Old 05-05-2015, 01:39 PM   #1
L_Grizzle
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Default Portable Recorder for Podcast "Foley" work

Hello!

The most recent project that I've become a part of is a podcast with a bunch of friends. I recorded a half dozen episodes last weekend, which is all well and good, but now I am tasked with recording all of the non-vocal sound effects (footsteps, doors opening and closing, general background noises, some ripping and tearing, etc...).

I am looking to pick up a portable recorder for this, but I'm not exactly sure which one will be best for me. Really, I'm wondering if it's worth spending more for one of them that has phantom power and external mic inputs.

http://www.amazon.com/TASCAM-DR-05-P...dheld+recorder

http://www.amazon.com/DR-40-4-Track-...dheld+recorder

Those are two of them that I am considering. Will the internal mic of the less expensive one be of high enough quality, or should I splurge for the more expensive one, and use an external mic?

As far as external mics, I have an sm58 and the MXL 990/991 pair (which I used for all the voice tracking).

Any input is greatly appreciated - Thanks!
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Old 05-05-2015, 01:57 PM   #2
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Tascam makes good gear (I'm about to switch to a US-4x4 audio i/f from a PreSonus 44VSL). Can't go wrong with either. But I gotta say that being able to switch between A-B and X-Y mic positioning, plus having dual-track/4-track capability (I also have an MXL 990) is really attractive.

If it's a straight-up price issue (and that's cool; I've got 'em, too): DR-05

If not, you'll never be sorry you got the DR-40.

Of course, that's just my opinion, and I could be wrong. After all, I'm 0 for 3 on wives.

Why do you think I'm able to get back into music?
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Old 05-05-2015, 02:26 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMaartian View Post
Tascam makes good gear (I'm about to switch to a US-4x4 audio i/f from a PreSonus 44VSL). Can't go wrong with either. But I gotta say that being able to switch between A-B and X-Y mic positioning, plus having dual-track/4-track capability (I also have an MXL 990) is really attractive.

If it's a straight-up price issue (and that's cool; I've got 'em, too): DR-05

If not, you'll never be sorry you got the DR-40.

Of course, that's just my opinion, and I could be wrong. After all, I'm 0 for 3 on wives.

Why do you think I'm able to get back into music?
Thanks for the input - I'd say that it's somewhat a price issue, but mostly it's that I just don't know the quality of the internal mics. I don't want to spend more than I need to if the DR-05 is going to sound just as good. Ya know? Whichever one I choose, I'm not anticipating getting a TON of use out of it after this project, but then again it doesn't take much for me to justify buying more instruments/recording gear.
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Old 05-05-2015, 02:43 PM   #4
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I'm generally a pro-TASCAM guy, but I've owned two of their handhelds, and both of them bricked. I own a Zoom now, and am pretty happy with it.
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Old 05-05-2015, 02:45 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jerome_oneil View Post
I'm generally a pro-TASCAM guy, but I've owned two of their handhelds, and both of them bricked. I own a Zoom now, and am pretty happy with it.
TASCAM and Zoom are the two brands I've seen mentioned the most, I picked out the TASCAM recorders based on price, but I will definitely their reliability into consideration.

Which model do you have?
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Old 05-05-2015, 03:38 PM   #6
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FWIW, the ONLY difference I can find between the mics on the DR-05 and the DR-40 is that the former has omnidirectional mics and the latter has unidirectional mics.

First I've heard of Tascam recorders bricking. Sure do want to know more.
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Old 05-05-2015, 06:35 PM   #7
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get a zoom h4 or h6. you won't regret. a lot of my film friends use these as a standard.
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Old 05-06-2015, 11:43 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by get rad View Post
get a zoom h4 or h6. you won't regret. a lot of my film friends use these as a standard.
The H6 is definitely more than I want to spend ... now I think I have in narrowed down to the TASCAM DR-40 or the Zoom H4N
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Old 05-06-2015, 07:19 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by L_Grizzle View Post
TASCAM and Zoom are the two brands I've seen mentioned the most, I picked out the TASCAM recorders based on price, but I will definitely their reliability into consideration.

Which model do you have?
I have a Zoom H4n and like it a lot. I've driven +48 phantom power and the on-board coincident pair for close to two hours on the AA batteries.
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Old 05-06-2015, 07:24 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMaartian View Post

First I've heard of Tascam recorders bricking. Sure do want to know more.
Well, one day I went to do some recording, and it wouldn't power up. Thought it was the battery. It wasn't. New power supply? Nope. New SD card? Nope. It was a brick. I had a sad. So I went and bough a DR100mkII. It lasted about a month before it did the exact same thing.

So I bough the Zoom, and I've abused it to good effect.

Like I said, I generally like TASCAM stuff. I've got the US-800 interface and am about to shell out for the 16x8, but I've had crap luck with their handhelds.
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Old 05-06-2015, 08:35 PM   #11
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Excellent results with the H4n here. Tascam has a good rep, but no personal experience.
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Old 05-07-2015, 09:13 AM   #12
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Quote:
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Excellent results with the H4n here. Tascam has a good rep, but no personal experience.
I think that's the way I'm leaning ... I've heard only good things here and at another forum where I posed the same question.
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Old 05-07-2015, 10:36 AM   #13
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I use a Zoom H2N and it's worked flawlessly. The recording quality always surprises me...in a good way!
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Old 05-08-2015, 10:40 AM   #14
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I'm looking for a portable recorder for on-the-fly recording, musical thoughts, etc. Longer battery life a definite plus. Anyone have any experience with the Zoom H1?
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Old 05-12-2015, 10:50 AM   #15
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If you're doing foley, don't you want timecode sync?

I use the Tascam HDP2, but I really dream of a Sound Devices 744T



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Old 05-12-2015, 02:09 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by planetnine View Post
If you're doing foley, don't you want timecode sync?

I use the Tascam HDP2, but I really dream of a Sound Devices 744T

>
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by timecode sync, could you explain?
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Old 05-14-2015, 01:42 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by L_Grizzle View Post
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by timecode sync, could you explain?

Doesn't foley have to be in sync with the picture? What's the point of recording it to picture witout sync?


Ok, wild stuff, FX, general real-world sampling for sound-design doesn't need sync, as it's placed later as the sound is built-up

-but foley is performed to picture, surely?.



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Old 05-14-2015, 02:54 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by planetnine View Post
Doesn't foley have to be in sync with the picture? What's the point of recording it to picture witout sync?


Ok, wild stuff, FX, general real-world sampling for sound-design doesn't need sync, as it's placed later as the sound is built-up

-but foley is performed to picture, surely?.

>
Ah, I see. This podcast is audio only, so there isn't video/picture to sync it to.

I used the quotations around 'foley' in the title is because I'm aware that it isn't true foley work, but it's shorter than typing out 'general real-world sampling for sound design' - I figured people would get the gist of what I'm doing.
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Old 05-15-2015, 01:17 AM   #19
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Heh, that makes sense



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