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Recording 160dB?


mojofunkster

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Yeah...either find a mic that will withstand the signal level of 160dB, turn down the level once inside, give up the gig or...stand back... It's audio not video...

Really though... Good question..

Wikipedia...

"A Boeing 747 jet engine. If you stood with your head inside the engine, you'd hear a 165 decibel roar. We don't recommend doing this; the human ear drum breaks instantly when exposed to sounds louder than 160 decibels. The sound of takeoff, if you're nearby, is around 140decibels.

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First of all, I would doubt their measurements. 

The DPA4017 comes to mind as it handles up 152dB spl, so it might just work. But a shotgun mic is probably not ideal. 

Mics made for drums could work. 

There are also some specialty mics. 

If all else fails use the measurement mic they used to measure the 160dB. 

And turn down your recorder or switch to line in

 

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so you'll want a dynamic mic, the SM58 is allegedly good up to 180dB but you'll need an inline pad as well as treat it as a line level signal. The electrical output of the SM58 at 160 dB SPL is +10 dBV or 3.2 volts. For reference 0.775 volts is equal to 0 dBu or -20 dBFS.

That and usually in these "dB drag racing" situations the car needs to be air tight, so you won't be able to sneak an XLR out the door. So if you "need" the sound inside the car, you'll want some sort of recorder that can sustain that environment and vibration.

What is most likely is you'll just need audio from outside the car. It'll still be loud as hell, but significantly lower than inside the car, You'll be pushing the limits of your gear but you won't need anything special (other than an inline pad) I'd suggest something like this on your boom, just incase "all the way down" is still too loud - http://www.sescom.com/product.asp?item=SES-MULTI-PAD

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3 minutes ago, Shastapete said:

so you'll want a dynamic mic, the SM58 is allegedly good up to 180dB but you'll need an inline pad as well as treat it as a line level signal. The electrical output of the SM58 at 160 dB SPL is +10 dBV or 3.2 volts. For reference 0.775 volts is equal to 0 dBu or -20 dBFS.

That and usually in these "dB drag racing" situations the car needs to be air tight, so you won't be able to sneak an XLR out the door. So if you "need" the sound inside the car, you'll want some sort of recorder that can sustain that environment and vibration.

What is most likely is you'll just need audio from outside the car. It'll still be loud as hell, but significantly lower than inside the car, You'll be pushing the limits of your gear but you won't need anything special (other than an inline pad) I'd suggest something like this on your boom, just incase "all the way down" is still too loud - http://www.sescom.com/product.asp?item=SES-MULTI-PAD

Nice number crunching. I was thinking an SM58 would be 1 way to go but I like Constantin's idea of using the measurement mic they base their claims on. Anyway I think he should have a pad that goes all the way to '11', even if he doesn't need it ;- ) And who gets to choose the music?

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2 minutes ago, daniel said:

Nice number crunching. I was thinking an SM58 would be 1 way to go but I like Constantin's idea of using the measurement mic they base their claims on. Anyway I think he should have a pad that goes all the way to '11', even if he doesn't need it ;- ) And who gets to choose the music?

 

Not so much music as burst of LF sine wave 

 

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1 minute ago, Shastapete said:

 

Not so much music as burst of LF sine wave 

 

 

 

That is so jokes. And of course, why would you want to disrupt all that male bonding with something as potentially divisive as someone's taste in music. I must get some friends round to enjoy some sinusoidal LF, and after few refreshments mix it up a bit some white noise.

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4 minutes ago, Philip Perkins said:

So all that cheering is because the played a buzzy bass note @ 180+db?  

Yeah, awesome no? Kind of confirms (to me) that when some 'audiophiles' listen to their 'systems' they are just listening to their systems and the content (music) has nothing to do with it.

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What is the point of recording it at that level? I highly doubt anyone is ever going to play it back at that level.

 

If it is a reality based show the zinger could be that the system is so loud it can't be recorded without blowing up your gear (...cue the pink smoke).

 

BTW, if you do record it, make sure you leave at least 12dB of headroom on your recorder. We wouldn't want the signal to clip....LOL

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I've used the SM58 and MD421 on obnoxiously loud cars and they survived, but that was on engines and exhaust systems, not for an interior sound system (I don't get having a car stereo that gets that loud. You can't be in there and be safe when it does that). With the sound bouncing around in there who knows what could happen. I'd maybe mount a 58 and 421 in there, throw some inline pads on them, and run cables to a recorder that is not that close, and then hope for the best. Keep the headphone volume down. 

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I think your producers are missing something here.  Even if you did manage to record the sine waves at those levels, they are too low to be replicated on most of the playback devices people watch on these days (and quite boring).  I would say you can't escape the low frequencies, so instead focus on the sound of the viewers experience, aka all the rattling and shaking.  The buzzes and rattles will be what sells the volume to the viewer at the end of the day.  Find a cabinet in the room that buzzes and mic it.

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