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Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: Luke_of_Mass on July 08, 2021, 08:54:11 PM

Title: Best budget setup for newbie?
Post by: Luke_of_Mass on July 08, 2021, 08:54:11 PM
Greetings all,

Relatively new to taping - I've got a Zoom H2 unit, which has pretty good internal mics and I've used many times in settings where I was either welcome to tape or specifically there to do taping for somebody - never done stealth apart from just picking a table near the stage at sitdown venues and putting the unit in the middle of the table, capturing the ambient sound in 4ch mode. This worked OK except for the instances where my date reached for the chutneys  :angry3:

As the world turns rightside up I'd like to put this recorder to more use and wanted to see what your collective opinions may be as to the best budget mics, bettery boxes, etc... A friend suggested Church audio gear but it almost all appears out of stock all the time and another friend warned me that they were somewhat delicate.

So what say you?

Thanks in advance, and I'm looking forward to learning so much from this forum :)

Luke
Title: Re: Best budget setup for newbie?
Post by: DavidPuddy on July 08, 2021, 10:32:24 PM
Let us know what your budget is and if you plan on taping openly or not. Setups vary quite a bit here and there are many ways to go.

A forum sponsor, Core Sound (no affiliation), has a low-cost cardioid mic set with battery box for around $100 and it would work with the recorder you already have. https://www.core-sound.com/shop/low-cost-binaural-cardioid

I would order from them over Church Audio any day.
Title: Re: Best budget setup for newbie?
Post by: morst on July 09, 2021, 12:27:01 AM
Relatively new to taping - I've got a Zoom H2 unit, which has pretty good internal mics
I agree that the internal mics on the original H2 "Electric Shaver" are pretty good. I've made decent use of them by themselves, as well as manually mixed with board feeds.
Example of a mix:
https://archive.org/details/Quasi2008-09-12.matrix/Quasi2008-09-12-MTX-t09.flac (https://archive.org/details/Quasi2008-09-12.matrix/Quasi2008-09-12-MTX-t09.flac)

HOWEVER a word of caution about the original H2 Handy Recorder: do look out for the fact that the line input only handles 0.775 volts PEAK and a lot of line sources exceed that.
I had to get a resistive pad cable (-11 dB is the one I found which worked for my setup) in order to properly utilize the line input on that machine.
Also, I think I recall that setting the line input level at anything other than 100 is akin to digital zoom? (looks like the max is 127. check this note from Ozpeter)
100 is accepted as being unity digital gain.See http://www.2090.org/zoom/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=9745&start=0 (http://www.2090.org/zoom/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=9745&start=0) for an H2 FAQ.




Been a long time since I sold the unit to a friend who loves it for field recording nature sound effects to mix with music.

(https://zoomcorp.com/media/original_images/zoomH2_HandyRecorder.png.768x0_q60.png)
Title: Re: Best budget setup for newbie?
Post by: BradleyJY15 on July 09, 2021, 09:13:27 AM
I started out with Core Sound Mics.  They have options as stated above starting around $100 (what I started with).  I then went to a $300 model, then $1000 or so, added some other things...Just kept upgrading. They are easy to use, unlike many others that require additional cabling or powering.  And they are VERY small, so can be used in many different ways or setups.
Title: Re: Best budget setup for newbie?
Post by: nulldogmas on July 09, 2021, 09:33:52 AM
I started with the Core Sound low-cost stealthy cardioids as well, and they're definitely affordable and tiny. They are also lacking in low end, though, which is why I finally ditched them. (The Core Sound binaurals, by contrast, have excellent sound, even the cheap ones.)

If I had it to do all over again, I would start out with the mics I'm using now: AT 853s, which have great sound for the price and also allow you to later purchase omni caps and swap those out depending on taping circumstances.) They're currently $244 at Sound Professionals (with the low-sensitivity option for high volume shows — https://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-CMC-4U), but they turn up regularly here in the Yard Sale for much cheaper, and they're sturdy enough that even a well-used pair should have plenty of life in it.
Title: Re: Best budget setup for newbie?
Post by: Gordon on July 09, 2021, 09:40:14 AM
line audio makes some excellent mics for the money if you plan to open tape.
Title: Re: Best budget setup for newbie?
Post by: Gutbucket on July 09, 2021, 10:28:38 AM
Welcome Luke.

There is an AT853 microphone set (as recommended above) currently for sale in the yardsale here:
https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=197252.msg2360382#msg2360382

You will need a relatively simple adapter cable to convert to the mini-jack input required by your recorder.  However, you will achieve better performance if you use a battery-box (a simple relatively small and inexpensive device) between microphones and recorder to power the microphones optimally.  Battery boxes with mini-xlr input and mini-jack output are available, or you can use the same adapter cable ahead of a battery box with a mini-jack input.

First rule of successful taping is to never setup so as to deprive your date of chutney!

Edit- If you plan to "open tape" as Gordon mentions, and wish to keep your investment minimal, you might consider the Nakamichi CM300 pair in the same listing linked above, which are generally well respected entry-level taping micrphones with a lot of taping cred history behind them.  Although the AT853 can be used for open taping as well and have a similar well respected taper history. The Line Audio mics are well-respected new mics, currently in production.  They are a good option that will run you a bit more and require phantom powering.
Title: Re: Best budget setup for newbie?
Post by: Luke_of_Mass on July 12, 2021, 12:34:31 PM
Thanks folks sorry I should have specified my budget - I'm willing to spend between $100 and $200 on gear - thanks for the leads on yardsale stuff - any idea where to buy a battery box?
Title: Re: Best budget setup for newbie?
Post by: beatkilla on July 12, 2021, 01:19:52 PM
Thanks folks sorry I should have specified my budget - I'm willing to spend between $100 and $200 on gear - thanks for the leads on yardsale stuff - any idea where to buy a battery box?


I like this battery box and it will ship quickly.

https://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-SPSB-8-MKII
Title: Re: Best budget setup for newbie?
Post by: fireonshakedwnstreet on July 12, 2021, 02:12:49 PM
As others have noted, AT 853s are small and give you options for open or stealth and multiple caps. Happy Taping!
Title: Re: Best budget setup for newbie?
Post by: vantheman on August 06, 2021, 04:57:51 PM
Below in my signature is my entry level setup. It’s been serving me well in a stealth environment, and well in open scenarios too.