-standard stuff. What counts is
what comes out the far end, which is analog. We can treat the rest as a
black box and judge the far end.

Walt
wwknapp@...

From: "su anderson" <suanderson@...>

>
> Am curious to know if the wind screen has to be cranked out to full
> length to function.  It seems awfully long to be carrying around if
> your not using a long shotgun mike.  Hope someone can lay hands on it
> soon and let us know more about it.  Aside from the price it sounds
> like something to consider.

Here's one consideration:

A Rycote M/S stereo modular suspension, with zeppelin and fleece high
wind cover would be a list price somewhere around $ 600, much less than
what they are asking, and it can be had for much less. Even add a furry
cover and you are not near up to their price. And, since many M/S can be
fit in the mono Rycote system, at less money, it may be a even greater
differential.

So, it must be much better to be worth it, and I doubt it is. Only
advantage I've seen is a foldable zeppelin. Which is attractive.

As far as length, I'm assuming either it's one system designed for
movie/TV, where short shotguns are more or less the norm, or it's
multiple sizes at the high price each. I don't see how a single zeppelin
of this design can be more than one length and still keep the fabric
tight, which is essential. I've watched their animation of the winpac,
and that's what it appears there.

Walt
wwknapp@...

From: Dan Dugan <dan@...>

>
>
>>1 bit systems operate in the 3 MHz sampling rate range, not 44.1 kHz.
>
>
> A scheme by Sony to get everybody (including studios) to buy new
> equipment. For no benefit whatsoever except to Sony. Sounds the same
> as good PCM (conventional digital).

In this case we are talking about a technology designed by X-wave, and
then bought by Sennheiser. They changed the parameters slightly, but not
the fundamentals. I kind of doubt there is anything Sony in it. I've
certainly seen the 1bit oversampling A/D's in a lot more than just Sony
equipment.

According to Pohlmann, the 1bit oversampling A/D's were invented to get
around the inherent noise in the analog filtering used in regular A/D's.

Of course it could be that the analog filtering is good enough. And we
are just satisfying those who do technical analysis instead of
listening. Won't be the first time. In fact, all too common.

Walt
wwknapp@...

>  >>1 bit systems operate in the 3 MHz sampling rate range, not 44.1 kHz.

DAN:
>  > A scheme by Sony to get everybody (including studios) to buy new
>>  equipment. For no benefit whatsoever except to Sony. Sounds the same
>>  as good PCM (conventional digital).

WALT:
>In this case we are talking about a technology designed by X-wave, and
>then bought by Sennheiser. They changed the parameters slightly, but not
>the fundamentals. I kind of doubt there is anything Sony in it. I've
>certainly seen the 1 bit oversampling A/D's in a lot more than just Sony
>equipment.
>
>According to Pohlmann, the 1bit oversampling A/D's were invented to get
>around the inherent noise in the analog filtering used in regular A/D's.

Sorry, I guess it was the expressin "1 bit system" that triggered my
rant. Indeed I believe most A/D converters nowadays oversample at a
high sampling rate, a beneficial technique. I was talking about Sony
DSD, that is distributed on SACD, a "1 bit system" of recording.

-Dan Dugan

Developers were given a glimpse of the next version of the Macintosh
OS at the recent Apple conference in San Francisco.  Most interesting
is the search feature called Spotlight.  Spotlight runs in the
background, building indexes of your files, so searches happen very
quickly.

The most interesting feature of Spotlight is its ability to
automatically index file metadata. If this includes the metadata in
Broadcast WAV (BWF) format, Spotlight will make it much easier to
manage a library of sound recordings.

I haven't owned a Macintosh in more than 15 years.  But it's looking
like my next computer may be a Mac.

--oryoki