What did you do with your Z today IV

Red__Zed

Driving the scooby-roo today...wheeeeee

booooooooosssttttt!

m4a1mustang

Good morning fellas. I'm still here, so that's good.

TGIF.

I hope to pick the S2K up tonight. I'm tired of driving this heap of junk around! It sounds soooo bad.

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kenchan

good am everyone! TGIF!

mr.gale- took forever to logon this am for some reason. here is the pict of the e-tape sandwiched
in the arm/holder to prevent rattle on the satechi. i used red so it is easy to see. just tape the
holder clip area and side it into the arm. no more rattles. im going to make a tripod mount later
to work with the arm.



here is how i have it mounted. if you have a passenger chances are her elbow will hit the recorder, so i suggest you have
an alternate mount location just in case you want to take someone along. for me i would just use the real sony mic in such
case, or mount the recorder on the rear bar.

GaleForce

Good morning Mr.kenchan

Is it forum troubles that kept you from loggin in, or obligations at work?

Thanks for posting the pictures. I'm looking forward to getting things set-up. The pictures help.

The mount looks like a quality piece.

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kenchan

hahaha, yah, both. i had a long day at work yesterday. but i was able to do some car stuff in the garage last night so that was

the satechi is probably one of the best ones out there...but that swivel that can't click to its horizontal detent is

btw, im not sure about the zoom you bought, but my tascam's mic polar pattern (mic's pickup pattern) is directly forward to 90degress perpendicular. so that means it will prioritize sound that is picked up forward of the front seats. since the cabin is small it picks up a lot of the nice exhaust note too while reducing road noise.

if i want more bass frequency of the exhaust i could position the recorder pointing more towards the ceiling, but will also add the rumbling road noise down 25-55hz area. i suggest not using any hi-pass filters or limiter on the recorder and just play with the positions first.

GaleForce

This is form the Zoom website,

"The H1's built-in directional microphones focus on the sound being recorded. Unlike omnidirectional microphones, which pick up sound all around indiscriminately, the H1 mics ignore the unwanted noise behind them."

So it sounds like it will record whatever is in front of the mic better than the rear. The nice thing about that cup holder mount is it will be easy to play around with positioning like you suggest.

After your experimenting, it really showed that the stand alone mic is the best option to achieve the best sond quality. I can also use it in a similar fashion with my 7D. If I can't get the desired sounds in the Z, I can always add an external mic for outside of the car.

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kenchan

hahahaha, i see. i must listen to more top40's radio so i am with the times...

cool! it's good that it has directionality. yah, if the gopro has a quieter noise floor and if we were recording in a quiet environment the setup would be different, but for in-vehicle application (or any application where you can have the recorder away from the camera) this is so far the best i think.

the biggest differentiator is that you can also record the audio in your audio recorder and sync it later if needed. you can't do that with just an external mic on the gopro. it's you get wat you get (with no input level metering so who knows if you're clipping or not. it's like aiming the camera with no LCD! lol it's just too much guess work).

the next gen hero needs to have LCD, input level meter, and quieter noisefloor for sure.

kenchan

yah, unless it's warranty work that i can't fix or can't source the part, i never take my cars to the dealer for service.

for the honda fit i really dont care about the car or feel like spending my time on it, so i will be taking it in for 30K service.

JARblue

Not a bad idea. We've got 100K mile warranty, so it would be nice to have a relationship with someone other than the guy who sold me the car.

So, take the car to the dealership and have them do the routine maintenance inspections and tell you what parts you need. Then say no thanks, drive home, and do the work yourself.


On another note, I'm think we're going to be looking at replacing the Accord when the clutch finally craps out. When it comes down to it, we enjoyed a solid 80K+ miles in about 4.5 years with minimal repair hassles (the only major repairs were all 100% covered under Honda Care warranty). I can't complain, and I really don't feel like putting half the value of the car back into it at this point to do clutch, paint, and replace the drooping fabric on the interior. My wife really likes the G sedans, but we've also been considering a SUV like the new Explorer or something. I would like something with some power and room, but if it becomes the wife DD, then I don't really care

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onzedge

I am lucky in that my dealership's service department is staffed by old Datsun guys and they treat fellow enthusiasts with respect -- even when I brought the Juke in for its complimentary first oil change and inspection.

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JARblue

I envy you, sir.


uh oh... not Juke envy again! haha

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kenchan

wish all dealers were like that. i know for sure the local nissan dealership here is exactly NOT that.

happytheman

Please explain. Is it becuase you find it easy to get distracted at home?

I am lucky in that my dealership's GTR Tech is also my friend. He does my aftermarket work and shares a love of all things Nissan (especially the Z, of which he has IIRC either 11 or 12 of them presently in one racing condition or another)!

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--Brantly--

onzedge

Easily distracted at home? Yes.

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kenchan

that might work for you but for me i dont like scheduling an appointment only to have it rain, then have someone that doesnt really care about my car damage the wheels or watever bits cause they dont know how to handle it.

i also dont trust their oil change mechanics as they are usually teens or novice part-timers doing the work (lubes are usually done separate from the real service techs), and having some porter touch my car after the service is done... too many chances of getting damage or scuffs i dont want.

the Fit, who cares, they can do all the work start to fininsh, AND wash the car for me for free.