Audio guys, I need a microphone recommendation

[Dolomite_supafly]

In my quest to test my suppressor, as well as future Suppressors, I am needing to find a microphone. I have some programs that should work providing the mic can get to the levels I need.

The only requirement is if must work to 130dB. Every single one I have tried so far is limited to about 110 or less.

I would like a recommendation for a decent mic that fits this requirement without killing the pocketbook.

Thanks

Dolomite

[Guest uofmeet]

I am not sure, But I would think maybe a bass drum mic should go up that far....

[mcurrier]

I am not sure, But I would think maybe a bass drum mic should go up that far....

Sure SM-57

Part of the problem may also be that you need to set the recording level to manual on whatever device you are recording to. Auto-level will mess with the level if you are trying to record the 'difference' of sound between two (or more) shots. Locking the level at a single setting for all shots recorded will allow the difference to be heard between shots (as long as all parameters remain the same - e.g. microphone position, recording level set the same, etc.).

[quietguy]

Sure SM-57

Part of the problem may also be that you need to set the recording level to manual on whatever device you are recording to. Auto-level will mess with the level if you are trying to record the 'difference' of sound between two (or more) shots. Locking the level at a single setting for all shots recorded will allow the difference to be heard between shots (as long as all parameters remain the same - e.g. microphone position, recording level set the same, etc.).

This ^

One thing that you want to keep in mind is that digital recording is based on a sampling over a specific time period. You may have issues getting accurate results when trying to obtain quantifiable data. Extremely loud sounds of a very short duration are hard to capture.

[subsonic]

Sennheiser e604, rated to 160dbSPL.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--SENE604

[mcurrier]

This ^

One thing that you want to keep in mind is that digital recording is based on a sampling over a specific time period. You may have issues getting accurate results when trying to obtain quantifiable data. Extremely loud sounds of a very short duration are hard to capture.

Good point! Forgot to mention that. Similar to camera flash duration, it goes by a lot faster than you would think. We're talking milliseconds.

[subsonic]

Agreed, use the highest bit rate and fastest sampling rate you can lay your hands on.

[UncleJak]

I have a akg D 880 that is supposed to max out at 147/156 plus or minus 1-3%. I'm not for sure it is what you need, but it might be...

If you think it is, pm me and I will mail it to you.

[mikegideon]

This ^

One thing that you want to keep in mind is that digital recording is based on a sampling over a specific time period. You may have issues getting accurate results when trying to obtain quantifiable data. Extremely loud sounds of a very short duration are hard to capture.

If everything is within the sampling bandwidth (below the Nyquist frequency), it will capture it accurately. There is a sharp anti-aliasing filter in the conversion process, so bandwidth is strictly limited to frequencies below nyquist. There's nothing wrong with using a 44.1 khz sampling rate for this work.

I would use a condenser mic for this. Here's a free program written by a friend of mine. I would use it, since it does some complex analysis for loudness...

http://orban.com/meter/

EDIT: Link to the technical description...

http://orban.com/meter/Technology.html

Edited September 27, 2012 by mikegideon