Help me set-up please

[Tani]

Hi,

I hope this post is in the right place as I am new to these forums and in need of some advice.

Would you please be able to recommend the best audio Tascam equipment for the following scenario


- Recording up to 20 hours of interview style audio / voice clips
- Possibly recording outside with wind etc and background noise
- Device will be portable
- Audio once collected would ideally be as clear as possible
- Audio will be edited into a documentary style clip in post production using Adobe Audition

I am looking for any help possible here & budget is not a huge concern (but within reason lol) I am just looking for the best range / options for clear simple audio recording.

My main aim is to have audio that is as clear as possible and as easy to edit in post production

Thanks so much in advance

 

[-mjk-]

Hi @Tani and welcome to the Tascam Forums. You posted this in the correct forum.

I'm not trying to discourage you with my reply. But it sounds like you are not very experienced with field recording.

"As clear as possible" depends mainly upon how good the recording engineering is. If you clip the audio level the recorder will record distorted audio. The recorder will faithfully reproduce badly engineered recordings just as well as perfectly recorded audio.

Editing standard audio files is the same regardless of the recording device if the audio files are standard type.

How many tracks do you need to record at one time? Study the specs for the various models and check the recording times/batter life. You can also power externally from a battery pack for more recording time. If you are recording in scenes you can recharge/replace batteries between scenes. These considerations will drive the purchasing decision.

Basically, all of the current Tascam field recorders can record clean audio in standard formats, but you have to know what you are doing. Also, do you need to use external mics? If so you'll need a recorder with input jacks as well as internal mics. You may need wind screens on the internal and external mics to reduce wind noise, but there is nothing that can eliminate completely background noise (like traffic) except software in post, such as RX8 Advanced. Directional mics and proper mic placement can help with extraneous sound pickup but again, you have to know what you are doing. You can't expect to buy a recorder and have it record perfect audio if you don't know how to engineer recordings well.

 

[BazzBass]

your question is too vague.

do you mean record 20 hours continuously? You'll be struggling to do that on batteries without changing them.
IKEA Ladda 2450mAh are the same as Eneloop Pros at a third the price.

I'm sure my DR40 would do this job. But it depends on what mics you own or intend to buy. It depends on the environment you will be recording in. Any wave file can be imported into a DAW so no issue there. Distance from mic to subject affects how good a recording you can make.Proper gain staging is a must, do you know how to do this?
How many simultaneous tracks will you be needing to record? And on and on lol.

 

[Tani]

Hi @Tani and welcome to the Tascam Forums. You posted this in the correct forum.

I'm not trying to discourage you with my reply. But it sounds like you are not very experienced with field recording.

"As clear as possible" depends mainly upon how good the recording engineering is. If you clip the audio level the recorder will record distorted audio. The recorder will faithfully reproduce badly engineered recordings just as well as perfectly recorded audio.

Editing standard audio files is the same regardless of the recording device if the audio files are standard type.

How many tracks do you need to record at one time? Study the specs for the various models and check the recording times/batter life. You can also power externally from a battery pack for more recording time. If you are recording in scenes you can recharge/replace batteries between scenes. These considerations will drive the purchasing decision.

Basically, all of the current Tascam field recorders can record clean audio in standard formats, but you have to know what you are doing. Also, do you need to use external mics? If so you'll need a recorder with input jacks as well as internal mics. You may need wind screens on the internal and external mics to reduce wind noise, but there is nothing that can eliminate completely background noise (like traffic) except software in post, such as RX8 Advanced. Directional mics and proper mic placement can help with extraneous sound pickup but again, you have to know what you are doing. You can't expect to buy a recorder and have it record perfect audio if you don't know how to engineer recordings well.

Hi,

Thank you for your honest reply and I am not discouraged by it all, it is appreciated! To be honest, you are right. I am not that experienced in field recording at all but I have been asked to help out with a project so just wanted to do my best to be well prepared.

