What Portable Recorders Do You Use?

What Type of Content are You Recording?

Here at Mars Hill we have standardized on using portable, solid state, two track recorders at all of our campuses to accomplish a variety of purposes.  One of these purposes is to capture a live two track mix for the bands that we can then distribute to the band members – we call these ‘band reference mixes’.  A mix is generated live from either the FOH sound board or the monitors sound board and recorded to one our little handheld units.  These mixes are then loaded to a private podcast that only the band knows the stream URL for.  This way each band can quickly get a rough mix of each song that they played on the previous Sunday.  With this nearly instantaneous turnaround of the mix, each band member can then critique their own songs and work to make improvements and become a better and tighter band.  (This is all separate from what gets released into the Mars Hill Media Library, which is usually multi-tracked for later extensive editing)  These band reference mixes are all raw with little to no polishing to make them sound better than what is initially captured.  A second purpose for each campus to own one of these units is for the recording of sermons and other campus specific content that is preached and taught at each individual campus – this content can then be edited and released through the Mars Hill Media Library and the specific campus’s blog.

What Equipment Do You Use?

Up until recently, we have standardized on the Marantz PMD660 portable recorder and it’s sibling the Marantz PMD570, an integrated rack mount version.  These units are good, able to record in multiple formats and take in multiple inputs (though we generally record all our content in MP3 format).  There are a few things that we would like to change about this unit, like the purchase price and the ability to record with built in microphones without having to mix the feed, so we decided to re-evaluated what our standard portable recorder will be.

We put the above Marantz portable unit up against the Tascam DR-100, the Tascam DR-07, and the Edirol R-09HR.  The Portable Marantz PMD660 retails for $699.99, the Tascam DR-100 for $599.00, the Edirol R-09HR for $450.00, and the Tascam DR-07 for $279.00.  Although these are list prices, quick internet searches can find each unit for less.  For the demo we recorded MP3s at 320kbps.

This demo was primarily to look at the on board mic quality.  We recorded in a number of real life scenarios, from me talking into them while sitting at my desk, to taking them to a couple of services and recording in the room at FOH.  The microphones on each sounded pretty decent.  Each unit has a pair of omni microphones on them, and the DR-100 also has a pair of cardioid microphones.  When comparing the omni mics, I thought the Tascam units had very similar sounds (warm and crisp, a good full range) while the Edirol had a crisper, and less warm sound.  However one person that was helping evaluate these products did like the Edirol better then the Tascam units.  Listening to the cardioid microphones of the DR-100, to the back end rejection, and the warmth of those mics, pushed me towards the DR-100.   From a functionality stand point, they all have a stereo line input (1/8” stereo) and the DR-100 is the only unit that allows for an outboard balanced Mic to be directly connected.

When it came to navigating the Menu’s the DR-100 was the most intuitive, a lot because of the great plethora of physical buttons on it (even has some on the back side).  The Edirol was the least intuitive.  That said, I could easily get around all three unit’s menus with a fair amount of ease.  A much needed improvement over our current Marantz PMD660’s.  One downside to the Edirol unit is that it appears to power on and default to recording wave files, and since we desire to just capture MP3’s, that was a negative for this unit. 

As for connecting each unit to the computer, the Tascam units connected with ease and shows up as a hard drive, much like a USB thumb drive would.  The Edirol, since it is made to connect to a PC and we use Macs, was a little harder to connect to.  However, I was eventually able to connect to it.  The Edirol does come with a free version of Cakewalk for windows, whereas the Tascam products did not come with any software.

In the end after looking at the question in hand from all sides, we went with the Tascam DR-100.  So far we have only deployed it to the Olympia Campus, because the other campuses are using the Marantz versions and there is not a good reason to spend the money to replace the good units.  However, as we come to need to purchase more in the future, they will be the Tascam DR-100.

Images are gathered from each respective website.

Pastor Mark’s Microphone

One of the most common questions we get is “What microphone does Pastor Mark Driscoll use?”  Here is the low down, on what we use and some of the rational behind it.

We use the Countryman E6 and E6i headphone microphones for 95% of our applications.  We do own 2 DPA 4066 Headset microphones as well.  Pastor Mark uses the DPA because he thinks it is more comfortable, however I think the Countryman is more comfortable, but he is the one that wears it.  They booth have similar capsules and pick up patterns.  For our application, Pastor Mark, the DPA 4066 sounds better, but it is also a more expensive microphone.

The biggest difference between the units is the way they sit on your head.  The countryman E6 and E6i sit on one ear and wrap around the cheek to the mouth.  (Countryman has come out with the “E6 Ear Clip” to give the mic support over both ears.)  The DPA 4060 series mics have a frame that sits on both ears and the boom of the mic attaches to that frame, and wraps around the cheek to the mouth.  Both are fairly comfortable, lightweight, and easy to mold to the user’s head.

