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sanken CUW-180 dawn chorus (with rain), sweden
the nice folks at SANKEN have supplied one of their impressively spec’d CUW-180 mics - it arrived today & first impressions are….cor blimey !
This thing is small - only 160.6mm x 78.7mm & light as a hefty feather (224g). It arrived in a custom vinyl case, well padded & with a standard mic stand clip & a rycote suspension cip (see photo) + 5pin to 2 x 3pin xlr cable.
eager to have a listen, I placed the mic in to a standard Rycote wind jammer mount / handle & made a quick test recording indoors. I had the much cheaper Rode NT4 in the rycote first, so I took a listen, swapped it for the CUW-180 & listened again. The NT4 is clearly not a realistic competitor for the Sanken but i’m somewhat of a fan of that particular entry level stereo, single unit mic - it does a good all round job for the price. Having said that, plug in the Sanken &….blast off. The first thing that is obvious is the audible power - its louder, more defined & the sound (& indeed the build) is far more sophisticated, which is perhaps to be expected given that the CUW-180 costs at least £2000 more than the Rode.
There are two simple questions that will be of interest to those considering a new mic:
1. how does the Sanken sound
2. how does it compare to other mics of the same cost
1. i’ll be taking the CUW-180 out & making lots of test recordings with it in the coming months & will post extracts so you can hear for yourselves.
2. this is where it gets a bit more complicated. For one thing there aren’t a lot of stereo, single unit mics out there in this kind of bracket (high end). In fact there also aren’t any others at all that allow you to rotate the capsules in the way the Sanken does. Therefore, the only way for me to assess this mic will be to compare it, where possible, to other mics in general - to give a basic idea of whether, should you have the budget, you’d be advised to consider this alongside some of the other well known high end mics.
Of course, i’ve only had this mic for a few hours but I have to say that already i’m impressed & looking forward to getting out into the field with it.
This thing is small - only 160.6mm x 78.7mm & light as a hefty feather (224g). It arrived in a custom vinyl case, well padded & with a standard mic stand clip & a rycote suspension cip (see photo) + 5pin to 2 x 3pin xlr cable.
eager to have a listen, I placed the mic in to a standard Rycote wind jammer mount / handle & made a quick test recording indoors. I had the much cheaper Rode NT4 in the rycote first, so I took a listen, swapped it for the CUW-180 & listened again. The NT4 is clearly not a realistic competitor for the Sanken but i’m somewhat of a fan of that particular entry level stereo, single unit mic - it does a good all round job for the price. Having said that, plug in the Sanken &….blast off. The first thing that is obvious is the audible power - its louder, more defined & the sound (& indeed the build) is far more sophisticated, which is perhaps to be expected given that the CUW-180 costs at least £2000 more than the Rode.
There are two simple questions that will be of interest to those considering a new mic:
1. how does the Sanken sound
2. how does it compare to other mics of the same cost
1. i’ll be taking the CUW-180 out & making lots of test recordings with it in the coming months & will post extracts so you can hear for yourselves.
2. this is where it gets a bit more complicated. For one thing there aren’t a lot of stereo, single unit mics out there in this kind of bracket (high end). In fact there also aren’t any others at all that allow you to rotate the capsules in the way the Sanken does. Therefore, the only way for me to assess this mic will be to compare it, where possible, to other mics in general - to give a basic idea of whether, should you have the budget, you’d be advised to consider this alongside some of the other well known high end mics.
Of course, i’ve only had this mic for a few hours but I have to say that already i’m impressed & looking forward to getting out into the field with it.
Two Microphones In One Body For X-Y Stereo Recording
・ A single microphone body with two cardioid condenser capsules that can be rotated freely up to 180 degrees
The CUW-180 combines two exceptionally engineered cardioid condenser microphones in one compact body. Each of the two capsules is independently adjustable through any angle up to 180°, with 15° detent, providing a versatile microphone for a variety of X-Y stereo and Surround recording applications. Thanks to precise diaphragm layout of two capsules, the perfect phase coherence between Ch1 and Ch2 is kept even in any angle of two capsules.
