james wrote:

I've sought out places near nightclub districts, airports, college
houses, etc., for the very reason that I *want* noisy neighbors so that
*I* won't be *their* problem.

You should be in the frame for a house swap with one of the other
posters then :-)

Acoustic matchmakers'R'us !

Anahata

Ok, I see what you are now finally getting at....

Convert the analog signal to Digital as soon as possible.

More equipment in between transportng an analog signal just alows noise to
get in.

OK, so what I need is something like a MOTU 896 that's cheaper then...THAT
is something that has phantom power and converts it to digital to send to
the 1394 port...

Is there something more portable than the MOTU 896 that can do this? I
don't need all those channels right now


"Mark & Mary Ann Weiss" wrote in message
k.net...

"Joseph Oberlander" wrote in message
ink.net...


I'm having a lot of fun with my Behringer B-1 condenser mics and the
MOTU
896. This is the dream setup you want for recording sounds that are
inaudible to normal ears.

Get these two items. They work and won't break the bank. The
improtant part is the 896 or something like it. Plugging a mic
into your soundcard isn't going to come close to achieving what
you want unless your computer is 2-3 rooms away and you have a
very long chord(which has problems as well).


Both parts are equally important. A noisy mic isn't going to provide good
results, even with preamps as quiet as the ones in the 896. It's a chain.
Eliminate all the weak links.


--
Take care,

Mark & Mary Ann Weiss

VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . DVD MASTERING . AUDIO RESTORATION
Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
Business sites at:
www.dv-clips.com
www.mwcomms.com
www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
-

Joseph Oberlander said:

The problem with going form a mic to your computer directly is that
you have to be literally in another *room* to not pick up the
computer.

Did you know that when Arnii rents out the Kroobitch, he gives the john a
25% discount if they do it in the same room with his DAW? Wait, of course
you knew that.

Hmmmmm.....

You sound like you are on to something.....I do have a pretty good rent
here...and there is a 1yr old and they put them on the 3rd floor for some
odd reason....

There is NO way they should have allowed a family with a 1yr old to be on
the 3rd floor knowing full well that number of complaints that they get.





"Mark & Mary Ann Weiss" wrote in message
nk.net...
an old trick for a wall contact microphone was the 4
or 5 inch speaker out of an all American 5 AM tube type radio. The
output
transformer was mounted to the transducer 4 ohm speaker side 2,000 ohm
output tube side. given that or something like that; attach a suitable
length of shielded wire to the secondary with the proper connector for
the
PC mike input, mount or hold or brace the speaker on the ceiling,
preferably
under the space between the floor joists in the area of the most sound
you
are trying to capture. This should be a seismic event, baboom baboom.

With that kind of transducer, a direct to the LINE IN will do. But you can
still expect a lot of distortion and very poor frequency response.

Anyway, it sounds like he's in a rent-controlled apartment and the
landlord
may be trying to get rid of him so he can lease it at today's rates. This
happened to a freind of mine who lived in the same apt in the Bronx since
1957. They brought in a noisy family with a lot of kids and they jumped up
and down just as hard as they could all night to make life miserable for
my
friend, who was still paying 1960s rent rates. He eventually moved to
Florida. Those situations just can't be won.


--
Take care,

Mark & Mary Ann Weiss

VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . DVD MASTERING . AUDIO RESTORATION
Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
Business sites at:
www.dv-clips.com
www.mwcomms.com
www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
-

Wow, ok....

I just don't have time and I need good sound and I can't risk spending all
the time and have a chance of it not working up to expectations.

But I will definately keep that in mind



"David Ballinger" wrote in message
news:7vY6e.1877$Z73.1549@lakeread04...

"pcomlow" wrote in message
news:HdG6e.38693$Xs.19682@fed1read03...
I am trying to record extremely low level sounds. These sounds are
people's
footsteps from an "upstairs apartment" and people closing
doors.....very
low level sounds...

I have a omnidirectional conference microphone from RadioShack


http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...uct_id=33-3022

I am using Wavepad softwarea and the results are not good.

I set the sampling at 96k and I can barely hear these sounds. I tried
amplifying them 400% and then doing a noise reduction, but that's not
great...

I really need to record this so that it is reproduceable and when you
listen
to a recording, it sounds like the soft footsteps....

NOTE: There is no creaking of the floors here

It's thump, thump, thump.....



Hi Dave B. here, with another cheap and dirty fix.
Mr. Pcomlow, what kind of a scrounger can you be? are you willing to
go
hunting?
Assuming sensitivity is more important than fidelity, small radio speakers
make OK microphones. an old trick for a wall contact microphone was the 4
or 5 inch speaker out of an all American 5 AM tube type radio. The output
transformer was mounted to the transducer 4 ohm speaker side 2,000 ohm
output tube side. given that or something like that; attach a suitable
length of shielded wire to the secondary with the proper connector for the
PC mike input, mount or hold or brace the speaker on the ceiling,
preferably
under the space between the floor joists in the area of the most sound you
are trying to capture. This should be a seismic event, baboom baboom.
If you don't have enough gain on your pc audio card, you can't beat an
external preamp sadly or happily for the price of the parts to build one
you
can pick up an inexpensive mixer at a pawn shop, I found a Behringer
UB-802
for $25.00, Its bare bones only got 2 XLR or quarter inch phone jacks in
does have phantom 48 volts and I'm guising about 115 db of gain from end
to
end a versatile little input problem solver.
Happy hunting____________ ;-)