Novice starting set (1 Viewer)

[Railoe]

Hi

Sry about creating a new thread about this issue, have been puzzling with the equipment to start recording bird/wildlife sounds together with my videos and only for audio only purposes.

So my question is quite simple, what equipment would you recommend in the 1000$ category to start recording individual species(birds).

I've looked into the telinga MK2 kit http://www.telinga.com/products/pro-series/kits/universal-mk2/
and have been reading about the sennheiser ME66 microphone.

But what would you suggest, for microphone and recorder. A shotgun mic or a parabolic etc ?
And what would be the best to connect to my nikon dlc camera to record the bird sound while shooting video ?

 

[Railoe]

Maybe I need to narrow my question a bit. Would it be better to go with a Telinga MK2 set and buy firstly the microphone like ME62. Or should I go with a shotgun mic like sennheiser ME66, and ignore the telinga kit.

My biggest issue is to decide the recorder phantom powered or not and shotgun mic or parabolic setup.

For audio recorder, Fostex FR2-LE was suggested to me, but im not sure if I can get it in my budget.
Other choices are
1.Olympus LS-100
2.Tascam DR-100 MKII
3.Zoom H4N
4.Zoom H6
5.Olympus LS-14
6.Olympus LS-11
7.Sony PCM M10

and for microphone
1.Sennheiser ME62
2.Sennheiser ME66 or ME 67
3.Rode NTG-1
4.Rode NTG-2

 

[Railoe]

Well this turns out to be my own monologue, but seems like im going with sennheiser ME66/K6 with a rycose windshield, still searching for a recorder with that setup.

 

[HarryJ]

mic and recorder

Hi Railoe,
I suggest that you take time and look at some threads posted just recently in this forum.

1) Telinga or sennheiser ME66? Depends. Both are very good. If you want to record a single bird, eg. a Loc lus in Vanhankaupunginlahti, then go for Telinga, if you want to have a directional mic while you are trecking in Nuuksio then go for ME66. It is much lighter and fits in a backpack.

2) Recorder: Fostex FR2LE is good. Olympus LS100 is alsoof excellent quality but is a bit slow to set up for recording. It is more compact than
the FR2LE though.

3) You have to check that the microphone and recorders have matching connectors (XLR, stereo 3.5mm, mono 3.5mm) - it makes life much easier.

I have experience of the devices mentioned above. If you want to discuss in more detail in some obscure language drop me a private message ;-)

HarryJ

 

[HarryJ]

continuing..

Of course a ME62 is a excellent microphone, but again it is for different kind of recording. Good for example if you want to record the multitude of Acrocephali in Iso-huopalahti or a soundscape on one of the islands in the archipelago.

HarryJ

 

[iveljay]

Random thoughts to be considered on this topic:-

Not sure what a Nikon dlc is, but assuming it is an slr type, there is in addition to the Zoom H6, the Tascam DR60 http://tascam.com/product/dr-60dmkii/which works well with slr style video work (has such useful filming attributes as a slate tone generator) as they both integrate well with a camera, however, a lot depends on what you intend doing with the recordings. The Zoom H6 is more useful as a general purpose recorder and is a much more modern design with better components than the Zoom H4N.

Of your list the OLY LS-11 is virtually unobtainable new, the LS-14 I personally find is better suited to musical use and the Zoom H4N may have slightly noisy pre-amps for your use.

To be honest deciding on a mic (or mics) to suit your recording requirements is probably more important than picking the recorder. If you are a beginner then do what everyone else is doing, that way you know it will work, and potentially simplify cabling.

Harryj is giving excellent advice, recorders with mini stereo 3.5mm connectors rarely have balanced XLR mono and vice versa, and not all recorders with XLR connectors provide enough oomph on their phantom power to drive all mics without strange noises.

The Fostex allows XLR or 1/4 inch mono jacks as mic inputs and I would guess provides more than adequate phantom power. As you point out it is not inexpensive and is possibly something to buy only if you are really going to make a lot of use of it, especially as lugging it around with possibly a Telinga requires a bit of dedication.

On paper the Zoom H6 ticks a lot of boxes, but I havn't had any experience of it and I don't think anyone on this forum has either and if you are recording mainly mono, and occasionally stereo may itself be a bit of an overkill. Unfortunately most of the more advanced recorders do take more time to set up initially and the manuals are a lot thicker.

All the paperwork, manuals, specifications etc are available online from the manufacturers and looking at those connected to your possible selection may help or give you some more questions to ask which some one will try to answer next time they open up this forum.

I wish there was a single right answer.

J

 

[Railoe]

Thank you for your answer,
What do you think for the following setup

Sennheiser ME66/K6
Rycoste Classic-Softie Kit
Zoom H5 or Zoom H6

This seems more lightweight and less expensive than going with Telinga set, and maybe a better choice to start.

 

[iveljay]

Make sure that you get the right Rycote Classic Softy Kit - 18cm Classic-Softie (19/22) - as you are aware there is the boom mounting kit, the camera mounting kit or just the Classic Softy on its own.

Clearly you will need a suitable cable - should be no problem going XLR to XLR.

The Zoom H5 does make more sense as you are not paying for more inputs than you need.

The only comment I have is that you would be using a recorder that is not in common use in this forum and any problems you encounter will not be easily answerable. For instance there are reports that creating a live stereo track from a single mono input limits input gain whatever limiter you have set, however, this does not happen if you are simply recording a mono track.

I would advise that you read the manuals that go with any recorder you intend to purchase before you part with any money to ensure that you understand how to make it do what you want it to do. It is different for me - I can bully things into doing what I want. The Fostex may be more flexible, but unfortunately I don't own one of these either and again you will need to understand how to make it do what you want.

As a raw beginner I feel that perhaps you should consider start simply and perhaps read all the threads in this forum to understand some of the hassles that will face you and perhaps go for a recorder that is well tried - your investment in your microphone will remain good whatever you do.

I have every confidence that the H5 or Fostex will record a perfectly good mono track for you, it really depends on what you intend doing with it.

 

[pshute]

For what it's worth, I'm using an ME66/K6 with a Sony M10, with simple adaptor cable, and I'm happy with it. I'm under the impression that this is a fairly common setup. I don't do video, so I don't know how well it fits that requirement.

 

[npos]

Zoom products not best choice for nature recording

Avoid the Zoom recorders. They are intended for recording music bands and are not that great for recording quiet nature sounds or birds, unless the birds are quite close. The microphone pre-amps have a high noise floor. This is not a problem with loud sounds miced closely. Olympus and Sony have better offerings in hand-held recording devices. The Fostex is an excellent choice and has the lowest noise levels for the money. But it is bulky, like carrying the large Sibley guide. NP

Thank you for your answer,
What do you think for the following setup

Sennheiser ME66/K6
Rycoste Classic-Softie Kit
Zoom H5 or Zoom H6

This seems more lightweight and less expensive than going with Telinga set, and maybe a better choice to start.