Edtechkat

I’m researching input devices to create good quality audio files and recording here some of my thoughts / products I find.

Audacity with a standard mike headset produces a sufficient quality recording for many purposes. Here are some instances where we need more:

1. Many people speaking on the same audio file at once (eg. interviews or the multivoice library podcasts)
2. Recording live presentations (eg. before Infosharing or visiting speakers )
3. Recording people as they move about (eg. tour of library art works or presenters who won’t sit still)

Possible solutions:

• SOLUTION A - For 1. and 2. Good omnidirectional USB microphone plugged into laptop running Audacity.
• SOLUTION B- For 1. and 2. Self contained portable device that has omnidirectional microphone producing files for post-processing in Audacity.
• SOLUTION C - For 3. Clip on portable recorder with small clip-on mike through input jack producing files for post-processing using Audacity.

Would be nice to find something that did both SOLUTION B and C - a portable studio that you could mute the big mike when you plug in a small mike.

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Possible Gear

Omnidirectional mike

Blue Snowball $249 in Australia seems to balance functionality and price.

Otherwise, pro is very expensive. Cheap may well be adequate.

DJ friend recommended Shure SM58 - been around for years and widely used, around $250, but reviews are mixed .

Field Recorders

List of examples here, Portable Digital Recorders

Samson Zoom H2 Here’s the Profile/price on Australian site Around $370. Has SD card. Ridiculously easy to operate and very good reviews although may be a bit flimsy.

For more money, the other well regarded field recorder is the Edirol R09 .

iPod with recording mike

Belkin Tune Talk - Belkin claims it works with new style iPod Classic if their firmware is updated In Australia - around $89

iPod Classic is the only device compatible with the BTT. In Australia 80G - $319

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Spoke to Leo Murray who lectures in Radio at Murdoch and he advised me that iPods without flash memory have mechanical drives that can be heard with recording.

They use the precursor to the Edirol R09 , the Eidirol R1 . We can borrow one from the Loans counter in Humanities to see what they are like. They do a similar thing to the R09, but are bulkier. The H2, or the Edirol09 would be suitable for recording someone walking around the library.
Any external mike would need to be on a stand or somehow isolated from any noise transmitted via a table it was placed on. You could use a stand, or a jumper, or ensure people didn’t bump the table. He suggested that contact mikes, like the hemispherical mikes used for conference calls, would be more suitable for multivoices if placed on a table - although a portable recorder would do the job too.

They use external mikes with the portable recorders if they want to ensure the sound is coming from just one direction.