Hi Clay,
First, welcome.
With or without XLR connections, Sony DV and HDV cameras do not record
really outstanding audio. For an expert discussion I suggest you go look
at the audio forum at DV.com. It is good practice to feed most Sony
(really any) DV and HDV camera a line input because the preamps inside
the cameras are nothing to write home about. So, yes you should invest
in a Beachtec, or even better a Soundcraft pre.
The microphones depend on the kind of recording you wish to do and
others here will give you much better advice.
Marc
cfmspencer wrote:
>
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I just joined the group, after lurking for a while.
>
> I'm a trail runner/hiker who travels quite long distances,
> esp. when running, which means I discover amazing places/things
> that I would love to record for sharing the experience with
> others, and also that I need to travel very light with regards
> to equipment, etc.
>
> I'm a rank amateur recordist, recording only enough to know
> that there are serious limitations with my old Sony WM-D6C and
> Sony stereo mic (ECM 909?).
>
> I'm also cursed to be an audiophile, although I do listen to music,
> and not the 'sound' of the music, albeit through vacuum tube
> preamps, and other similarly natural sounding equipment.
>
> I recently purchased a Sony HiDef Video Camera - the pro model
> called the A1, which is basically an HC1 with an XLR audio module
> that accepts two XLR mics on camera for capturing along with the
> video, while also providing phantom power.
>
> My aim is to record the audio at a similarly high quality as the
> HiDef video, mostly nature recordings, and I will likely want to
> record the ambient sounds at very high quality all the time,
> with ability to spotlight when I see/hear something interesting that
> is not near. I realize this will likely require multiple mics
> simultaneously.
>
> I will start by recording audio on the HDV tapes, albeit
> compressed. I am still in the process of choosing mics, et al,
> So far, I have only purchased a Rode NTG-2, a general purpose
> outdoor mic - mono shotgun, only $250. it's battery powered (or XLR)
> so I can run it straight into the camera without the XLR unit.
>
> I would like to record in stereo, but still have some research to do
> about the various methods before finalizing mic purchases.
>
> so, I have many questions, and am not sure where to start with them,
> but I do know that nature recordists take their nature sound way
> more seriously than any of the video wonks, so I've come here to ask
> for advice, and hopefully contribute as well.
>
> I guess my first question/assumption is this, is reasonably high
> quality audio even possible in HDV format, given the compression?
>
> another way of asking this is, what type of additional equipment
> would be required to substantially upgrade the audio recorded with a
> high quality mic onto HDV? are we talking Beachtek to minidisc level
> of investment, or sound devices mixer/pre type setup to hard disk
> recorder?
>
> of course, I realize the mic is the key component, so perhaps the
> best question to ask is, at what quality level (of microphone) will
> the mic be wasted if recording in HDV? AT 897/Rode NTG-2,
> AT4073/4071, MHK416, or the even more precious MKHs.
>
> thanks to any and all who might read and respond,
>
> namaste,
> clay
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