Microphones for outdoor/nature recording with minimum noise

[mais]

I have a Zoom H4 recorder (http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h4/) which I have tried to record outdoor nature sounds with. I've tried with both the build-in mics and an external Røde condensator mic (phantom power driven).

The problem is that there is too much noise compared to wanted sound signal. I want to invest some money into proper pro-style equipment so that I can get the good clean sound you sometimes hear on nature documentaries and simular.

Any tips on what type of mics I should get? Or any other comments on this subject?

I'm now assuming that the recorder itself is not so important to the sound quality (at least I'm assuming the H4 should be enough), since recording the analog signal from the mic to the recorder should be a straight forward thing, yes?

Thanks for any tips on this subject!

Edit: I started to read a bit about parabolic microphones (kind of using a satelite dish), maybe this is part of the solution?

[posssu]

I've heard just the opposite, I think it's the preamp quality of your recorder that plays a big role, especially when you want to record silent ambiences.

[Sarrova-Q]

I have a Zoom H4 recorder (http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h4/) which I have tried to record outdoor nature sounds with. I've tried with both the build-in mics and an external Røde condensator mic (phantom power driven).

The problem is that there is too much noise compared to wanted sound signal. I want to invest some money into proper pro-style equipment so that I can get the good clean sound you sometimes hear on nature documentaries and simular.

What kind of noise do you mean exactly? If it's the wind you should invest in proper windshields.
Also if you want to make recordings from an object that's a few meters away (a bird or a crocodile you don't want to meet in person) you should definitely buy a shotgun mic. This way you're sound will be focused on the right place, removing all unwanted sounds from around.

[fishmonkey]

if you are recording relatively soft sounds and therefore need to use a lot of preamp gain, then the quality of the preamp is definitely important.

if you are really looking for nature documentary quality, you'd have to think about getting an external preamp as well...

[mais]

Thanks for the reply guys. I've done some more reading and came across this site: http://www.telinga.com/. They sell parabolic microphones which I now think is the way to go. They are really expensive though, so I'm gonna try build my own first. And I guess getting a small proper preamp in my chain before the H4 could also do some magic. My recordings so far has been ok, but the noise I'm talking about I guess is some kind of static noise either from the electronics or the surroundings. I've done some noise reduction on the audio, and that helps, but being a perfectionist I want the sound as pure as possible before I do any noise reduction.

[luddy]

Shotgun mics (mentioned earlier) might be something else to look into, as an alternative to parabolics.

You might try mounting the recorder on a tripod. When you have the gain wound all the way out, handling noise with those field recorders becomes an issue. You basically have three kinds of noise to contend with: handling noise and self-noise in the recorder (motors and meters etc., if any); wind; and preamp noise due to high gain. For those three you want good shock mounting and stability; windscreening; and to get as close as possible to what you're recording, respectively.

-Luddy

[0fps]

Some of the best shotgun mics (and expensive though) are Sennheiser MKH 416 and Schoeps CMIT 5 U

[stonee]

I've had luck with a sony shotgun mic.

I was filming a turtle laying eggs, and i was a couple of meters back. when i review my footage, you could hear the the eggs hit the bottom of the nest.

if you're looking to record specific things, as aposed to ambiences, definitely what your looking for is the nicest shotgun mic you can afford.

look into your pickup patterns too. for good feild recording, you need two kind of mic's, an omni directional, and at least a hypercardioid if not a shotgun.

[leedsquietman]

Which rode mic did you use - the M3 while being hypercardiod, is almost like a shotgun in it's functionality and is very focused. Certainly there are many shotgun mics available for not too too much cash which can do the job.

All the above is decent advice, windshields, preamps, etc. Also user choices play a big role. If you are trying to record ambiences and don't want wind/background noise etc, it helps to find a location which is lacking in those qualities, and choose a day when the weather is calm and quieter (i.e. don't choose morning / evening rush hour).

[fishmonkey]

the M3 is cardiod, innit?

[3dot...]

http://www.earthworksaudio.com/our-microphones/

[3dot...]

http://www.sounddevices.com/products/722.htm

[Simbosan]

A mate of mine had this trick that worked amazingly well. Sony Walkman recorder and two small mikes (lapel style clip mikes) clipped to the arms (is that the right word?) of his glasses, just by his ears.

So when he walked around turning his head, you got this deeply intense, immersive stereo as his head provided natural baffle effect. He would wear them down the pub and you could put headphones on the next day and it was seriously spooky effective.

Just posting out of general interest, cos it's not hi-fi by any means but then again those lapel mikes w/ Sony walkman weren't too bad at all actually

S

[fishmonkey]

A mate of mine had this trick that worked amazingly well. Sony Walkman recorder and two small mikes (lapel style clip mikes) clipped to the arms (is that the right word?) of his glasses, just by his ears.

this is a great site for info about that kinda HRTF recording:

http://www.sonicstudios.com/

[canine]

it's really impossible to give you decent advice unless you tell us what kind of noise you mean.

why not upload a recording to soundcloud?

then we might be able to give you more qualified advice.

Røde mics and an H4 sounds like you got the gear right for now. So I suspect there is something else.