I’ve mentioned the E6 and the E6i – so, what’s the difference?  The E6 is a slightly stiffer boom arm and ear piece, and consequently meant for mostly one user.  With it being stiffer, it can be stored in it’s case and pulled out, and still be shaped right.  One note of caution with this though, I’ve had Pastors reshaping an E6 and break the boom arm in half.   Countryman does provide directions for the shaping of the E6, and if they are followed, it wont break.  So, moral of this story is to make sure you really know how to mold the E6 properly (and it’s not that difficult).  The E6i is a much more flexible boom arm and ear piece, which makes it ideal for multiple wearers of the mic.  The downside to this is that it doesn’t hold it’s shape as well in storage, and needs to be remolded before every use.  The E6i also offers a larger rubber grip for the portion which goes around the ear, that does grip the ear a little better.  There are various sensitivities and colors to choose from for booth mics, please see their webpage for complete details.  (Countryman has also come out with the E6s, which is a short boomed E6, a cool idea, but require more gain to use, increasing your chances of feedback.  Use this one with caution.)

We also utilize a DPA Lavaliere microphone on a wireless for primary back up.  There is also always a wired DPA Lavaliere microphone close by in case all wireless systems go down for some reason.

We use Sennheiser wireless systems.  Most brands would work comparably well.  Every campus has the Sennheiser G2 series for wireless microphones (as Sennheiser replaces the G2 with the G3 series we will be purchasing those for new applications).  Pastor Mark is using the 3000 series wireless systems.  If you are looking to go wireless, look for the following in the unit(s):

• Diversity antennas – Allows for pick up from the strongest signal on the strongest antenna.
• Remote-able antennas – Allows you to move the actual antennas to a different location then your equipment racks, and allows you to use antenna combiners, so multiple wireless systems can use one set of antennas.
• Frequency agile units - There are two basic types of units out there. Ones that allow you to change the frequency you are operating on and ones that do not.  Get the ones that allow you to change frequencies, as this will let you change them without having to go buy a new system.

In general, wireless units do follow the rule of the more you pay for them, the better they are.  Yes, you can hear the differences as well.  In general, I would not look at purchasing any system that the MSPR (retail or list price) is less than about $700.00.  Remember that you should never actually pay the MSRP price.  For instance the systems we use list for $899.00 and we can regularly purchase them for $500.00-$550.00.  Systems less then this generally are really cheap and you wind up unhappy with it in the long run.

Speaker Demo’s

This last Thursday, we demo’ed some new speakers. In the next couple of years Mars Hill Church will be looking to launch a large number of campuses.  Some of them small, some medium, and some large.  In an effort to standardize what we do to reduce work flow, we are also needing to service a large quantity of rooms and facilities.  We also realize that every location is not the same and that one system, one set up will not properly function in every space.

What we were looking for from this demo:

The column line array is the truest form of a line array there is.  The drivers are all stacked on top of each other and are the closest they will ever be.  Traditionally the column line array has been reserved for the spoken word and highly reverberant rooms.  Renkus-Heinz and SLS Audio, amongst others, have recently come out with a column line array, which is specifically aimed at Churches and are for live reinforcement of Churches.  So, the first question is weather this type of technology will be good for Live music and bands.  (For and example of the types of music played at Mars Hill Church please see our music library.)  We also are interested in the steer-ability of the systems, as well as their clarity.  Speed of set up and tear down was important in our evaluation as well.  We did the demo in our back parking lot to hear what the actual speakers sounded like, without room acoustics.  We then moved into our Ballard campus building to see how a room effects the response of the speakers.

Renkus-Heinz IC Live (ICL-R Array and ICL215S Sub)

Renkus-Heinz has released a new version of their Iconyx column arrays, called the IC Live.  The IC Live is a steerable line array, which basically means that the beam of coverage can be fully adjusted.  In the case of the IC Live it can fully adjust from -30 degrees to +30 degrees vertical, or any portion of that coverage.  They accomplish this by using a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) and an amplifier per driver, to change the time alignment of each driver.  Changing the time alignment will change how the drivers interact with each other, and therefor changing the apparent frequency response/coverage.  The sub woofer contains two 15″ drivers.  This box seams to be aimed at churches and the portable live performance spaces.  The speakers required all of 5 minutes to set up with two guys (one knowing what he was doing and another that didn’t (me!)).  We demo’ed a stack with two sub boxes and two sticks on top.  Setting up out in the parking lot, the Renkus Heinz guy did not want to do any DSP work with in the box and chose to run them flat out of the gate, which I appreciated.

Overall sound was decent.  With this configuration, we felt the low mids were lacking, and that the high end was nice and crisp – in some places.  We did notice that the high end was very “beamy” as we walked through the field of coverage from left to right.  By “beamy” I mean that in areas you could hear 6K and up quite well, and then walk a couple of feet to the left or right, and then the high end response feel right off, almost disappearing.  Overall the high end covered the 120 degrees that they claim on their spec sheets.  In some ways it almost felt like it had a wider coverage then that though.  The subs (ICL215S) had good presence and filled out the bottom of the IC Live quiet well.  They had a little punch, but for our purposes would really want the second sub cabinet to keep up with anything outdoors.

