Members Deeprig9 Posted March 23, 2008 Members Share Posted March 23, 2008 I'm shopping for field recorders for outdoor use, capturing quality nature sounds like storms and babbling brooks, wind in the leaves, birds chirping, that sort of thing, and also putting together sound effect compilations, and maybe recording live bands if a moneymaking opportunity arises, but that would be a secondary use. My experience with outdoor recording is limited to my production assistant position on a reality TV show for NBC "Treasure Hunters". The audio tech for my team "The Southie Boys" used wireless digital recorder to microphones clipped to the contestants, much better than running around the swamp with a boom, and the post production I saw when it aired was flawless. But I'm sure a system like that is way way way out of my budget. There's very low end stuff and some very high end stuff. My budget is not big. What experience do any of you have with field recording in general, and do you have any experience with specific products, share some pros-cons with me. The one I'm looking at specifically has Surround 5.1 capability with 4 built-in mics and expandable to 4 gigs on a card. That sounds good to me, at $199 on ebay. But I'm old enough and have made enough electronics purchases in my life to know that you usually ett what you pay for. It's the Zoom H-2. Thanks for any input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members johnreelsound Posted March 24, 2008 Members Share Posted March 24, 2008 Hi there, I have two of the current crop of Flash card handheld recorders the Zoom H4 and the Marantz PMD 620. For total ease of use and sound quality I love the Marantz. If you want something that you can put on someone who is running around it is perfect. I use a Sanken cos 11 mic wired to a stereo mini jack which plugs straight into the Marantz and is powered by the internal phantom. The best system I have yet found to attach the mic is the Rycote system of sticky pads and covers. They really are brilliant and if you stick the pad onto a cotton T shirt or such like and then use the clip to anchor the cable it will stay on all day no problems. Battery life is great on the Marantz and it takes bog standard rechargables. Nothing wrong with the Zoom but its big and bulky by comparison. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted March 24, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2008 What about the overall sound quality of the built-in mics on the Zoom compared to your Marantz set-up? Problems with wind or white noise? What about gaining the input to capture as much sound detail as possible without overdriving the louder sounds? My scenario is basically set it down and walk away and come back 30 minutes later. Let's say it's a river, and I want to get the sound of a bird chirping 50 feet away as well as the rushing water right next to the mic, basically capture a stereo soundscape as close to the human ear experience as possible. I won't need to do any micing of individuals talking in the field, but the option of setting up mics at different angles and levels is something that I'm considering too, but would push the purchase off a little longer since that would be more money to save (I no longer buy things on credit). Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted March 24, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2008 By the way, that's a very informative site you have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted March 24, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2008 I don't want to give the impression that I want to go overboard with quality, since this would mainly be digitally compressed to CD bitrates and online sales type of bitrates, another area of relative ignorance on my part, but I know enough that A: No matter how much I invest in a perfect recording, it's going to be diminished in it's final state and B: It's still a good idea to get as good a quality recording going into the diminishment of distribution as possible. Somewhere a balance can be struck, I just hope that balance is somewhere around $200-$300 for the recorder. There are rental places around here where bands often rent PA's for a one-time gig, or rent really nice mics for a one-time DIY recording, that's another avenue I'm open to, since these projects are all very specific and well-planned, not looking for simply carrying around a recorder and taping myself take a dump at work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted March 24, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2008 Although... there might be a market for that kind of thing on Itunes Japan.... hmmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members johnreelsound Posted March 25, 2008 Members Share Posted March 25, 2008 Hi again. As far as quality goes both recorders are fine for what you need. Each as its thing that it does better than the other but it seems that both of these are out of your price range. Go with what you can get. The fun is in doing the stuff. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted March 26, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 26, 2008 I read alot about the H4 and heard some sound samples online from a reveiwer. And I can get one for under $300 with a 2 gig card at Amazon. Thanks for the tip! Much better than the H2 I almost bought for a couple bucks cheaper before I paused and decided to start this thread. Thanks for your input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nerol1st Posted March 26, 2008 Members Share Posted March 26, 2008 I just borrowed an H4 from the school and was very impressed. The downside to these recorders is the amount of flash memory you will want. The H4 that I borrowed only had a 128mb card. I am not sure if this is what comes with the device or not but I would MUCH rather have at least 4 gigs if I owned one personally (and you guessed it that makes this unit more than $300 at that point). 128mb is maybe 5mins of stereo audio at 24bit 44.1. The H4 also has the ability (if you need it) to record at 96k 24bit. I think the H2 only comes with a 512mb Sdcard, still not really enough. The mics that are attached are pretty good as far as mics go. I didn't care for the 3 position mic gain situation, I would much rather have a gain knob or dial. But it was possible to turn the input level down if you were riding the noise floor well. The other thing that the H4 has over the H2 is the additional 2 mic preamps with phantom power. I am pretty sure the H2 only has a 1/8" phono input plug for other mics. Runs on 4 AA batteries or included adapter. Can be mounted on a stand. Overall I was very impressed with the H2. Oh and it comes with a windscreen as well for all your outdoor adventures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted March 27, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 Actually, I read in a review that it does have gain settings inside of the "low, mid high" options, but it's difficult to find them at first and it's not something you can adjust quickly on-the-fly, it's buried deep in the menu with obsure icons, according to the review, but they are there. And I can get the 2 gig card setup for $280 brand new on Amazon. 2 gigs, according to the chart, will get you 188 minutes at 16 bit 44.1khz as a WAV file, in stereo mode. 57 minutes with 24 bit at 96khz. Full chart and 3 page independent review: http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/digitalmedia/2007/02/01/review-zoom-h4-handy-recorder.html?page=3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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