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Sound help... help...

UnrequitedLaughter

UnrequitedLaughter

So I'm tired of working with camera mics and getting poor quality sound and I want to look into buying some sound equipment but I honestly don't know where to start. For instance, should I get a boom mike or try and get some wireless body mics. And what sort of sound mixer I should try to get.

At this point I have a very limited understanding of different sound equipment, I am fairly early on in the learning process for sound -- I've been putting it off. So anything too advanced would probably be out of my skill range. I do short films and sketches.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
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How much do you have to spend? My recommendation for a "basic" prosumer/semi-pro sound kit runs about $2,500.

BTW, do a search of my posts, there are one or two among my over 2,600 posts that cover this.
 
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The Zoom H4n, Tascam DR-100 and other very inexpensive audio recorders are popular because they are, well, inexpensive. Because of the orientation of the H4n and DR-100 toward musical applications they are biased for lower input volume levels. The Rode shotguns are popular because they were first in their price range. The battery powered NTG-2 and Audio Technica AT897 both also seem to suffer from lower output levels than most shotguns. The combination of these recorders and mics have become well known for low volume levels in the past year or so.

That is the problem with micro-budget equipment, it is affordable but not always the optimum tool for the job. DSLRs, despite their current popularity, are another example of micro-budget equipment limitations, short recording times and woefully inadequate audio implementation among those shortcomings.
 
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gibbo said:
That little Zoom h4n and seems to be very popular as does a Rode microphone... Would that be OK Alcove?
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I have the Zoom H4N and Rode NTG-2 for outdoor use. It's okay but not great; as Alcove says, the pre-amps on the H4N are weak. The whole unit is not designed for recording film dialogue and expects a hotter mic input, far hotter than the NTG-2 delivers. You therefore get a lower signal to noise ratio (more hiss). So I'm a bit disappointed, although I still use this set-up for fun film shoots with friends, making YouTube shorts. I wouldn't use it for anything more than this.

If I had to do it all again, I might get a film-oriented recorder like the Marantz PMD661. Either that or learn a bit more about gain staging and noise reduction techniques ;)
 
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SiCurious said:
I have the Zoom H4N and Rode NTG-2 for outdoor use. It's okay but not great; as Alcove says, the pre-amps on the H4N are weak. The whole unit is not designed for recording film dialogue and expects a hotter mic input, far hotter than the NTG-2 delivers. You therefore get a lower signal to noise ratio (more hiss). So I'm a bit disappointed, although I still use this set-up for fun film shoots with friends, making YouTube shorts. I wouldn't use it for anything more than this.

If I had to do it all again, I might get a film-oriented recorder like the Marantz PMD661. Either that or learn a bit more about gain staging and noise reduction techniques ;)
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And I have the bookend to your set up: the Tascam dr-100 with an at897. Same issues, same realization, and same solution if I ever get out of the current hole I'm in. ;)
 
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CamVader said:
And I have the bookend to your set up: the Tascam dr-100 with an at897. Same issues, same realization, and same solution if I ever get out of the current hole I'm in. ;)
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Hehe I spent a week trying to decide between the H4N and the DR-100... it's nice to know I'd be screwed either way! Although I heard there's a mod for the Tascam that improves the pre-amps:

http://www.oade.com/digital_recorders/hard_disc_recorders/upgrades.html

For the price though, you might be better off selling it and getting the PMD660 or 661.
 
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Oade offers some excellent mods. But is it really worth spending $125 or $225 (the $225 FET mod is preferred for filmmaking) to upgrade the $300 DR-100? At that point you may as well spend the extra money and get an Oade modded PMD-661 or FR2-LE, which will be even quieter and have all of the production sound bells and whistles. And if you buy a new modded unit direct from Oade the cost is not much more than a stock unit.
 
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