Hi does anyone have any experience using portable digital recorders to record pianos and vocals? Something like a Sony D100 or similar?
Just wondered how the recording quality compares to something like an SM58 going into a prosumer mic pre?
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Bump
I have a Zoom H2 that I have used for years. In my experience those types of recorders can be just as good, but a little more versatile than a handheld dynamic.
Figuring out a good way to monitor what you’re recording is key, then after you know it, you can guess pretty good.
The H2 has a variable width pattern. I’ve used it and a 58 to get a drum kit before… H2 as an oH the H2 recording stereo files that were later dropped into the session and a dynamic in the kick.
More often than not, a realistic recording of what I aimed it at was the result.
This is a live recording, the result of placing the H2 on top of the drum monitor in a rock show, recording direct to 256kbps .mp3
You should expect similar or better results.
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Thanks, really useful info.
How do the zoom units compare to the more expensive Sony recorders for sound quality?
On casual listening, recordings made with similar settings and similar setups were pretty indistinguishable.
It’s not a pair of neumans or schoeps through a neve, but the results are usually pretty neutral to what they were pointed at.
It boils down to learning how the mic reacts to the different gain settings and the “room” where you are recording.
I think they’re quite capable if you get the gain and mic position right.
In short, I think you could get by with the one mic for everything as long as you realize certain things just aren’t going to happen, ie closed mic’d drum kit, close and room guitar cab, etc… but it’s already a 90° X/Y to two channels, which works for piano and acoustic guitar and drum set, percussion, field recordings, orchestra’s…
Again, I can’t stress the monitoring situation enough… being able to listen to what the mic is getting in real time helps tremendously, versus recording, then listening back, then moving the mic, then recording again, then listening back and repeating this process until you get the tone you’re after.
I had a very long 1/8" headphone lead that I run out of the H2, and into the recorder so I can hear what it’s doing in my in ear phones, while recording everything to it. I usually just turn it on at the top of the session and hit record, then stop it when it’s full or when the session is over.
When something cool happens I’ll mark down the time it happened to make it easier to find that moment amidst (potentially ) many 2gb recordings. Then once the SD card is in the computer, it can go wherever it needs to.
Cheers. Im glad you found some insight from this.
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Thanks. Sounds great for home piano and vocal recording. Can you run a line-out straight into the inputs of OT?
Yes. I have yet to actually do that, but I have run line level into my focusrite pro26, iPad, and iPhone on different occasions.
I have no doubt it will interface with the OT’s inputs as expected.