It is important to note that two microphone capsules in one body create an ideal stereo configuration because the actual physical design takes into account the effect of the microphone body itself, as opposed to two separate microphones which are not physically designed to work adjacent to one another. The CUW-180 provides ideal X-Y stereo recording of classical ensembles, guitars, brass, drum overheads, etc. The microphone is also well-suited for talk shows with two persons sitting face-to-face, providing fully independent level controls. Each signal is available through the standard AES configuration XLR-5M connector.
・ A single microphone body with two cardioid condenser capsules that can be rotated freely up to 180 degrees
The CUW-180 combines two exceptionally engineered cardioid condenser microphones in one compact body. Each of the two capsules is independently adjustable through any angle up to 180°, with 15° detent, providing a versatile microphone for a variety of X-Y stereo and Surround recording applications. Thanks to precise diaphragm layout of two capsules, the perfect phase coherence between Ch1 and Ch2 is kept even in any angle of two capsules.
It is important to note that two microphone capsules in one body create an ideal stereo configuration because the actual physical design takes into account the effect of the microphone body itself, as opposed to two separate microphones which are not physically designed to work adjacent to one another. The CUW-180 provides ideal X-Y stereo recording of classical ensembles, guitars, brass, drum overheads, etc. The microphone is also well-suited for talk shows with two persons sitting face-to-face, providing fully independent level controls. Each signal is available through the standard AES configuration XLR-5M connector.
so, you have your recorder, your microphones, cables, spare batteries etc etc, now you need a good, well made & convenient kit bag to carry it all in, protect it & make using your valuable equipment stress free. There are some location sound industry leaders in the field, Portabrace being the most well know. Their bags are very good & the various models, with add on pouches, are designed to fit specific equipment needs. However they are expensive & for those either on a budget or who want a bag that will fit a wide range of different options you might find it hard to find Sound professional bags that meet your needs.
Well, on one of the recent Wildeye courses I tutor on, a student came along with a bag none of us had seen before. It was impressive, with a ton of pockets, a rubber base to prevent damp entering the bottom of the bag, a detachable waterproof cover, the whole thing made from sturdy waterproof material & all the zips being heavy duty. The thing is, it wasn’t a sound pro case, it was in fact made by Shakespeare - the fishing supplies manufacturer & has the name ‘royalty shoulder bag’ (note: its the old design not the new ‘royalty base station’). Needless to say I bought one online straight away & set about using it as my main bag to see how it handled. For me, its ideal. I can fit in the following:
main, central compartment holds:
Sound Devices recorder + spare battery
field mixer / pre-amp
2 cased lavelier mics
4 JrF hydrophones
4 JrF contact mics
1 pair of BSM9 mics
1 pair of Sennheiser headphones
olympus camera in case
front pocket (left) holds:
4 jack to xlr adaptors
2 xlr adaptors for laveliers
front pocket (right) holds:
2 JrF coils pick ups
front zipped compartment holds:
note book
drawing pens
spare camera batteries
spare camera memory cards
side pocket (left) holds:
pettersson D200 bat detector in case + battery
cable to connect to recorder
side pocket (right) holds:
hand held recorder
spare batteries
back zipped compartment holds:
waterproof cover
cloth for cleaning hydrophones
& what’s more some of those pockets could have taken a few more bits & pieces too. For example, the main central compartment could take a couple of conventional microphones, especially if one moves some of the smaller items to the free space in the other pockets.
The bag has a fully adjustable shoulder strap - very sturdy & well made. The main compartment is covered with a zipped top complete with 2 velcro loops & a further top covers that & fastens at the front with two tough click-buckles.
