Ableton Forum

Hey guys, so I'm really interested in the idea of getting a portable microphone for field recordings. I like the idea of sampling anything and everything for percussion as well as recording the ambient sound of a room or environment I'm in to lay in the background of a song. Are there any specific types of portable microphones I should aim for and others I should shy away from for this purpose? I'm looking at the Tascam DR-07MKII but the review seem to be catered towards recording jam session, music lessons, etc. Would this microphone still be suited for my desired purpose?

Thanks,
Charlie

I made some artwork to accompany this thread.

You're welcome.

I haven't used tascam so i cannot compare, but zoom mics are decent enough for field recordings. (Except for dialogs, then a shotgun and/or lavalier is needed.)
You'll also need a deadcat in cases where sponge windshield is not enough.

Check which one better suits you.

I sometimes use Rode NTG 2 > IK Multimedia mic pre > Iphone. (You can adapt mic pre's jack to other phones with some reverse engineering.)
Also this gives 24/96 option and more portable (than carrying rode.)

Thanks for the advice and the beautiful picture. Out of curiosity, what exactly is a deadcat?

penguinpajamas wrote:Out of curiosity, what exactly is a deadcat?

a deadcat is one of those furry things that stop the wind messing up your recordings i guess

i've used a sony ecm ds70p for years, which i record into a minidisc with (yeah, quite a long time). the mic and minidisc are still going strong and have yielded some great recordinga over the years.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4 ... SY300_.jpg

digital recorders nowadays will be more handy than a minidisc but i've never bothered upgrading as it all works fine.

the mic is great. watch out for cheap imitations. it's cheap anyway, less than 50 quid

This.
Sponge windshield doesn't cancel enough wind noise, this does. (If it doesn't you'll need a boom pole, but mostly it does.)

I have no idea which sick minds find these names (deadcat, shotgun) though

What's your budget, Charlie? RODE NT4 is a very good stereo condenser microphone for field recordings, can be powered by a battery, e.g. does not require external phantom power, and has a mini-jack connection cable. I've used it extensively before I upgraded to a much more expensive stuff. It is quiet (low noise floor) and produces very realistic stereo recordings.

Andrejs

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I think I'm probably going to stick with that Tascam I mentioned. I'm not focusing on spending an extensive period of time field recording, but rather sparingly just for the occasional sound I can throw in a song. With this, it'd be a waste for me to spend more than a couple hundred dollars on this.

I bought the Rode NG2 and tried a load of adapters I am about to try the "IK Multimedia iRig Pre" Thanks for the help.

I have the DR 07 mk one I dont know if the mark two is different but you can get a lot of case noise. I picked up a tabletop camera tripod and a small circle of rubber to stand it on. Not that elegant but does the trick. I also have a Rode M3 that I use with it, not stereo but again does the trick.