My FetHeads theme

[DHB]

I'd have thought that for bees - unless you want the distant sound of them heading towards or away from a hive, plus outdoor stereo ambience - the best thing is to lower a small-head wide-stereo mic (Audio-Technica AT825 or similar) into the hive. That way you'd have an 'intimate' broad stereo-soundscape, sounding like bees are almost inside your own head.

[inspire]

I got some experience and the biggest problem seems now wind.

Also I specified what I had never before looked that with Portacapture X8:
LOW INPUT GAIN +0.0dB...+35.0 dB
HIGH INPUT GAIN +22.0dB...+57.0dB

And with FetHead I can deliver now on Low input gain.

Bees, when I put microphone in the hive, I get a pretty good result. I also got a few flies in the room nicely (bluebottles - so in English?).

Over me, a geese raft flew, which otherwise was promisingly received, but because the wind was enough strong, the result was bad.

PIANISSIMO PIANI-1 needed, I don't know if this would help?

 

Edited April 15 by inspire
Additional information added

[DHB]

 

If that 2nd picture is your mic in front of a parabolic dish, then your mic is the wrong way round!  (The mic should point INTO  the dish, at the 'focal point' of the dish ..where the dish focuses the sound. Put your head in front of the dish, with one ear pointing into the dish, then move your head towards, into, and away from the dish until you hear the LOUDEST sound, then put the mic inside the dish (using an arm on your mic stand) until the HEAD of the mic is at the exact same point where your own ear was, then slide the mic in and out of the dish slightly until you hear in your cans the strongest, loudest sound. That's the 'focal point' of the dish, and that's where your mic should be, pointing ..INTO the dish. 

[DHB]

 

Here's a picture - courtesy of B&H - showing a mic pointing INTO the centre of a parabolic dish, where the dish focuses the audio..

 

That's how the mic catches the focused audio ..pointing INTO the dish.

 

[inspire]

Thank you for the teaching that was good, but it was a common bucket with which I tried to prevent the wind from blowing behind. 

I have also a plan for parabolic dish since I have several SAT-TV dishes, I can try with some. But it is rather a test and not a serious thing.

But yes, the wind is a big problem especially if I want to use a higher stative and height.

Parabolic Microphones and Specialized Equipment:

https://www.wildtronics.com

https://www.telinga.com

[DHB]

 

 Try a proper Rycote 'zeppelin' with a full size 'dead cat' furry cover over it. Your mic needs to be properly isolated within an area of still  air, then it shouldn't be affected.

[Werner Althaus]

2 hours ago, inspire said:

Thank you for the teaching that was good, but it was a common bucket with which I tried to prevent the wind from blowing behind. 

 

 

I'd advise against putting anything at the 180 degree spot/ back of the microphone, especially a bucket which is a very non-linear sound collector of sorts, especially when agitated with wind. The common misconception is that directional mics have a null at 180 degrees or various other angles , depending on the polar pattern. In practice microphones, especially shotgun microphones hardly ever have textbook patterns across the entire frequency range. Schoeps is probably the best at achieving as close as possible a textbook pattern but one quick look at the graph of the MiniCmit shows that at lower frequencies you have a significant rear lobe, meaning that this mic hears a lot of what's going on in the lower mids and bass behind the mic .  500 Hz is only down 8 dB and 250 Hz is only down 7 dB from its on-axis response.

It is very important to consider what is happening "behind" the mic.

[inspire]

It wasn't a good solution this time and I didn't have a better one available, so I tried with the tools at hand. Your explanations are certainly very informative, thank you! 
I also tried it as shown in the attached picture, but there were reverberations and unnatural distortions. We had significant wind those days!

By the way, I now understand why Rycote 'zeppelin' is such a shape, consisting of a cylinder whose ends are hemisphere.

[Izen Ears]

18 hours ago, Werner Althaus said:

 

 

Wow I hadn't seen those freq distinctions in a diagram before!  I wish every maker did that.  (Heh, do they already do this now?)  All these years my ears have told me just how much of a giant rear lobe that mic has, in fact to me it's practically an omni at those lower freqs.  Thanks for posting!

