Re: [LAU] best mic(s) for environmenal recording?

Thanks everybody for all the feedback. I spent a lot of time lusting after the km-184s, but I decided to try my luck with the matched pair Rode NT5s, being that they cost quite a bit less. In combination with the digimax fs, recording at 96khz, the results were pretty darn good. With headphones on I could hear the whole neighborhood (at about 8PM on a friday, so there was some stuff going on a few blocks away, dogs barking, and at least 5 cars drove by.....) Later, I sat about 20 feet behind the the mics that were facing the forest - and recorded http://www.taht.net/~mtaht/outside_cybernation.ogg on guitar, just to get a feel for what the relative levels were like in this decidedly non-optimal scenario. (the above ogg is downsampled to 48khz, and I haven't actually listened to it yet. Remember that it's supposed to be at a fairly low volume). So there are issues with the stereo mix (the cars going by are coming up 5 levels of "S" up the mountain, then going behind the house, and up the mountain) which is due to mic placement. I want to get a spacious - for speakers - recording rather than a headphone one... I'm not sure what my mic spacing or pointage should be like in that case with a cardioid pattern like the NT5s have. Also have issues with even the slightest wind, not sure what to do about that. All I have to do next is set my alarm for 4AM, clear out some disk space, put the mics below my peach tree, and see what dawn sounds like. Recorded about 8 hours of forest in ardour2 with only a single xrun.... -- Mike Taht PostCards From the Bleeding Edge http://the-edge.blogspot.com