Patrick,
I have built recording rigs on a limited budget, most leave something to be=
desired. You have a lot of research to do before you can make a decision =
on a recorder and microphone. (IMO)The main consideration is; how faint is =
the sound that you are trying to capture. I think you will find that micro=
phone self noise is going to be the key element in getting recordings with =
very soft sounds. If the sound source is robust you can use a higher self =
noise microphone and the robust sound will mask the microphone noise. Low =
self noise comes with a very high price tag. They also need 48 volts to po=
wer them.
The main thing is to record and get a feel for what is discussed on the lis=
t. There are limitations to any rig that you may put together and many of =
the recordists have more than one rig for that reason. You may find that y=
our location could limit the ability to record soft sounds, man made sounds=
are more evident in the recording than you hear with your ears on site.
My recomendation would be to select a recorder and microphone that you coul=
d have with you at all times, and practice recording. If you decide that t=
he recordings are not meeting your expectations you would have a clearer id=
ea of what may be possible. Once you are bitten with the recording bug you=
r budget will look different. The cash you lay out now will probably not b=
e recouped if do not buy carefully. New recorders are coming out regularly=
so what you buy today may not be as appealing in the future.
I have used and still own several MD recorders but they hardly come out of =
the drawer now. I wanted a recorder that utilized flash drives for memory a=
nd would show up on my computer as an external drive. The other considerat=
ion was that I am primarily a birder and found that carrying several pieces=
of gear to record with while I was birding was not working out. I would ca=
rry the gear if the goal was to record but not carry the gear if there were=
other priority's.
When you start to compare external microphones that are Plug and Play or po=
wered with low voltage (electric microphone) you will find that the lowest =
self noise microphones are also expensive. You can get mounted microphones=
which would be included with the recorder that are very near the noise lev=
el of the more expensive external electric microphones. I have found that =
each of the smaller pocket recorders have limitations so you need to read t=
he reviews and see if the limitations would effect your recording situation=
s. The low cost pocket recorder can serve as a backup up recorder if you d=
o build a rig that exceeds the capability of the pocket recorder.
I do have a Zoom H-2 that has seen very light use if that would be a record=
er/microphone combo that you may consider. Please contact me off list if y=
ou want more details.
Gerald White
Muscatine,IA
--- In Patrick Cooper <dragonblade712003@=
...> wrote:
>
> =C3=82=C2=A0
> Thanks for the reply, Rob! You sound very familiar with the Mini Disc mac=
hines.
>SNIP
> Originally=C3=82=C2=A0I going to discuss the sound recorder and microphon=
e options in seperate threads but oh well, I guess I'll combine the two=C3=
=82=C2=A0topics.
SNIP
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