Hi all,

Fist time poster, long time trawler

I'm trying to build up a modest field recording setup on a low(ish) budget for capturing urban and natural ambiences and point sources for my own electroacoustic/acousmatic compositions.

My kit so far:

Currently I have a Zoom H4n and have a helpful friend designing a building me a portable 2ch preamp to get around the noisy, low gain pres of the recorder. Apparently the design borrows heavily from this particular unit: JLM Audio Shop - MONO kit Ver2. I have recently bought a contact mic from Cold Gold Contact Microphones - Online Store, and I have two AKG C1000s sitting at home (not really useful for field recording). Of course there's also the on board stereo mics on the Zoom (not amazing but could be useful).

However, my question is, if I were to invest in one mic to begin my field recording adventures, what should I buy? I'd like to expand my kit to include a range of things in the future - from a coincident stereo mic, a shotgun for point sources, hydrophone etc - but I have to start somewhere, and at this stage I'm looking for one thing to kick things off. Budget is probably between $400-$600..

Any advice on starting out would be appreciated!

MKH 418 used.

I would say, as an initial single point stereo mic to get out there with, the Audio-Technica AT8022 could be an good choice; as I understand, it's a dual large diaphragm X-Y mic, although it's frequency response, according to the AT site is 20hz-15khz, so I wouldn't expect much definition in the higher registers. From what I've heard (and this isn't much), it yields a pretty wide image (in fact, there's a suspiciously prominent separation for an X-Y, mono-compatible formation), but this could be good for your applications.

On the other hand, the Rode NT4 is a decent mic for the money imo, although it's pretty harsh in the high registers, and quite heavy/bulky.

Matched omnis will probably do you the best; you choose the most suitable formation and generally regarded as the quietest/flattest response for outdoors atmos etc.

You used the term 'acousmatic', are you studying?

Best!

Adam

I have done similar work and I'd probably find a matched pair of omnis and use a disc to separate them. The Line Audio OM-1s are dirt cheap and serviceable. You could also use small-diaphragm condensers (Line makes these, too: CM-3).

Thanks for the replies all - and sorry for the delayed response!

I ended up going with a used (like new) Sennheiser MKH 416 short shotgun. Got it for approx $US630 on eBay - which seems like it was a pretty good deal! After trawling around forums and the like, this has popped up time and time again, so I bit the bullet (no pun intended) and went for it. The NT4 is definitely also on my list for ambiences and the like, I think it would prove really useful also.

Also heard good things about keeping a pair of the small DPA 4060 omnis in the bag... heard some outdoor ambiences recorded with them that sound pretty nice, and they'd be convenient to lug around too! Anyone had any experiences with these?

Looking forward to getting into recording with the 416 when she arrives - hope to post a couple of sound clips also.

Thanks again!

Ben

(To reply to your question Adam, not studying composition but pursuing a doctorate in interactive music. Have been making sound works alongside my performance/improvisation work for a while, which I sometimes classify as 'acousmatic')

I find a pair of Avenson STO-2 omnis (nicely in your budget at $550 from Mercenary Audio) make excellent recordings of natural ambiences and have been an incredible investment in the 7+ years I've owned them - very flat response, with great sensitivity and depth, and a low profile.

If the test of a decent ambient recording mic is that it makes the sort of recordings that occasionally make you have to take your headphones off to check whether the sound was real or not - the Avensons can sure do that, at least when paired with decent pre-amps (Metric Halo ULN-2 here).

They work well on point sources too if you like to record sounds with a bit of 'air' in them, ie not dry as a bone. I use them on percussion, piano, anything really. I've also used them for micing stages, video shoots, voice, dialogue - something of a poor man's desert island mic I'd say!

They are a tad on the noisy side for critical listening but my sense is that you'd need to spend a lot more to get a significantly quieter omni of the same sort of quality (obviously I haven't tried them all).