Professional Sound Recording Equipment

nigel_b · #1 (**permalink**) 11-11-2009, 04:29 PM

I'm looking to start making some professional, broadcast quality sound recordings in the field with a parabolic dish and voice-over.

I've been googling like crazy and have picked up a few pointers.

I thought I'd ask a fairly general question to see what folk on here are using. Mini disc? CF? Tapes?

Its looking like I'm going to have to fund this quite heavily, so I want to do it right from the start.

Telinga are looking like excellent parabolic dishes. Sennheiser look like they have the professional microphone market sewn up and that leaves recording equipment. Any thoughts anyone!?

The Woodman · #2 (**permalink**) 11-11-2009, 05:33 PM

Nigel

I currently use an Olympus LS 10 linear pcm recorder which I've put in the review section.

In pcm (WAV) mode it will record at a maximum 96 kHz 24 bit. It comes with its own built in stereo mike similar to the Zoom H4 and several others.

It replaces my Sony Professional mini disc system and all I can say is the recordings are pretty good.

I haven't used it with a seperate mike.

freefeet · #3 (**permalink**) 11-11-2009, 08:05 PM

I got a Zoom H4. I use it for music and it is the mutts.....

It can handle phantom power needs of condenser mics should you wish to plug them in.

I've also recorded of mixing desk at gigs and it does a really good job of that as well.

To be honest, i haven't found anything the Zoom H4 isn't good at. Well, apart from the obvious things like making coffee - but i'm sure they'll make one soon that can do that as well. LOL

nigel_b · #4 (**permalink**) 12-11-2009, 04:48 PM

Thanks for the replies.

I think I'm moving away from the mini disc idea and will probably run with CF.

The H4 is looking favourite at the moment although Sony do make exceptionally fine and durable kit.

Will the H4 take a 3.5mm jack microphone do you know?

Doggle Avaddit · #5 (**permalink**) 12-11-2009, 07:13 PM

I work in Professional Audio and, to be honest, nobody in their right mind would consider Minidisk for your application or indeed any other. These digital recorders are ideal for you, most are around the size of a pack of cards and IMHO amazingly cheap. Sound quality wise there will be nothing between them - all of them will record with way better quality than you find on a commercial CD.
Don't forget to check out how long the batteries last between charges, before making your final decision, and what sort of batteries they take if you want to carry spares.

Buy decent CF cards - cheapo no name or exrtra special offer ones from a dodgy website or ebay are not always reliable and sometimes can't keep up with the writing speed requirements of the recorder and can crash the machine.

Please note that microphone inputs on Minijack are not balanced, or carry phantom power. If you are going to use a high quality mic you will not be using Minijacks, but the XLR's or balanced 1/4 inch jack inputs instead!

Since you intend to use external mics you might also consider this one:

M-AUDIO - MicroTrack II - Professional 2-Channel Mobile Digital Recorder

It doesn't have XLR sockets so you would need your mic terminated in balanced jacks or use XLR to jack converter cables. It does though come with a dynamic stereo tie clip mic you plug into the Minijack socket.

If you intend to make very long recordings, you should note that most of these recorders will not make a WAV file larger than 2Gb, they will just stop recording at that point. The M Audio actually will, and will happily carry on making consecutive seamless 2Gb files till the card gets filled up.

Having said that, 2Gb is an awfully large recording!

freefeet · #6 (**permalink**) 13-11-2009, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigel_b

Will the H4 take a 3.5mm jack microphone do you know?

It takes two standard jacks, the sockets for which are in the middle of the standard three pin mic sockets. So with standard jack adapters you can plug pretty much anything you want into it. The three pin sockets give phantom power out as well.

The newest version of the H4 allows 4 track simultaneous recording. Two tracks from the built in mics and two tracks from the external.

I would also consider batteries when you buy a recorder. Built in batteries can run out of juice just when you most need them, with the H4 it takes two AA batteries and you can carry a few spare with you just in case.

I think the problem these days is that's there's a lot of choice out there. All i can add is that i'm extremely pleased with my H4.

nigel_b · #7 (**permalink**) 13-11-2009, 06:37 PM

Thanks for your help! All these pointers add up to a much better and easier decision.

I'm 99% there. I think its the Zoom H4N. It is an upgrade to the H4 and in addition has a 3.5mm jack for mic input. I'll let you know how I get on!

Doggle Avaddit · #8 (**permalink**) 13-11-2009, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigel_b

Thanks for your help! All these pointers add up to a much better and easier decision.

I'm 99% there. I think its the Zoom H4N. It is an upgrade to the H4 and in addition has a 3.5mm jack for mic input. I'll let you know how I get on!

I doubt very much you'll be dissapointed.

I'd be very interested to know how you get on with your microphone/parabolic reflector setup, its something I've wanted to do for quite a while but never got around to. (birdsong for me, mostly)