 

Dan Izen

[DHB]

Yup, most manufacturers do it ..just look at the difference between the Schoeps SuperCMIT in its ordinary 'Preset 1' mode (which provides some  reduction in rear sensitivity over other shotguns) and 'Preset 2' (rather more severe cutback) which almost totally eliminates rear sensitivity (but makes the mic sound rather 'boxy' as if in a small almost anechoic room ..that's if used indoors, of course)..

 

                                                       

[inspire]

Yesterday the second Fethead arrived as well, and I will be able to test them soon. I'll add a picture with the VP88 microphone.

I asked just in case from Triton Audio, if it is OK using two Fetheads in the same chain? (for the future tests with shotgun)
Max answered me:
"We haven’t tested this, but it will probably work. You can’t break anything. 
The impedances are not optimal when stacking FetHead Phantoms, so you will likely not get a double amount of gain."
 

[DHB]

 

Looks good ..do tell us if it achieved what you wanted.

[inspire]

Here are the previous recordings and notes about these recordings (recorded on the average weekend of April):
http://84.50.150.102/FetHead-recordings/
--
0096
Recorded next to the beehive. Sounds of the neighbor's chainsaw can be heard, a group of geese flies overhead, and of course, the wind is blowing!
0098
The microphone is in front of the bees flight board. In the distance, larks are singing.
0101
House flies inside, the sound of a water bucket. Mother is washing dishes in the kitchen nearby.
0103
Same as before.
0104
More house flies. Father's footsteps inside and the sound of door.
0107
The microphone is in the field, facing the road, with a bucket behind it to protect it from the wind. The wind is coming from behind. Cars drive by, the noise of the highway and birds can be heard.
0108
The microphone is inside the hive.
0109
The microphone is inside the hive.

Next testing will come in mid-May, maybe you will be interesting to listen my first FetHead usage?

[tourtelot]

Are the FETHeads adding any electronic noise to your recordings?  I found them un-usable for recording acoustic music with ribbons because of the high levels of self-noise.

 

D.

[inspire]

The only thing I wasn't satisfied with is the wind and its effects. I wonder if PIANISSIMO PIANI-1 would help with that? Two pieces in one chain are working, but I don't see the point in that - I tried it already and I can assure you that at least I can't get any effect on that.

[Derek H]

19 hours ago, inspire said:

The only thing I wasn't satisfied with is the wind and its effects. I wonder if PIANISSIMO PIANI-1 would help with that?

 

1000% yes! Any real mic zeppelin made in the last 30 years would be an improvement to just going at outdoor recording with a foam and a bucket. It’s kind of a general requirement for outdoor recording. That said, no need to jump to the absolute most expensive thing on the market with the Piano. Unless you have money to burn (maybe you do?) even the full windshield from RODE would, which is about $300 brand-new, be 1000x improvement from just a foam or even a slip-on fur. 
 

What is the end goal of this project? I guess I’m confused because on the one hand you’re using Schoeps mics and are considering Cinela windscreens but then why mess around with these inline boosters? Even the least expensive Sound Devices mix pre recorder should get you great results and you could skip all this business with the boosters. 
 

Anyway, just my opinion. Carry on!

[DHB]

I've rather lost track of what you want to record..

 

I thought it was distant animals in a zoo, and that it wasn't possible to get close to them, and you want to record in, er, Mid/Side (hence the VP-88) or in stereo.

 

A VP-88 is really for sounds which are nearby ..such as those bees, but for general 'atmospheric sounds' - for which you'd want a wider pickup - such as "..House flies inside, the sound of a water bucket. Mother is washing dishes in the kitchen nearby.." or "..The microphone is in the field, facing the road . . . Cars drive by, the noise of the highway and birds can be heard.." then stereo with a far wider separation than that of the close side-by-side Side capsule(s) in the VP-88 would probably give better results.

 

But I don't hear any  stereo separation in those audio files (above). Were those made with the VP-88? ..Probably not, as I see only a single cable running down from the mic. But, if so, how did you extract and separate the stereo components from the 2nd channel? ..Using ProTools? ..Audacity?  (..Just recording the Mid signal onto one track and the (combined) Side channels onto a different track doesn't deliver stereo from that 2nd track: the track generally needs to be copied, and the phase reversed on the resultant new 3rd track in order to produce the separate left and right channels.)

