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anonymous 13 September 2008

hi all. I'm new to the forums.

i have a simple question and looking for straight forward answers.

giving all you know about recording and the gear available to you, if you were going to record an acoustic singer songwriter artist and had access to well sound proof room but could "only" use one of the many digital field recorders on the market, witch one would you pick to use for the job?

again,..you could only use the digital recorder and its built in mics. no extra mics, no preamps, no other gear. the unit and its built in mics would need to capture the voice and guitar as best as possible.

providing you could take the wav file afterwards and tweak it on an editing program if you wanted.

so...the job.

to record a singer with his guitar in one well sound proofed room using only a digital recorder with its built in mics.

your choice for the job?

thank you
dave

Comments

RemyRAD Sat, 09/13/2008 - 13:23

I'll answer just the same.

How much money you got??

The Sony handsdown but it will set you back $2000. But that's the best device of the type you have specified.

On the more bargain side, I like the ZOOM H4 for around $300.

Why can't you use a couple of separate microphones huh? Is this a live performance in front of an audience and the aesthetics are of great concern? Because I personally am not wild about XY miking as it's too ambient and the microphones are not exactly aimed at your signal source. It's great for symphony orchestras or of recording your band rehearsal in your garage.

The ZOOM allows for outboard microphones to be plugged into its internal XLR jacks and can also accommodate 4 track recording. It is also an extremely good external USB sound card/device. Great for laptops.

Talking to myself again
Ms. Remy Ann David

anonymous Sat, 09/13/2008 - 14:50

ha ha i somehow knew i wouldn't get just a straight answer without the extra "whys" and inputs.
:P

here is the deal. i can go record my next cd at a friends house for around 25$ an hour and get good quality.. i dont mind spending that. but i want to record at home when i want to on spur of moment. i dont want to buy logic for my mac, and an interface, and another hardrive, and find out my mxl mics i have dont cut it and then edit and mix it all. i dont have a band. its just me and my martin. making $$ at music is not my concern because the music world is so big. i dont do gigs. so unlike my first cd i cant justify all that equipment. unless i was looking for absolute awesome super quality of my vocals and guitar. im a singer song writer and have sold a decent amount of cds on myspace. it is a hobby only.

so i keep it small and justified to suit my music life. my martin is under a grand and im not dropping or owning alot of equipment.

with that said i would like to own "one" unit that will pick my voice and the guitar up well enough that i can make an mp3 or have a decent wav to either tweak or not. and even use to put on a cd.

something that when folks here it may not be super high quality a sound pro would demand but at the same time the average person doesn't say to them selves "this sucks".

something a lill above satisfactory.

i was thinking the zoom h4 or Sony PCM-D50 no more than 500$

so.....thats my deal

davechlad/myspace

anonymous Sat, 09/13/2008 - 18:29

with all respect mam or sir..to say i dont give a damn is harsh infact i do. however i have put more into music than it has ever givin back.

now you say "crappy recording" you speak too soon.

im looking for the best quality i can get with only using a digital recorder.

and i dont think that puts me in the "not caring" realm at all.

RemyRAD Sat, 09/13/2008 - 19:24

Your right, I'm sorry Dave. That was unkind of me. You have however already indicated you purchased an H2 elsewhere on the site? So your asking us should I purchase something I've already purchased? Is this like asking if you should buy a blue thingy or a red thingy? When you're talking about the low-end you're talking about the low-end. It's all the same stuff. Pick the features you like. The form factor you like. And voilà. You're making recordings.

So here is a suggestion regarding these devices for your purposes. Since they include a XYmicrophone, don't set it up horizontally. Instead, set it up vertically so the capsules have one aimed at your guitar and one aimed towards your face. This will give you more versatility that is almost a-la professional like microphone placement as opposed to just an ambient recording in stereo. Inexpensive software should allow you to manipulate those two channels with reverbs, time delays, etc.. Different way to use the device than what appears to be the obvious way.

Making life more obvious in recordings
Mr. or Ms. Remy Ann David

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