Hi Scott,
> I'm not trying to make money with a sound recorder!
> Maybe I'm in the wrong forum. I am not a 'sound snob'.
> etc
Obviously some misunderstanding about what you want to achieve. It is
entirely possible to get decent sound recordings with modest equipment.
As with photography, the real work is elsewhere to the choice of
equipment, but knowing the strengths and limitations of the equipment
you are using is vital.
I think that the good quality pocket recorders are excellent tools, and
have practical advantages that go way beyond cost. I started with a
pocket recorder and it is great. I now also have a Fostex FR2-LE, which
is also very good, and technically better than the pocket one (pre-amps
in particular) but apart from the larger recorder size the batteries are
also much heavier, and the fancy charger for them is bigger and heavier
than the little one for 2 x AA batteries that the pocket recorder needs.
These considerations are important. The best recorder in the world is of
no use if you don't actually have it with you when you need it.
If I was starting again I think I would buy something like a Sony M-10,
together with the best microphones that my budget would allow. Plural
is deliberate here - with photography different lenses are needed for
different jobs, similarly with sound recording different microphones are
required for different applications. (Though again, as with photography,
if you have just one good quality camera+lens combination, you can still
do excellent work if you understand the strengths and limitations of
what you have, and work with that.)
Suggest that you start with the recorder you have, and take that right
through the production chain, and listen carefully to the results. That
will provide a good starting point for where you need to get to with
recording technical quality (as opposed to the _difficult_ stuff :-)).
There are some good instructions on building a DIY parabolic microphone
based on the Telinga dish here:
http://www.naturesound.org/nature_recording_Q%
26A/Entries/2009/10/25_Build_a_parabolic_dish.html
People in this group are sharing their recordings. A good line of
research is to listen to what people have done and to take note of what
equipment they used. You might find that you can hear the difference
with the more expensive equipment. Or not. The core thing here is to use
the reality of your ears to make sure that you will get the results that
you need.
Richard
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