In terms of the audio being "as clear as possible" would you have any tips / advice on what should be checked / made sure of, before recording the audio? So the basics of having a good quality recording? I understand the very basics such as making sure the audio is not peaking on the recorder but that really is about it. I am trying to avoid a disaster where the audio is recorded and then sounds distorted as this would be a nightmare in post production. When you say "if the audio is clipped it will record distorted" can I ask what you mean exactly? What would clipping the audio mean? Sorry I feel very silly asking such basic questions here lol

Also what would you say I should be looking out for to avoid distortion when recording asides from the peaking, distance to subject and background conditions? Or are there any videos or sites you would recommend for me to learn these things? Any help is much appreciated.

Basically I am normally not in this field, I am the one who is recorded as a voiceover but now due to some last minute issues I am being asked to record and edit some audio files. I will be editing the audio myself on Adobe Audition and I need to learn quite a lot fast (within a month).

That is why my main concern is distorted audio as I know trying to fix that afterwards wont be easy at all.

The recording itself wont be 20 continuous hours, it will be a total of around that much but in much smaller chunks such as 15 - 60 min intervals for a nature doc so I will be sure to have some batteries handy. As for external mics, I am open to buying one yes but wasn't sure if it was a necessity?

 

[Tani]

@BazzBass

Thank you for taking the time out to reply to me & to be honest no I am not sure on proper gain staging? Is this to be done when recording the audio through the Tascam?

I have some limited memory of using one in the past and I just made sure the audio hit around the small arrow that was on the screen of the device which I am sure is nowhere near the correct approach so any insight here would be appreciated.

I am a complete newbie to this and have been thrown into the deep end to be honest.

 

[-mjk-]

Basically I am normally not in this field, I am the one who is recorded as a voiceover but now due to some last minute issues I am being asked to record and edit some audio files. I will be editing the audio myself on Adobe Audition and I need to learn quite a lot fast (within a month).

Hi @Tani.

I had prepared this long, drawn out reply about how you are being thrown to the lions by being expected to record and edit your own audio, not being fair to you, you'll get the blame, etc.. But, none of that is really useful. I'm in a position where I can just say "no, I'm not going to do that" and move onto the next job. You may not be.

Here's what I would do: I would record some of the type of audio you looking for, on your mobile phone and try editing that and see how it sounds. You've got nothing to lose and you may find that it suits your needs. Mobile phones can also accept a lav mic input and there are apps that can record high resolution audio (my native Android app can record 24 bit wav files). I would start there and see how that works out with your editing. I would hate to see you drop a few hundred dollars on a recorder only to find that the editing is too daunting to deal with. The issue is that you are dealing with both recording and editing which are new.

You wouldn't have to spend any money initially and you may find that a modern mobile phone gets the job done. You can at least get some audio into the editor and start poking around to get a feel for what you are up against. I have a condenser lav mic that was made for a mobile phone and that thing surprises me how good it sounds every time I use it.

But I would make it absolutely clear that you are taking one for the team and doing this out of necessity and refuse to take the blame for not being a recording engineer and professional editor, if something bad happens.

If you get really stuck, some of us on the forum have advanced editing and audio repair software tools/skills and can help you get out of a jam.

Please let us know how you are making out.

 

[Geoffrey Kolbe]

I have a DR-40 and I am sure it is capable of the job as I have used it for very similar applications. But, to be "as clear as possible" in an outdoors situation will almost certainly mean a lavalier microphone of some sort, possibly a radio mic, of which there are many types and makes available on Amazon/ebay.

A word of warning though, the XLR sockets on the DR-40 (and other types) expect a balanced input, and most radio mics give out an unbalanced output. This mis-match will lead to a reduction in input signal and increase in noise floor on the recording, so you need to be aware of that when you go shopping...

 

[BazzBass]

perhaps a smaller 'voice recorder' may suit your needs better for this project?

Zoom and Tascam make smaller units for such tasks, I'm not sure of the model numbers, Zoom H2 ?

I'd go to a good music shop and talk to their pro audio person about your needs. At least there you can check out the available models and get an idea about how they could be used in your situation.
I have the Tascam DR40,my guitarer has a small Zoom model that is good too.