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Hey, so basically next pay day I want to buy some sort of portable mic kinda like the ones reporters use to start recording my own samples from natural environments and I was wondering if any of you have any recommendations?
I'm not very clued up on mics so any help will be appreciated thanks

I have a Yamaha Pocketrak c24.
Easy, lightweight, amazing quality and easy acces to recorded files.

260 euros I think, or 160. I don't remember, fuck my brain.

I have the H4 its the absolute job. I used it to record my band in band practice one time and it worked out pretty good. Its not album quality or anything but you can tell instruments apart.

Towany wrote:I have the H4 its the absolute job. I used it to record my band in band practice one time and it worked out pretty good. Its not album quality or anything but you can tell instruments apart.

yep this is the one to get, im thinking a bout it aswell. just to have in my car so when i feel like looking like a creep who records sound in bublic areas i can.

Cheers for the response guys I'll have a read into both of those

i have some experience with handheld recorders...and today i think sony m10 is the sweet spot recorder...not so noisy as zoom products, quiet preamps, easy to operate, great build quality, great battery life.

Thanks synth

I use the Tascam DR-03, I think it's the least expensive of the range but I love it. Haven't noticed any noise problems, really don't have any complaints for this price point. They also make an attachment for your iphone or ipod touch that's the same price and you can rotate the mic's. Then you can look even creepier cuz people will assume your shooting video.

how is the performance of the lower end to the higher quality wise? cause thats all i really care about, is it really worth double or triple the price of the dr-03 for other recorders? if i were to get something like this itd mostly background noises not really prominent things like leads

Immerse wrote:how is the performance of the lower end to the higher quality wise? cause thats all i really care about, is it really worth double or triple the price of the dr-03 for other recorders? if i were to get something like this itd mostly background noises not really prominent things like leads

The Tascam DR 03 works fine for me. Everything i record pretty much sounds like it did when i heard it. If I'm like, tracking guitars with high gain or something, it could suffer, but even then it's pretty accurate.

sounds like a $100 well spent. ill keep my eye on it for when i have some spare cash. owning one of these would definitely motivate me to use samples more often

I have a Zoom H1 which is great for only 80GBP . got some good rain recordings.

I also have a ZOOM H1, it's ok for some basic recording and very easy to operate. But I don't use it's internal mics much, I get better results with my DIY microphones.

I've had the dr-03 for about 5 months now, I use it at least once a week if not alot more, and honestly I've never listened to a recording I made with it and thought,.. I wish I would have sprung for the more expensive model. Sounds crystal clear to me in my acoustically treated room on a pair of RoKit 8's.

dr-03 will def be my pick in that case when i do pick one up. think of all the samples!!

I've owned and used many over the years, from 80s dictaphones to high end Nagras in the thousands. Time and time again I go to the Zoom H4n, but the H4 is just as good for almost half the price, they just fixed some cosmetic issues, made it USB 2.0 and cut noise levels down more. These are great quality, and the prices are so low that I didn't lose any sleep the last time one fell off my boom pole and into
the ocean haha.

The noise wasn't a concern with me as it reminded me of the tape hiss from my analogue recorders, just MUCH quieter. I didn't even notice it until I read some user complaints about it. It comes from 2 things mainly: the internal microphone picking up SD card noise, and the batteries. You can easily stop the noise by building an external battery enclosure. There's some DIY info on it online, and there's even a company that sells a pre-made external battery pack for cheap, and it also boosts battery life by many hours by letting you use more than 2. It's very discrete too. There's not noticeable noise when using wall power or balanced inputs.

Only use high quality Class 6+ SDHC media with recorders. This also helps cut the noise out. Don't use the cheap no-name SD cards.

Use the lowcut filters and the limiter inside the unit. The lowcut removes much excess noise and wind, and the limiter ensures there's no sounds clipping. Make sure you record at 24 bit always. 44.1 is fine, but 24 bit is essential.

You can also remove the noise easily with a bit of filtering and/or gating in post if you want to skip all this.

Also invest in or make a decent windshield, the faux fur dead cats are best for the price.