After moving inside, the Renkus-Heinz Tech. did some DSP work using the calculator software.  After putting in only the basic dimensions of the room, he was up and running.  With the steering DSP software he was able to aim the beam down and miss a lot of reflection off the back wall, although there still was some.

The sound changed a bunch.  The low mids were more present, although still lacking, the high end was still crisp, and the subs still had some punch.  The beamy-ness heard outside was severely mitigated and hard to hear now, a great improvement over outside, but still present.

SLS Audio PLS8695 Array and SP810 Sub

SLS Audio is a company which focuses in on Ribbon technologies, and has mentioned numerous times that they want to fully reproduce the sound that is given to them.  They do not want to use DSP, or any thing else, to alter the the sound that the end user produces.  They were showing that they only had a total of three filters in their entire system.  From them we demo’ed their large column array the PLS8695, paired with the SP810 Subwoofer.  The subwoofer contains two 18″ drivers.  We demo’ed two top arrays, and one subwoofer.  The set up was a little long, part of that was because the speakers were built for us from the factory, so we were opening a lot of boxes and bags, which normally wouldn’t be the case.  As the units sit right now, there are two plates which need to be attached to the bottom of each unit.  One set of plates attaches to quick release pins on the sub woofer, and the other set of plates attach the top array to the bottom array.  Our biggest complaint here was that these plates are bolted into the sides of the speaker boxes, and there is no quick release for them.  Also the custom roadcases that the speakers come/came in, does not allow for the plates to remain attached.  After the plates are attached to the array, it takes four people to stand the array on end and attach it to the subwoofer, mostly because of the weight of the double stacked array.  Another pain point of the set up was that the subwoofer isn’t currently self powered, but the top (array) is.  Evidently it is in the manufacturers plans to install an amplifier in the subwoofer box here soon (end of the calendar year?).  Other then this the set up of the column system is quiet simple and decently fast.  It took one person who knew what he was doing and three people that didn’t, about 30 minutes to unbox and set up the stack.  After moving inside though the set up took the same people about 15-20 minutes.

The overall sound of the SLS Audio was good.  The double 18″ subwoofer provided for that good punchy sub sound that only a dual 18″ can provide.  The low mids were good, supportive, and in good balance with the rest of the system.  The high end was crisp and clear, however when we pushed the system (100 dBA at 75′) the high end really got bright and hurt the ears.  I’m almost curious to see what the system running at full sounds like, but I like my hearing too much, the Manufacturer’s Rep. claims a SPL of 145 dBA (web site says 115dB at 60′).

After moving inside the SLS Audio system bounced audio to a large portion of the room, putting a lot of sound where we don’t want it.  The slap back off the back wall was pretty substantial.  The low mids seamed to tighten up a little as well.  We did not push the system to great volumes inside, so we didn’t hear how the high’s reacted to being inside.

Other notes:

Inside we made use of one of the wireless microphone hand held’s and walked 360 degrees around the two speakers stacks.  We were able to be closer to the IC Live then the SLS Audio speakers.  Both systems had real good rejection behind the cabinets and allowed for us to get closer then the mic would actually ever be used.  In front of the column systems, we could get our microphone directly in front of the IC Live, with a proximity of around 4′, and still hitting 85 dBA at FOH (louder then a normal speaking volume) 60 feet away.  Doing the same test with the SLS Audio Speakers, the closest tot he speaker cabinet we were able to get, with the same results was about 8′.

Update: The SLS Audio Subwoofer has two wheels on it, which make it awkward to move.  The SLS Audio Manufacturer’s Rep. that was there, did mention they would be willing to modify the design to put four wheels on it.  He mentioned that he was going to try to get that change into the design change that would come when the amp is installed in the Subwoofer.  Also, the Manufacture’s Rep. did mention that he could make sure the roadcases were long enough to be able to keep the plates attached to the side of the column, speeding up setup.  Hopefully these two changes would allow the system to be set up in 15 minutes.  As another side note; the Manufactures Rep. mentioned that the final product will be rigged to build the column from the front of the array instead of the rear, as it currently is done.

Both systems tightened up, and sounded warmer, when they were inside.  My thought on this is that the systems were now in front of a wall and were using the wall behind them to adjust the low mid response of the systems.

Over all we thought the SLS Audio system sounded better then the Renkus-Heinz system, but the basic build of the systems was slightly different.  The Renkus-Heinz system was a faster set up and tear down, and had programable DSP, with recallable presets.  Renkus-Heinz is considerably more expensize the SLS Audio.  The two systems were so similar and so different in many ways, which makes the decision of which one was better very hard.  In some catergories SLS Audio won out, in other catergories Renkis-Heinz won out.