Topic: Zoom H4 - Neebie needs suggestions

[sharer]

Hello,

Got a Zoom H4 and that's it.  I want to do two main things with this:

1.)  Patch to a soundboard  (What cables to I need?)

2.)  Record stealth in areanas, clubs, and outdoor rock shows (What external mics would you suggest?  Do I need anything else with the mics?)

Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  I bought this from a friend who only used it to record acoustic demos with the internal mics.  So I've got nothing but this H4 and have always wanted to try capturing live shows.

Thanks!  ~Todd

[dave570]

Most boards have XLR or 1/4 inch RCA outputs.  Some (mostly the older ones) have analog RCA outputs. 

Realize that board feeds sometimes suck as the board engineer is mixing sound for the room, not for the recorder patched into it.  I've got many board feeds where the lead guitar is very low in the mix but sounds great inside the venue. You can't bother the person mixing the sound since he/she do not care how the board patch sounds, so you get a strange sounding feed unlike what you hear at the show. Which requires fixing back home.....

Bring along good headphones when you tape from the board.  What you hear may surprise you before you get home.

[sunjan]

2.)  Record stealth in areanas, clubs, and outdoor rock shows (What external mics would you suggest?  Do I need anything else with the mics?)

For stealthy phantom mics, few models beat AT 853RX (now rebranded as U853R). Great versatility with four different caps available, and a sweet price point. Other AT mics offer similar specs too.

The last stock of the RX mics is now being dumped on the market for as low as $112.50 each:
http://www.fullcompass.com/product/304103.html

Buy a pair of these, and you're good to go!