Not bad eh ! So, imagine if you found a bag with these specs for sale from one of the Location Sound equipment manufacturers - how much would it cost ? £200 ? £300 ? perhaps more ? well, my Shakespeare ‘royalty‘ cost £35.99 inc p&p & from the tests i’ve put it through so far it looks like it’ll last & last too.
One other plus point is that, unlike some of those pro sound bags, this one doesn’t scream ‘look at me, i’ve got thousands of pounds worth of tech equipment in here !’. Instead, given that Shakespeare are well know as fishing kit suppliers, this looks like it’ll be full of fishing line, hooks & a half eaten pond side packed lunch !
grab one ! either as your main bag, as a standby or as a handy carry-all to keep bits & pieces in that won’t fit in your Portabrace.
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some test recordings with the Pettersson D200 bat detector. Sounds are, in order:
1) light bulb # 1
2) light bulb # 2
3) laptop
4) fingers
5) beard
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prague castle courtyard
(recorded with the Korg MR2 recorder)
coming soon….I shall be putting a Pettersson D200 bat detector through its paces, capturing not only bat sounds (which will have to wait until they are more active than at this time of the year) but also the fascinating world of daily life through hidden frequencies….
Pettersson detectors are regarded as the best on the market & the D200 sits above their entry level D100 model. Here are the basic specifications:
Type:HeterodyneMicrophoneElectretFrequency range:10 - 120 kHz (min.)Display accuracy:
+/- 0.15 kHz
Bandwidth:8 kHz (+/- 4 kHz), -6 dB
Battery:1 x IEC 6LF22 (9V)Quiescent current:17 mA typ. including LCD backlightSize:119 x 60 x 25 mm including knobs
Weight:150 g including battery
Outputs:
2 x 3.5 mm jacks for headphones and recorder
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hydrophone test: lake recorded from jetty
I began selling my own make of hydrophones because, quite simply, I felt the range of products out there wasn’t that good considering the prices being charged. I don’t ‘compete’ with other manufacturers as my hydrophones are custom built by a field recordist for other folks interested in this area of sound exploration & my prices are designed to make this technology accessible to as many folks as possible. Over the years lots of people have asked me for advice when deciding which make of hydrophone to buy & i’ve always give un-biased advice based on whats available at the time. Since I launched the c-series hydrophones i’ve had lots of requests for comparison tests & my reason for doing this now is that, simply, people want to get the best value for their spend & I believe in the products I offer. So, here is the same lake, recorded on the same day with 3 different types of hydrophone - the recorder (Sound Devices 702) settings were identical on all sections.
(4 seconds silence between each sample)
first 2 minutes recorded with JrF c-series hydrophones (£60 per unit with 5metre cable - longer cables currently at £1 per metre extra)
second 2 minutes recorded with Aquarian audio hydrophones ($169 per unit with 3 metre cable)
third 2 minutes recorded with Dolphin Ear Pro hydrophones ($399 per unit with 10 metre cable)
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water-break-its-neck waterfall, wales - september 2011 - recorder with the Korg MR2 recorder
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red squirrels, recorded with a pair of Rode Lavalier mics - norfolk, sept 2011
so, having taken the Rode Lavalier mics to the recent Wildeye field recording course in Norfolk for participants to have a go with - & indeed to use myself - the overall verdict is that they are indeed very impressive. Recordings were made with a pair of the Rode’s, a pair of MM audio BSM9’s & the much more expensive DPA omni’s.
I am a fan of MM mics - for the price (a pair of BSM9’s cost $86 right now) they give amazing results & are handy to have with you at al times or as a spare set (there’s a recording of a wasps nest made with the BSM9’s below) That said the Rode’s have less self noise of course & the bottom end is more evident & tighter.
In direct comparison to the DPA’s I actually think the Rode’s come very close - they have a nice warmth & are perhaps a bit more forgiving - which for someone who likes to place mics in unusual places is a good thing.
One of the participants on the course had a pair of the new Telinga omni’s & they sounded very good too.