 

What exactly is your aim ?  Are you aiming for general stereo 'atmos' tracks, or distant animals making noises? ..I'm rather getting lost without understanding exactly what you're aiming to end up with, and which mic(s) you're using

 

[inspire]

Here are more examples, made with the FetHeads at my home window. I'll answer the question about electronic noise: no, I didn't notice any. Here, you can hear the street noise and everything else. Perhaps the VP88 itself is humming when you listen to it for comparison.
I'm actually very grateful for the recommendation to use the FetHead, and I intend to use it in various situations. I was interested in long-distance recording, but close objects also seem interesting with it.
It adds new possibilities for me to discover. They are easy to add or remove from the chain. They don't ask for much, are lightweight, and not too expensive either. I'm quite happy with them.

The next major test will be in Matsalu National Park, and I really hope there won't be any wind that day because I currently don't have good equipment for wind.

http://84.50.150.102/FetHead-recordings/240426/

240426_0110_3.wav    2024-04-26 15:41    Schoeps MiniCMIT GR, two FetHeads in a chain
240426_0111_3.wav    2024-04-26 15:43    Schoeps MiniCMIT GR, two FetHeads in a chain but with more gain
240426_0112_3.wav    2024-04-26 15:44    The same, but the microphone is pointed towards the sky! At the same time, there were some pedestrians passing by and children's voices could be heard. They were about 50 to 60 meters away, completely in the periphery. Additionally, the neighbor boy's moped can be heard behind the house.
240426_0113_3.wav    2024-04-26 15:46    The same, but the microphone is pointed downwards.    
240426_0114_3-4.wav    2024-04-26 16:00    With the VP88 stereo microphone, more gain.
240426_0115_3-4.wav    2024-04-26 16:01    With the VP88 stereo microphone, less gain.
240426_0116_3-4.wav    2024-04-26 16:03    With the VP88 stereo microphone, I myself just a stupid text intro in the window in front of the microphone.

[inspire]

DHB, you are correct that the first recordings were made using only the Schoeps MiniCMIT because the second FetHead arrived to me later.
There is no processing applied to any of the recordings to enhance them in any way. This is to ensure a fair comparison. In the first batch, I have only made cuts.
Of course, I could mitigate the shortcomings using various plugins in post-processing, but I did not do so.

[DHB]

The last one - your speaking at the window - sounds great; really shows what you get with the VP-88.

 

The birdsong (..2nd file: 240426_0111_3.wav..) would be really great if you pointed that MiniCMIT into a dish! ..that's if you particularly wanted to capture the birdsong. A dish would get rid of all the general background street noise 'mush'. Similarly, if you want to capture animals at a distance, a dish would remove general background mush, and would bring the distant sounds - which you aim the dish at - 'closer' and louder without introducing electronic amplification 'noise'. But those Fetheads don't seem to bring in any additional electronic noise ..none that I can hear, and can't detect without an oscilloscope, or without examining the waveforms. I'd say they're a great success!

[inspire]

On that day, unfortunately, there wasn't anything interesting to capture from the window apart from the noise of the street. The birds were far away, and there wasn't anything noteworthy on the horizon. 
I'll clarify that in the upward-facing file, 240426_0112_3.wav, it means roughly 60 degrees towards the sky from my window. And the same applies to 240426_0113_3.wav, 60 degrees downwards. For me, it was the most interesting experiment, but yes, unfortunately, there wasn't anything exciting to listen to on that day. 
(Sometimes, there are very interesting sounds outside my window, such as woodpeckers, starlings, and other fascinating noises. Sometimes, the crows caw loudly.)

I plan to conduct an experiment with a SAT-TV dish soon, but I don't plan on acquiring the equipment used by professionals for this purpose. I'll share the results of the experiment in this thread in the future. 

I'm eagerly looking forward to visiting the bird sanctuary in Matsalu. There are no cars, and the city noise should be nonexistent:
https://www.loodusegakoos.ee/where-to-go/national-parks/matsalu-national-park

Observation Tower
I plan to visit these towers and perhaps try the same thing, directing the microphone both upwards and downwards like I tried from my window.

[DHB]

 

I'm glad that your VP-88 and Fetheads work so well for you, but as I don't know what you are really  trying to capture, and why ..any more than just an interest in hearing what recorded things sound like.. I don't think I can help any more or make any further suggestions.