Digital field recorders

[dpearcePNG]

Finding high quality sound effects that "fit" with the pictures I am taking is sometimes difficult. I'd like to start recording "environmental" type sounds (crickets, surf, birds, etc.) while I and taking the pictures. Does anyone have any experiences with digital recorders like the Zoom H2 or even the cheaper recorders?

Just wondered.

Dave

[Ken Cox]

SEARCH FOR entries by

ADB, Ronnie, Tom etc

Ronnie and Tom recently bought

or see

http://www.naturesound.org/Recording_Gear/...rding_Gear.html

http://www.naturesound.org/site/Recording_...ny_PCM-D50.html

ken

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Dave I bought the H2 a couple of months ago, unfortunately it's still in the box unused, I hope to try it at a sheepdog trial demo next week, will let you know then. Don't know how much the Sony is but it looks expensive. I bought the H2 following a discussion with Peter Appleton who uses the H4. I tried cheepo versions from ebay, and mikes plugged into my laptop using downloaded software, which I would avoid.

yachtsman1

[Alan Lyons]

Hi Dave,

on the tech side a lot of people use outdoor recoeders with the levels up full. This results in a lot of noise you dont want. You will need to experiment witl levels to find a setting which will suit. You can get good bird song from far off with low input levels. Alao if you can get reasonably close to your subject and use low levels this will help.

The same rules apply here as in normal studio recording in that clipped sounds cannot be rescued so give the recording some headroom and if nessary use EQ in the computer to take out hums and wind noise where possible.

SoundFX can usually be mixed fairly low in the final mix as they are usually ment to be background sounds, (Water, Birdsong, Wind etc.) You can also help the mix by using compression on the final to help the FX stand out abit.

Alan

[JRR]

Dave:

I have an Edirol R-09 which I have used successfully with wildlife.

I also bought a RODE NTG-02 shotgun mic with a dead cat the block out some of the wind noise.

[fh1805]

Hi Dave,

I've used a Zoom H4 in a variety of situations and am delighted with its performance. Some time ago now, I posted a link to some early results of using the Zoom H4. I've just checked on MediaFire and the file is no longer there so I'll get it uploaded again and post a link to it when the upload has completed. Because the content of the zip file was a series of WAV files, it was rather large (nearly 60MB) - so it takes a wee while to upload - and download!

The H4 has just three input Gain settings:

Low - intended for recording your own voice indoors when fairly close to the mic.

High - intended for outdoor recordings

Medium - intended for situations in between.

For voice-over recordings (i.e. done in a controlled indoor setting) I have the H4 set up about 12 inches forward of my mouth, 12 inches higher than my mouth and 12 inches over to one side - but with its in-built mics pointing straight at my mouth. (12 inches = c.30cm). I use the Medium Gain setting. The resultant file, when imported into Audacity doesn't appear to have a particularly strong signal. However, I have found that the recordings are usually so "clean" (i.e. free of any electro-mechanical noise, hiss or hum) that I can simply up the gain in Audacity (usually by about 9dB) without any unwanted noise intruding.

Outdoors I have used the H4 at both High and Medium gain to record birdsong, waterfalls, streams, waves and steam railways. My normal approach now is to use Medium gain on the louder outdoor sounds (e.g. the steam locos) and High gain on the natural sounds. In all cases I usually have to lift the gain by about 9dB in Audacity as part of post-processing.

I have been particularly pleased with the ability of the foam shield on the mics to combat the pickup of wind noise. Obviously, gusty wind conditions are a real challenge for even a profession sound-recordist but the H4's shield copes well with gentle to moderate breezes.

I believe the H4's "little brother" the H2 is equally as capable - and a lot cheaper. Unfortunately, when I got my H4, baby brother hadn't been born!

Will post again when the upload to Media Fire has completed.

[fh1805]

As promised, here's the link for the zip file on MediaFire: http://www.mediafire.com/?pmegvdrjypm

Be aware, the file is c.60MB and could take some time to download.

[Ken Cox]

Peter

did you intend to leave out the pte?

ken

[fh1805]

Yes!

It isn't a zip of a sequence. It's a zip of a selection of audio files recorded using the Zoom H4 digital sound recorder. The images are there simply to show the environment in which the field recording was made. I guess I should have made that clear in the post. Sorry for any confusion this has caused.

[Ken Cox]

Peter

was the full version put up this past April?

I remember there was quite thread on it, but in my sloppiness have taken it off drive - am looking for the disk:(

ken

[fh1805]

Now your asking! Leave it with me a little while.

[fh1805]

Ken,

I think this is the thread you want: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index....p;hl=Zoom+sound

[Ken Cox]

Peter

thks

ken

[Ken Cox]

Hawk sent me this site - interesting i fyou are into bird ID'ing

http://www.whatbird.com/

ken