Microphone for ambient recording... completly lost.

Endorya

Endorya

New member
Hello, I'm new here and I need help getting started with recording ambient sounds, mainly nature sounds. I hope I'm on the right forum as I just noticed (after registering) that this forum is more about music related recording :/.

Anyway, I'm developing this game and I decided to record my own sounds, at least part of them. Now, I've never recorded nothing serious but I have experience with sound editing, all I need now is equipment to for sound recording.

My plan would be having a laptop with a decent mic to record everything. Would you recommend this or anything else? How much is a decent stereo microphone for nature sound recording. I'm planing to record the sound of seas, beaches, rivers, forests and lastly, different types of wind. I need to understand if the investment I might do will actually be cheaper than buying these type of sounds directly from distributors like Sound Ideas.

Thanks for any guidance towards this subject.
 
The best solution for this kind of thing is probably a handheld from Zoom, or similar.

They do a range from about £80, as far as I know.
Any I've seen have USB ports and SD cards for easy transfer to a computer.

The other route means carting a laptop, interface, cables, microphone, shockmount and stand (possibly).
That costs a lot more too.

Handling noise can very easily ruin recordings like this, so set the portable recorder down somewhere for capture, if you choose to go this road.

Also, you might want to get a long headphone extension cable so you can lay it on the ground.
That way, movement sounds aren't carried to the recorder just as well.

Finally, the best bet is to do it very late at night, or very early in the morning.
You'll most likely have a nightmare trying to record the sea without some kind of noise from people, vehicles, etc during the day.

Hope that's useful.
 
Hi and thnks for your post.

Very interesting those handheld from Zoom. They seem to have a very high quality from I just read. I'm going to look deeper into them right now.
Thanks again for posting.
 
Yeah, they're pretty good.
I only ever worked with foley from one once, but it was perfectly usable.

I've used them as handhelds for interviews etc. Again, perfectly usable.
I can't remember the model, but I found myself just making sure I kept away from full gain to avoid hiss.

The same is true of pretty much any preamp though, so no biggie.
 
Just out of curiosity, what would take to surpass the quality of these handheld recorders by a traditional microphone?
 
To be honest, I'm not just that familiar with them, plus you could spend £80 or £400, so there's that to take into account.

Maybe someone else can answer.

For reference though, a pair of samson c02s and a 2 channel usb interface would be about £200 or so.
£250 or so if you go with rode nt5s.
 
Ok, no worries. Thanks anyway. I'm going to watch some youtube reviews about them. I guess I will find my answer there.

Take care.
 
If portability is essential and cost is important than the Zooms as mentioned are terrific! If you do are going to go into 'nature' and sit and capture different sounds and can take along a Laptop etc then you would want to look at some 'shotgun' style condensor mics with a wind shield. There some great cheaper 'shotties' that you could use, again, it really comes down to what you are trying to achieve and if you budget is under $400 then youshould be more than capable of picking up the tools you need. Go for the Zoom, they are pretty good value in my personal opinion. :) As also, do you research and feel comfortable about your purchase. All the best
 
I'm really impressed with the Zoom H4N but now I also discovered the Tascam DR100MKII and the Roland R26. The last two also feature a omnidirectional mic, so I'm really studding them before making up my mind.
Dictafone type mics is indeed what I need. Nonetheless really I appreciate all other suggestions. Regarding the freesounds.org website, well I use it for quite some time now, though that have plenty cool stuff I cannot find there what I really need.

Thanks everyone for the help.
 
Endorya said:
Hello, I'm new here and I need help getting started with recording ambient sounds, mainly nature sounds. I hope I'm on the right forum as I just noticed (after registering) that this forum is more about music related recording :/.

Anyway, I'm developing this game and I decided to record my own sounds, at least part of them. Now, I've never recorded nothing serious but I have experience with sound editing, all I need now is equipment to for sound recording.

My plan would be having a laptop with a decent mic to record everything. Would you recommend this or anything else? How much is a decent stereo microphone for nature sound recording. I'm planing to record the sound of seas, beaches, rivers, forests and lastly, different types of wind. I need to understand if the investment I might do will actually be cheaper than buying these type of sounds directly from distributors like Sound Ideas.

Thanks for any guidance towards this subject.
Click to expand...

Laptop no!

For nature recording you need a good mic. that is not troubled by damp - which is why Sennheiser MKH series microphones are the standard for wildlife recordists.

You need a good quality portable recorder. AETA 4MinX and Nagra VI are the top of the list - at the affordable level I would go for a Fostex FR-2LE over a pocket unit.

