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Portable Digital Recorders

M

Mike Walker

Guest
I guess I'm weird (hell I know I am!), but I like to roll my own sound effects when possible. When you hear a car door open and close, then the sound of the car starting from the interior, it won't sound like anybody else's spot, because I recorded it myself! I've used several recording devices for this, and portable mics from people like Sound Professionals. Lately I've been interested in picking up one of the new flash-based portable digital recorders. I've heard samples recorded on a Zoom H2 that sound quite good, and the unit is cheap. Any experience with an inexpensive recorder that could do what I'm looking to do? I'd like it to be good enough to occasionally record some music as well, as I occasionally stumble upon live performances at coffee shops, restaurants, and local stores (like Mast General Store in Valle Crucis NC, and Todd General Store in Todd NC), and would love to be able to pop the thing out of my pocket, and hit record. Suggestions?
 
I just picked up a Blue Mike "Mikey" - a little stereo condenser mic for 80 bucks that plugs into an Ipod Nano (and some other Ipods). I just heard the audio through my studio speakers for the first time today and I thought for a portable recorder it sounded pretty good.

You can check it out at www.bluemic.com
 
"Mikey" looks interesting (says Mikey). But I'm not an Ipod user...different religion altogether. I've subscribed to Rhapsody for years, and use a Sansa View (plus I own an Archos Gmini 402 which has a line input, and can record uncompressed .wav files that sound fantastic).

I bought a USB soundcard for my Asus EEE PC 701 that supplies "plug-in power" which will power-up my Sound Professionals and Aiwa stereo microphones. And surprisingly, the little EEE has plenty of horsepower to run Adobe Audition 3...at least for stereo recording and editing (on an 8GB SCHC card). But even with the "netbook" form factor and small mic and usb device, this starts to be cumbersome! I'd be more likely to carry an all-in-one recorder with me, and have it when I need it.

A couple of the Olympus recorders look pretty nice, but the 50hz low frequency cutoff stops me cold. Sometimes sound effects (and music!) need to have REAL bass extension! The little omni Sound Professionals mics go clean to the "bassment". Record something like a huge truck driving by, or a train, and get ready to catch your woofers (as they fly across the room!)
 
Mike, I've had an Olympus, which worked surprisingly well for voice recording and was better than I expected for music. It can't hold a candle to my Zoom H2. The quality of live recording is remarkable. If anything, I have to be careful with placement to make sure that I don't get too much proximity audio. It can be quite sensitive, but also does a pretty good job of dealing with high volume sound. Battery life is also better than I expected, and the ability to plug in ever-larger SD cards is a real plus.
 
I've just spent some time online this past week checking out the Zoom H-2 and the Zoom H-4n.

End-user reviews on several sites, plus the C-net editors reviews (search for the video reviews on C-net) report that although the H-2 is very affordable, that the latest H-4n is the best buy of the two, and I would add that is especially true for pro-level users...

  • Sturdy Construction (the H-2 has a plastic case, H-4n metal)
  • Professional Connections - XLR & 1/4" combo inputs on the H-4n (H-2 has only 1/8" connections)
  • 4-Channel Recording on the H-4n (two stereo pairs; one pair built-in mics and 2nd pair on inputs)
  • Ease of Use - reviewers state that the menus/user interface on the H-2 and the previous generation of the H-4 were sub-standard, very hard to find features, not intuitive; but when referring to the H-4n, several reviewers said things like, "they finally got it right."

Of course there are other brands/options -- I only spent time researching these two models.

It should be noted that both models are reported to have pronounced handling noise (if touched/adjusted during a recording using the built-in microphones). The H-4n offers a wired remote control option, so that adjustments can be make during recording without handling noise.

Several online retailers started offering $50 off this month -- currently $299 for the H-4n -- I purchased from BSWUSA.com

In addition to my commercial VO and production work, I'm also the A/V coordinator for my church...the H-4n I ordered last week is for the church...I'll use it to record a mix from the house sound system and then post sermons/services to the church Web site...we'll also use it to record our musical groups, etc. The portable nature of these recorders and their auto-level features make them well-suited for these purposes and when used by someone other than a pro-level user.

It should be here this week! Oh, boy! New toy!
 
I also highly recommend either Zoom (I have the original H-4) but if price is an issue try this Sony recorder: http://bit.ly/17AuVi Recording quality is outstanding even with the built in microphones and it has a 3.5mm jack to easily connect an external mic. The downside is the mandatory MP3 compression. Still, at $50-$70 street price it's well worth it.

And for iPhone owners, the FiRE from Audiofile Engineering is a must-have - especially at the price. Plus it supports the Mikey & the Alesis ProTrack.
 
If you're just recording utilitarian voice, like for a remote broadcast...the built-in mic in the new iPhones sound pretty darn decent, I must say!

I'm very happy with the Edirol R09. I can't compare it to the Zoom, never seen one.
 
The Zoom H-4N I picked up has been performing nicely at the church. I can't recommend the auto record level (I would rarely recommend that - and certainly not for recording a church service). I connected it to the sound system and set a good record level and it has worked well. I do a little post work on the file to clean it up (normalization, a little compression and a limiter).

I also recorded our band with the built-in mics...it was OK. I really want to try recording the band with all four channels at once, as they advertise the unit (two with the built-in stereo mics for live room sound and two line inputs that would have their own mix from the console). I'd like to hear what those two pairs sound like separately and mixed.

Anyway...

Working with the files is easy...I just pop out and carry the SD card, pull the files into Sound Forge, cut out the sections I want, clean them up and post them online.

I see great possibilities for radio folks grabbing actualities/audience quotes for promos, etc. Just walk around with it, maybe add a hardy field mic like an Electro Voice RE-50 and you're golden. Attach a good shotgun style mic like a Sennheiser MHK-60 (or an MHK-416 if you're feeling wealthy) and you'll be off capturing your own sound effects near and far.

The biggest plus (other than the affordable price) is that this unit accepts professional 1/4" or XLR connections, rather than needing to adapt professional mics down to 1/8" as other recorders might require. You'll also want to use a good pair of headphones...the built in speaker is just for confidence to quickly check that your files exist.
 
Last summer I picked up a Edirol HR-09,for field work,I love it.The buildin mic's are ok,but as mentioned ,you will get the machanical noise of the buttons when adjusting.I use a sock as a windscreen outside.I use the MP3 record feature for recording off air shows,that run for long timesI would like to check out a Zoom H-4N ,but my budget is already use for a new camcorder I need desparately.
 
I've had the original H4 for a couple of years now. Saturday i decided to record the church choir Christmas performance. I used the built in mics. I set the unit up on a camera tripod in front of the choir hit record and took my seat.

I have to admit I was surprised at the audio quality, more than acceptable for my purposes.

Of course this morning I couldn't avoid putting "lipstick" on it so I dumped it into pro tools, added an Eventide reverb plug in, some EQ and Isotope Ozone 4 processing. It didn't fix the off key singing and clams from the pianist who accompanied them but as a reference for the director and the members, it works perfectly.

What amazes me is that you can do a 24 bit 96 khz recording on the thing. That's a lot of technology for very little money. It sure is an improvement over lugging a Revox 77 around 30 years ago.
 
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