Recording Ambient Noise

[username]

I want to be able to easily walk around and record the sound of an environment I'm in. What is the best way to do this in terms of suggestions for microphones, recording units and headphones? I need a mic that isn't directional (I'll probably want a directional mic as well if I need it for something like an on-coming train noise), I need a recording unit that is easily carryable and headphones that will relay that sound that's being recorded. Also, I want this to be stereo sound.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[scrubs]

What's your budget and what medium do you want to record to (laptop computer, cassette, other digital media, etc.)? There are way too many options to list them all, so let us know what you have in mind.

[BRDTS]

There are a bazillion hand held stereo recorders that can capture sound at really high rez...many of them have usb outs so you can later dump the audio or wavs into a computer for editing. I see them everywhere for anywhere from $100-149...from Sears to Target to Best Buy.

[username]

Well, whatever method is the cheapest is what I want, I presume that would probably be a cassette recorder then? I can't spend more than about $300 right now, I can save up if necessary though. If that's not enough money to sufficiently get decent recordings I can forget about buying good headphones for now, so I just want a good omnidirectional mic and something that's small enough I can walk around with to record on, it only needs one input really.

[treymonfauntre]

get a minidisc recorder and one of thoselittle battery powered sony stereo condensors. theres tons of bootlegged live sets on archive.org that use that setup. if you're going to be walking around or outside you'll want to make sure you have a nice windscreen. one time i walked around inside of a music hall (i live by a college with a 3 story building full of practice rooms and the sound leaks into the hallway) with my old fostex mr8 and an sm58 and the wind noise was awful, i had to low cut so much to get rid of it.

[radium2]

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[scrubs]

In addition to minidisc, some of the iPod-type portable music players have the ability to record wav files and have an input for a stereo mic.

Other options would include a small omni condenser. The Behringer ECM8000 is only $50 and would work well for that application. You would need a preamp with phantom power and some type of recorder (minidisc, etc.). Another mic option would be the AKG C1000s, which is generally thought to be a crappy microphone, but it is battery powered, negating the need for phantom powere on a mobile recording rig.

[FALKEN]

if you get the ipod-type deal; which should be good; the quality will be equilivalent to mp3; I believe sony manufactures a stereo microphone with a 1/8" connector. for $300; this would get you there.

[c3hammer]

I don't believe there is a mic-in for any of the small hand held mp3 type players.

They can only record at line level. To record you'll need a mic preamp.

I have an Archos Jukebox Recorder 20gig. This is an iPod from 5 years ago, LOL! I use a Sound Professionals mic preamp with binaural stereo omni directional condeser mics built into each side of the pocket sized box.

You could use this with any of the tiny hand held players that record.

It is an incredible set up for recording ambient noise. The Sound Pro's preamp/mic combo has three settings +0dbu, +29dbu and +50dbu in addition to level adjustment knob for anywhere in between.

What output device are you planning to use? Headphones or speakers? The binaural mic setups are incredible with headphones and so so from speakers.

I then use CoolEdit or Audacity to edit and output different quality mp3's or wav's.

Here's a few web sites for all kinds of mini recording gear.

http://www.soundprofessionals.com
http://www.reactivesounds.com
http://www.minidisc.org
http://www.minidisco.com
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...2496-main.html

Cheers,
Pete