A top end system that is more affordable is to use the AETA MIXY with a Tascam DR100II or Sony PCM-D50 - both these pocket recorders have digital inputs and the MIXY has digital out; so all the analogue circuits are in the MIXY (which has the same top end quality mic. pre-amps. as the 4MinX) and the pocket recorder is only used as a "bit bucket" - but you can still use the pocket recorder on its own if you need something really small.

You will find the website of the WSRS - Wildlife Sound Recording Society very helpful.

I hope this helps.

John
 
I have recorded ambient sounds for foley and also for personal use and the convenience and quality of the current hand held models makes it a no brainer for me. To beat the quality of the current hand held recorders for ambient you'd have to spend a heck of a lot more and haul a bunch of expensive and often fragile gear to less than friendly places. The trade off is between portability and expense and then again the noise or a laptop or other device that may marr the quality of your sounds.
On my last outing I used a Zoom H2n and was quite satisfied with the results, nice being able to haul the whole rig in a shoulder bag instead of the 50+ pounds I used to have to haul. The internal mics do a good job and i loved leaving my fragile mics and other gear safe @ home.
 
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Thanks for the replies.

I was thinking, I just need to record high quality stereo ambient sounds. So I guess Zoom's H4n offers more that I'm willing to use. Is there any dictaphone you recommend for the job? I mean, a 2 track only recorder? I really don't need to plug in external sources for sound recording.
 
Endorya said:
Thanks for the replies.

I was thinking, I just need to record high quality stereo ambient sounds. So I guess Zoom's H4n offers more that I'm willing to use. Is there any dictaphone you recommend for the job? I mean, a 2 track only recorder? I really don't need to plug in external sources for sound recording.
Click to expand...

I don't like the term Dictaphone, that is something you talk into so your typist can type it up later. If you only need 2 tracks and there is a budget, a Zoom H2N, If you want better results, as John suggested a Sennheiser MKH, I have used Sennheiser K3U/ME80 mics and they were fantastic, These were the early mics replaced by the MKH. You could grad a couple of second hand ME80 mics they come up for about $150 each now and them not forgetting you need the K3U with it. The easy way would be to use a Zoom H4N with 2 K3U/ME80 or MKH mics, now that would work and be easy to carry round. Don't forget wind socks and stands with suspension mounts.

Alan.
 
The H2n might be overkill for your needs but you can also use it to record voice overs and other audio you might need for your development. There are certainly less expensive recorders that may do an adequate job, but when i tried lesser quality recorders i was not satisfied. The H2n compares favorably to the recordings I got with my professional set up of a pair of shotgun mics, premium cables, professional 4 channel mixer and Nagra recorder.
 
I see no one mentioning nothing about Tascam recorders. Are they that bad? I've listened to loads of youtube videos about pretty much all Zoom and Tascam models and I must add that I got a good impression on them. I was leaned over the Tascam DR-07 and the H2n but the DR-07 seems to be exactly what I need at best budget possible.

Thank you for all your replies. They have been extremely helpful :D
 
Endorya said:
I see no one mentioning nothing about Tascam recorders. Are they that bad? I've listened to loads of youtube videos about pretty much all Zoom and Tascam models and I must add that I got a good impression on them. I was leaned over the Tascam DR-07 and the H2n but the DR-07 seems to be exactly what I need at best budget possible.

Thank you for all your replies. They have been extremely helpful :D
Click to expand...

I had a friend that got the tascam for recording tribal stories in the deep jungle, they were very happy with it. I would have no problem using the Tascam DR-07 or the Zoom so it will come down to personal choice and price.

Cheers
Alan.
 
Endorya said:
Thanks for the replies.

I was thinking, I just need to record high quality stereo ambient sounds. So I guess Zoom's H4n offers more that I'm willing to use. Is there any dictaphone you recommend for the job? I mean, a 2 track only recorder? I really don't need to plug in external sources for sound recording.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but there's a major disconnect between your desire to record "HIGH QUALITY stereo ambient sounds" and any dictaphone I've ever encountered.

Even with better quality things, depending on what you mean by "ambient sounds" you may still require the ability to plug in a specialist directional mic. There's a big difference between standing on a busy street and recording a bus driving by and being able to record a distant bird singing out in a forest.

You'll need to decide on your priorities but, if you think you'll ever want to record subtle, distant noises, then it's worth getting a recorder with mic inputs as well as the in-built mics.
 
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