Looking for an upgrade in recording quality.

J

joeydiaz

New member
Hello everyone,

I record two types of recordings: Guided meditations and theoretical information audios where I explain the intricacies of a given topic.

I have been using the zoom h1 with a windscreen until now, and I am now looking to upgrade for a couple of reasons. First of all I would like better sound quality than I am currently getting with the H1, furthermore the H1 picks up a lot of background noise, which means that I can never record at home since it is very annoying to have even the smallest background noises in a guided meditation audio file (I usually dry into a deserted place in nature and record in my car). Last but not least, I get a lot of breathing and popping noises on the H1, which means a lot of extra time editing.

The pro of the H1 has been its portability...


After a lot of research, in terms of quality and what I can afford (my total budget is a maximum of 200-300 USD including everything), I have decided on the Shure SM58. From my understanding it won't pick up as much background noise, it is a super good mic when it comes to minimizing breathing sounds, and also I am hoping that it will give me much better quality than the zoom h1.



Here are my question/s:

1. From what I can understand I will need an XLR to USB interface if I am to record onto my Mac. From my research the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 seems like a good place to start for this purpose. But I realized that I don't necessarily need to record onto my computer, and could just as well purchase an H4 and record onto that, which would make my solution more portable at almost the same price. Because I am a newbie, I want to ask you guys about this. Which solution do you reckon will give me the best sound quality, Shure Sm58 hooked to and recorded directly on a zoom H4, or The SM58 hooked to for example the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and recorded to my Mac?

2. Will I need to buy a popfilter for my home setup with the SM58 or won't it make much of a difference?

3. Obviously my goal is to get the best possible sound quality, with minimal background noise and breathing + popping sounds- a good setup for instructional audios and especially so for guided meditation audios, while keeping the budget of 200-300 USD for the whole setup. So if you guys have any other suggestions that might work better for what I am looking for please let me know.

All the best!
 
joeydiaz said:
... furthermore the H1 picks up a lot of background noise, which means that I can never record at home since it is very annoying to have even the smallest background noises in a guided meditation audio file (I usually dry into a deserted place in nature and record in my car). Last but not least, I get a lot of breathing and popping noises on the H1, which means a lot of extra time editing.


3. Obviously my goal is to get the best possible sound quality, with minimal background noise and breathing + popping sounds- a good setup for instructional audios and especially so for guided meditation audios, while keeping the budget of 200-300 USD for the whole setup. So if you guys have any other suggestions that might work better for what I am looking for please let me know.

All the best!
Click to expand...
I will let others offer suggestions for the gear. What I have to offer is what you have already deduced. You need a quiet environment to capture a quiet recording. Every mic is just a highly effective "dumb ear." It records everything that it hears. You will need to address your recording environment to reach that goal.

Your other goals were to reduce breathing noises and pops. Those can be addressed through mic and breathing techniques. Mic technique: When you record, speak off-axis to the capsule. Breathing technique: If you are a "stab-breather", you can either turn away from the mic when you inhale, or work on your breathing techniques, much like a singer, to build a strong diaphragmatic breathing technique, to sustain your speaking voice. Best of all.... these tips can get you closer to your recording goals free of charge, and let you spend the money for sound treatment, for your recording space.
Dale
 
The H1 is a very nice recorder but the microphones are more "Omni Directional" than unidirectional. The SM 58 and 57 are both unidirectional so can be directed at your mouth...You can buy a XLR adapter for the H1 off of Amazon for under $10...you plug that into the mic input of the H1 and plug the SM 58 xlr cable into the other XLR adapter end......Likewise you might want to invest in a mic stand and yes a decent pop filter will help ....stand and pop filter for under $50.....SM 58 and cable @ $100 .....Total spent Under $160 you have a much more controllable recording solution.
Additionally the H1 has volume input levels that are adjustable . Work with that feature and test it out to where you don't feel you are blowing yourself away with mic pick up. As the previous poster mentioned the more quiet the environment when you record the better.

Here's a guy who hacked his H1 for a video camer audio input dual mic...but at the end he shows the single mic...
 
Some rudimentary stuff but excellent to review..... One thing is wearing headphones while recording (monitor) rather than find out after the fact you had weird or poor quality audio. Good Luck!

 
Hi Tae, thank you for your feedback. I am intrigued by the solution you are mentioning with attaching the Sm58 to my zoom h1 via an xlr adaptor. Is it an adaptor like this you are thinking of? (I am not allowed to post any links yet as I am a new user, could you perhaps post a link to one of the xlr adaptors you mention so I can get an idea)

Do you think this would be as good a solution quality wise, as using the xlr- usb interface and recording on a mac? Either way I am going to give it a shot as I will be buying the sm58 anyways, and paying 10 USD for an xlr adaptor to test the h1 solution seems like a good choice before purchasing anything else...

I will study the input level video you posted, thank you.

The pop filters I have found on amazon are all between 6-20 USD on average, and have very high reviews. am I missing something since you mention pop up filter for 50 USD?

Thank you!
 
If you want to record into a computer be it Mac or Windows you will have a lot more control over the recording and editing than in a handheld...less portability and a learning curve .(that you might not regret)

I'm a big fan of the very affordable Behringer Uphoria line as an interface and like many folks here at HR.Com a BIG FAN of Reaper as a DAW software for recording tracks into the computer....

Guess it's really about how you want to record...by a stream with birds chirping H1 ..total silence ...you locked in a padded room with a mic and interface AND HEADPHONE MONITORS...Good mic into an interface into a computer will get ya that.....But so will the H1 in that same silent padded room with the SM 58
 
Hey Joey

I meant $50 for a mic stand and Pop filter ;)

HERE's what I am speaking of at Amazon

The H1 is a damn fine recorder...give it a good signal and monitor it as you are recording I think you will be pretty surprised at what you can get from it.

BTW you can always take the audio into your computer and using software like Audacity clean it up and compress it to your liking...
 
Not had direct experience of the H4 but have read that the mic pre amps are not 'that' quiet?
The '58 is a low sensitivity microphone (why it helps with noises off) so you might swap ambient noise for electronic hiss?

Even for a trip into the woods I would still go 58/AI/laptop/cans. To cut the budget a bit look at the Steinberg UR22, very clean mic pres. You need of course a 'bus' powered AI.

Dave.
 
thanks

TAE said:
Hey Joey

I meant $50 for a mic stand and Pop filter ;)


The H1 is a damn fine recorder...give it a good signal and monitor it as you are recording I think you will be pretty surprised at what you can get from it.

BTW you can always take the audio into your computer and using software like Audacity clean it up and compress it to your liking...
Click to expand...

Thank you everyone, and thank you Tae. I chose to go with the solution you recommend, I ordered the Sm58 with a stand, and popfilter, along with adaptor so that I can hook it to the H1. I will play with the input levels of H1 and then do a couple of tests to see how this set up sounds, in a quiet room with pillows etc set up.

If I am not completely happy, I will consider purchasing Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 or Steinberg UR22 to see if this gives a better sound/removes potential hissing background.
 
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