Cheers CG, but what do ya think of this. TASCAM DR-40 4-Track Portable Digital Recorder seems the bees knees
Cheers CG, but what do ya think of this. TASCAM DR-40 4-Track Portable Digital Recorder seems the bees knees
I haven't used that one, but Tascam has a pretty good reputation (I've been using some of their gear when I still was in audio some 30 years ago). Janke would be the guy to ask. He's got some experience with that stuff. For what I'm doing at home, I'm fine with the Zoom H1. At work, I have a field mixer with DAT (still a valuable format), that rarely sees action.
"It is dark the other side. Very dark!" - "Oh, shut up and eat your toast!"
+1 on Tascam's reputation.
I've had quite a few nice pieces of gear by them in the ancient past and still have a Tascam 112 cassette machine that is very nice.
Mmm the zoom h1 seems ok for me... The only trouble is the zoom at 100 highest setting does not give the best when i am positioned facing the bride and groom but further back when the priest moves me. The zoom ok facing and near to them... I think the voice recorders are working fine for now with the olympus me-15 mics on the groom. But i do need to step up my AUDIO with new clients next year, if that makes sense.. How are you these days by the way CG.
I rarely, if ever, use the Zoom's internal mic. It's a poor man's wireless system for me, used with either a lav or a shotgun mic.
Doing fine... procrastinating on a project that should be finished by next week. Can't get my behind around to edit anything lately.
"It is dark the other side. Very dark!" - "Oh, shut up and eat your toast!"
As a former Zoom user, I say that Tascam is a tad better than Zoom *(comparing the H2 with the DR-05). Boots quicker, seems better built and consume less power than the zoom. In fact, I can use the same batteries like 4x longer with the Tascam than I was able with the H2.Originally Posted by Steve_Karl
For me, Tascam is better. Period.
Liverpool: if you can't find a local supplier, thomann.de sells audio stuff all over Europe, freight charges are low. Bought my AT3350s from them.
Cheers Janke, cheers guys
liverpool - there's one left for £54.50 at Amazon UK. I run the mic into a Tascam DR-40 with a mini jack to XLR cable like this one. And I can vouch for the DR-40 over the Zoom H1. I have both, and 4 tracks with built-in mixing are a lot better than two
Cheers,
Bill
The Azden EX-503 arrived today ...
DOA!
Dead on Arrival!
So the audio part of my review is put off for a day or 2, but I have to tell you B&H customer service is great!
The replacement is costing me nothing with no shipping charges either way,
and will be shipped tomorrow, since I called in late today.
Please note:
the Azden EX-503 has a very VERY short cord on it, 3'3", and will require an extension cable.
I won't be able to do anything with it with that short of a cable.
1) Strange...may I ask (even if I really doubt about it) if it would be possible that you plugged it in a device that wasn't feeding power to the mic? Because it need plug-in power in order to work properly. Sorry for asking!
2) That's what is awesome! You get a lav to wear it and plug in into a wireless transmitter/portable recorder, not to be stuck in 10ft cable length (like that good old ATR-3350!). It's fine for me though. As I suggested in another thread, you can use an extension cable when using it. I did and got great results:
Hey drape ... thank you!
"power to the device" ... that was it.
I didn't realize that it needed to be powered.
I just tested it in my Zoom H2, ( after turning on Menu > Plugin > ON ) and it's good.
'gonna call B&H and cancel the replacement.
Back soon with an A / B compare of the Azden and the ATR 3350.
Steve
OK. Here are my tests:
Zoom H2 - Azden EX-503 - Audio Technica ATR 3350
Recorded in an isolation / vocal booth at 24 bit / 44,100 Hz
Files were then converted to 16 bit in Sound Forge and the .mp3 files were encoded with Lame.exe at 320 kbit.
Both the Azden and ATR 3350 were recorded into the Zoom H2 at the same input level of 127.
When the Zoom H2 mic was used alone, mono or stereo, the input level was also set at 127.
001 - Zoom H2 base reference - Mono
002 - Azden Ex 503 - Mono
003 - Audio technica ATR 3350 - Mono
004 - Zoom H2 Take 2 - Mono
005 - Zoom H2 Take 3 - Stereo
006 - All of the above in one file with 2 seconds of silence in between
I didn't include my first run of tests because I wanted to get a base level reference just with the Zoom H2,
because I was hearing enough noise with both the Azden and the ATR to bother me.
Yes. Good results. Your Azden sounds great on the left. It would be nice to hear it alone panned to the center.
Do you do any adjustments to the sound?
I was pretty sure about it when you wrote "DOA"!
That's what I like about that mic: you can't run out of batteries unless your recorder dies on you! I would want to kill someone with the ATR-3350 if it would run out of batteries for some reason and that I'd record silence because of that. But that's me!
1) Good comparison. Can I ask why the 44,100 sampling instead of 48,000? As it could have been converted properly to 16/44,1 in post anyway? I know it doesn't change "much", but just won
2) Ok. I know the first recording (H2 alone in sound booth) sounds great at that volume, but both these mic records noise for nothing at that volume, no? I think that the internal's preamp of the H2 fill that noise for both of these mic. I'd lower the recording volume below 100 and normalize in post instead. If it's still just as noisy, then we'll have the answer. But I doubt it has to be that noisy. Check in my video, I've recorded the Lav directly in the T2i (with Magic Lantern) with an extension cable. I've simply normalized it in post and it doesn't sounds as noisy.
3) I don't know...I would do another test with lower recording levels, and normalize them in post, just to make sure. That's me.
I've rendered the audio file as Mp3.
Sure, it's the bare audio track, not mixed with roomtone and all. But it gives a good idea how it can sound!
Hi,
I did 44,100 just because that's what I always use for audio projects.
I'll try an other test with the Azden at 48 and lower levels on the H2 and then normalize,
but I don't think it will lower the noise of the mic.
Back soon.
Here it is.
Azden - recorded at 48 / 24 with a lower level on the zoom ( 100 as opposed to 127 )
then normalized in Sound Forge.
Last edited by Steve_Karl; 2012 July 12th at 14:25.
Well, from what I've heard, my recording (despite the fact they weren't done in the same environment) sounds less noisy than yours, so I tend to say that the recorder's preamp has something to do with it!
Yes. I agree yours is quieter and the preamp differences would be my first suspect also.
The first recording I did, with the Zoom input at 127 was cleaner and also fuller sounding than the second one with the input at 100.
Update:
I just tried my ATR 3350 direct into my HF100 and wow!
It's much better than direct into the Zoom H2.
I also just ordered a Tascam DR-05 from a good deal on eBay. $71.99 and free shipping,
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400460220233...84.m1423.l2649
...hoping that the DR-05 will eliminate the noise problem I was hearing with the Azden direct into the Zoom H2.
Last edited by Steve_Karl; 2013 April 13th at 14:36.
This is interesting as my older ATR35S has a hiss if connected directly to my HF100 but is perfect with the Zoom H1.
HFS21 l HF100 l DM100 l Zoom H1
Yep. Pretty strange, but the 35S is a different mic so I'd not expect them to be the same.
I had an obvious hiss with it was connected to the Zoom H2 but any noise using it with the HF100
is much quieter and very acceptable.
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