Topic: Smallest 4-track recorders available

[srijan]

but since he's not using condensers, that's generally out the window.

I see the problem with using dynamics as two aspects:

1) You'll need gain. I havn't used the standard issue shures, but ribbon (dynamic) mics typically eat gain for breakfast.
2) You won't have a linear frequency response across the spectrum. Just be aware of it. There isn't anything practical that you can do about it either based on my understanding of dynamic mics. If that doens't bother you, have at, but be aware that it may not sound as you want.

ok so what can i do to boost the gain on the 1/8" TRS mini phone jack? can i use a device of some sort?

[page]

but since he's not using condensers, that's generally out the window.

I see the problem with using dynamics as two aspects:

1) You'll need gain. I havn't used the standard issue shures, but ribbon (dynamic) mics typically eat gain for breakfast.
2) You won't have a linear frequency response across the spectrum. Just be aware of it. There isn't anything practical that you can do about it either based on my understanding of dynamic mics. If that doens't bother you, have at, but be aware that it may not sound as you want.

ok so what can i do to boost the gain on the 1/8" TRS mini phone jack? can i use a device of some sort?

You'll have to boost gain regardless of the input. It's based on the mv/pa rating how hot of a mic output it is. My beyers and many AKGs have upwards of 30mv/pa, neumanns are around 14mv/pa if I remember correctly, and many ribbons I've seen are around 1mv/pa. All this translates to extra gain you'll have to use to get a signal near zero db on your recorder.

Whether that gain boost is done on your recorder or via an external pre-amp is the question. I'm not familiar with the zoom enough to tell you how much gain it can provide, but at the end of the day, your biggest limiting factor in a result that will make you happy is most likely the mics you are using and not the lack of gain behind them. It could be that you feed a quiet signal to your recorder and amp it in post processing (which brings up the noise floor) and your most distinct sound characteristic isn't the noise floor, but the one imparted by the sound signature of your mics. In short, short of borrowing equipment (a pre-amp essentially), I'd save my money for condensers.

If you have further questions about your setup, I suggest a seperate thread so it doesn't get lost (and this is rather off topic for this one).

[datbrad]

The H4N will provide 48V phantom power to pro condenser mics through its pair of XLR inputs.  The 1/8" TRS mini phone jack on the back of the recorder provides low voltage "Plug-In Power" rather than phantom power.  So you'll probably need an external battery box to power the condenser mics you connect to the 1/8" jack.  There are plenty of solutions for this, but it makes the rig more cumbersome to set up.

Flintstone

but since he's not using condensers, that's generally out the window.

I see the problem with using dynamics as two aspects:

1) You'll need gain. I havn't used the standard issue shures, but ribbon (dynamic) mics typically eat gain for breakfast.
2) You won't have a linear frequency response across the spectrum. Just be aware of it. There isn't anything practical that you can do about it either based on my understanding of dynamic mics. If that doens't bother you, have at, but be aware that it may not sound as you want.

Grayson, I ran Senn 421s, Beyer M88s, and M160 ribbons taping the Grateful Dead in the early-mid '80s and did not notice a problem where I needed extreme amounts of gain to run them for concert taping.

In fact, as I moved to condensers, I found very little difference in the gain settings I used on my D5 for those compared to the dynamics.

Yes, on paper, the specs tell a story of lower sensitivity and not ruler flat response compared to condensers, but in actual concert taping applications, I don't recall thinking that dynamics sounded remarkably worse for it.