Acceptable noise level when recording voice with digital recorder

inovis

New member
Good evening everyone !

OK, sorry for being such a newb, but I've read for hours on the subject, but still could not find a proper answer/explanation.

I have a Sennheiser MD 46 microphone. My goal is to do on the field interviews with people on various subject, for radio broacast after.

Since it is my first try, I went cheap on a Sony ICDPX333 digital recorder.

I'm using a regular XLR to 1/8 mini jack cable (6 inches).

My recorder is set to high quality, medium mic sensitivity, no noise cut nor low cut. I prefer to adjust in Audition after.

Thing is... I get an average -48 DB noise level, like static/hichhhh. Is this normal ?

When chating to a B&H rep, he talked about a low to high impedance cable. Would that be it ?

Thanks for any help, seriously. I'm lost!
 
It may be normal for that recorder and setup. Not ideal however...

I am not familiar with the mic, but I am sure that a Zoom H1 or better H4N will give you much better results. The H4N will allow you to use a proper XLR to XLR cable for your mic as well as the pair attached to it.
 
The recorder is not designed to do this kind of thing - it's a digital dictaphone, and isn't really intended for quality recording - and at this price point, the performance you are getting is about right.

It's for managers, estate agents, that kind of thing, and not for a radio broadcaster who want's quality.

Nice mic, poor recorder.
 
Ok, in addition to interviews, I'd like to record some ambient sounds. Hesitating between the Zoom H4, Zoom H4n and Zoom H2

Any recommendation based on what I presented ?
 
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