Voice recorders. Smart? or Silly?

[thekillerbigmac]

Hello all,
Right off the bat, I'm not trying for anything in depth or complicated. I'm kinda looking for a little info on technical specs, and what they mean to me.

My goal: To record a good sound, from a portable standpoint. For now, just a "sports team"-like chant of 10 to 20 people.

My possible method: Using a microphone(In this case an SM57), hooked into a microphone jack on a digital voice recorder.

My question: Will it give me decent sound?

I am in the process of looking up specs. Some of which I do not understand. I'm looking at frequency range, in which I know something about. I at least know that the larger the range the better the sound. Also, I'm looking at sampling frequency. Which I'm not quite sure what it is.

I found a voice recorder that has a frequency response of 200-13,000 Hz. And I recognize the sampling frequency 44.1 kHz from recording on my computer, but I do not know what it means. Will this recorder give me a half decent sound with those specs?

Also, another recorder I was looking at had a different response: 260-20,000Hz. But it doesn't list a sampling frequency anywhere. What would this mean if it isn't 44.1 kHz? Or would only the response matter mostly?

Hopefully someone may shed some light for me!
Thanks,
~Bill

 

[TaintedDb]

The recorder is fine but your mic choice is not. Recording 20 people I would use a large diaphragm condenser. A Neumann TL103 would be good. Also, does your "recorder" have phantom power?

 

[NYMorningstar]

http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h2/

Try the Zoom H2. It has a decent sound and it's pretty cheap.

 

[TaintedDb]

I just read your post again. I still stand by my first post that I wouldn't use an SM57 for recording a large group of people.

Your questions about bit rate and frequencies:

Bit rate has nothing to do with your microphone. The bit rate is how many "bits" are captured, to make a digital sine wave. The frequency specs of the mics are the range of sound they are able to capture. All sounds are waves. The lower the frequency the longer the wave of that sound and they are measured in hertz (hz). A 60hz wave can be over 50 feet long while a 20K wave will be very short.

Be less concerned about frequency specs and worry more about the type of mic you want. SM57s are usually used in high SPL applications (guitar cab micing etc).

This is a gloss over of the subject just trying to point you in the direction that might better serve you.

 

[thekillerbigmac]

Thanks!

I looked into the Zoom H2, it seems great, but more than I need at the moment.

And as far as specs, I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be losing quality using something meant for voice.

So I'm not sure what to do now. I'm trying not to spend too much on something I don't really need need right now. I'll probably try and use a mixer into a laptop even though its alot larger of a setup. At the very least to not have to spend money.

Thanks for your help!!!
~Bill

 

[danhughes]

Bill, get an Olympus recorder. The WS-321M is a marvelous recorder with exceptional sound quality. You can buy one at Amazon for $63.00:

http://tinyurl.com/ylz23qh

I have a Y-adapter that lets me plug two mikes into the stereo 1/8-inch mic jack, and each mic records into a separate stereo channel. Get one of these and you're good to go:

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/287016.html

---Dan, http://danhughes.net