Topic: $1000 Budget, thinking about starting with a zoom h4 essential & mics

[grzy7316]

SO I have taped about 5 or 6 shoes so far, and have been enjoying it.  Plus it seems be a pretty good conversation starter.  The biggest pain so far has been getting permission from the bands I tape to post on the LMA.  I have generally been getting my stand setup somewhere near the sound booth starting the recording and then walking away rather than obsess over things. Here are links to the 2 shows I have gotten posted that I recorded with my AT4041s & ZoomF3  setup

https://archive.org/details/of2026-06-11.at4041
https://archive.org/details/JHATM2026-06-12

[Ozpeter]

Sounds generally fine to me - the second one was a bit across to the right hand side I think, but that could be rebalanced when editing.

[jefflester]

Both shows with Whipping Post!

[Thelonious]

SO I have taped about 5 or 6 shoes so far, and have been enjoying it.  Plus it seems be a pretty good conversation starter.  The biggest pain so far has been getting permission from the bands I tape to post on the LMA.  I have generally been getting my stand setup somewhere near the sound booth starting the recording and then walking away rather than obsess over things. Here are links to the 2 shows I have gotten posted that I recorded with my AT4041s & ZoomF3  setup

https://archive.org/details/of2026-06-11.at4041
https://archive.org/details/JHATM2026-06-12

What a great start! You got off and running quickly for someone who was asking about first gear 2 months ago.

Are you enjoying recording shows? What do you like about the recordings so far? Is there anything you’re finding challenging?

[gdrfbnfa]

The AT 853s with 4.7 mod and card caps pair nicely with a Zoom H1xlr (with mini plug to XLR adapter so you can use phantom power) for less than $500 for a rig that can stealth or tape open using 32bit float recording, which makes the taping process a lot easier. Great starter set. You can add a set of AT Hyper caps for $100 or less if you’re into hyper too for bigger, noisier venues. I like the F3 a lot but it lacks a miniplug input (handy for stealthing and beating tight security) and costs double the H1xlr. The Tascam FRAV2 is a bit bigger than the f3 but has a miniplug input and onboard time code generator if you’re interested in mixing sources or syncing to video. An F3 is maybe $300+ and FR-AV2 maybe $400 these days.

I also love the Line Audio CM4s- nice wide, balanced soundstage that punches above its weight. And small enough to stealth in a hatiand an upgrade from the ATs. After that I agree with the comment that it is better to go high on your next upgrade to Schoeps, AKGs, or the like. I really hear the difference.

Good luck. Just remember you need $ for tickets too, and buying more of a starter kit kinda pays for itself in extra tickets…. At first

[gdrfbnfa]

Would note that the H1XLR only supplies 2.5 V of phantom power, not really enough for high volume situations. The FRAV2 supplies 5 V Phantom power. It is also a good option to get a small battery box such as those sold by sound professionals to power the AT 853s. If you really gotta have XLR’s, you can also get the 853s cable either with a mini plug or XLR’s. Sound.Professionals sells their versions of these under different model names, but they’re pretty clear about which caps they use in different configurations.

I really prefer using XLR’s when I can simply because they’re more secure than mini plugs, which are sort of prone to getting unplugged.