Devices for taping Field Interviews to be used in podcasts? [Archive]

PCOSGurl

Apr 25th, 2005, 12:40 PM

I just listened to the RadioKitchen podcast, and the addition of the field intervews was nice.

What type of devices can be used for this?

I found one here: http://podcastgear.com/ (see at the bottom of the page).

Are there any alternatives?

Thanks, in advance! :)

mental-escher

Apr 25th, 2005, 12:58 PM

What type of devices can be used for this?

iRiver flash mp3 (http://www.iriveramerica.com/prod/ultra/700/)player/recorder (stereo) works really really well (and is small enough to easilly fit in shirt pocket) and only costs ~ $100 (256mb). Add another $30-40 for a mono or stereo lapel mic (I got this and it works great: SP-CMC-19 from SOUND PROFESSIONALS (http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/category.cgi?query=stereo%20microphone&template=search&searchfields=sku%7Cbrand%7Cmodel%7Ckeywords&limitcategory=&category=search&orderby=INVENTORY%2Ehot%20desc%2C%20INVENTORY%2Ebr and%2C%20INVENTORY%2Emodel&match=pattern&template=search&searchtype=and&templatehead=&templatebody=&templatefoot=&templatethumb=&&start=10)) and you're all set for field recording!

cb

PCOSGurl

Apr 25th, 2005, 01:20 PM

bazookajoeshow

Apr 25th, 2005, 01:26 PM

I started off using a beat up Sony handheld tape recorder just out of necessity. As soon as I could I switched over to handheld digital recorder used for dictation, which sucked. It sounded like I was recording the interviews with a sock in my mouth. I've since switched over to the iRiver iFP-899 which I use only as a redocrding device.

Here's what I've found that's interesting. When I was using a traditional microphone it really effected the outcome fo the interviews I was doing. If I used the mic people would either become shy or adopt the mannerisms of people they see on television. Since I've been using the built-in mic on the iRiver I've noticed that people are more comfortable and informal during the interviews. Something to keep on mind.

I purchased one of those Lavalier lapel mics a week ago but the **** thing doesn't work so I'm taking it back to Best Buy. I might exchange it for another or just get my money back and get one of those Greiffen stereo lapel mics that Adam Curry has been playing around with.

I'll let you know.

Bazooka Joe

PCOSGurl

Apr 25th, 2005, 01:31 PM

Thanks, Bazooka!!

What is the soundquality of the built-in mic?

jeffoest

Apr 25th, 2005, 06:10 PM

The built-in mic? It's actually not bad. Fairly sensitive. I found it works better at a lower kbps setting - I found that it clipped a bunch at the highest settings when speaking close to it at a normal voice volume. Both Ferg and I concluded that it was probably designed to be a lecture hall type of mic for students.

I would look at it this way. If your podcast consists of a $20 mic and no preamps for your studio work, chances are the internal mic on the iRiver will meet your needs in the field. If you are used to a bit more quality, you probably won't be happy with it. The good news is that you can get pretty decent field-enabled mics from folks like Sound Professionals ranging from $30-$150 that are dramatically better than the internal mic. Then again, in a pinch, it's nice to have the ok quality of the internal vs. nothing at all!

On a side note, for what they pack into these iRiver's, they are a true bargain.

bazookajoeshow

Apr 25th, 2005, 06:28 PM

The sound quality is a lot better than I would have expected. I haven't noticed anything being clipped off but there's always a first time.

Like I said, I'm probably going to return my Lavalier lapel mic and get the Griffen lapel mic instead.

Bazooka Joe

Thanks, Bazooka!!

What is the soundquality of the built-in mic?

Craig

Apr 25th, 2005, 06:29 PM

What is the soundquality of the built-in mic?
The built-in mic is good for a built-in mic. This is much better if you want to stay low-budget ($25 + $4 shipping) and high-portability:

http://www.reactivesounds.com/rp1.php

Craig

Craig

Apr 25th, 2005, 06:35 PM

Like I said, I'm probably going to return my Lavalier lapel mic and get the Griffen lapel mic instead.
Before you do that, listen to the first sample recording on the following page, a live concert recorded with $40 stereo lapel mics into an iRiver:

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/category/samples

The difference between the $15 Griffin and these is huge. If you can afford it, go with these. If not, the Griffin is at least a step up from built-ins and cheaper lavs.

Craig

F7sound

Apr 26th, 2005, 06:55 AM

I've also got to chime in on the iRiver and SoundProfessionals combination. The iRiver kicks *** and is perfect for podcasting. Mine is the 899, but others in the series work great also. I've used the iRiver built-in mic too and it works fine. Not the best fidelity, but more than suitable for podcasting.

Other devices to try if you're into experimenting: minidisc, microcassette, digital voice recorder. Hey, anything that grabs an audio signal will work and each adds it's own "footprint" to the audio.

Michael Oster
F7 Sound and Vision
http://www.F7sound.com
my podcasts - http://www.F7sound.com/podcasts.htm
my blog - http://michaeloster.blogspot.com

pdadave

Apr 27th, 2005, 04:18 PM

Minidisk...all minidisk.

Alright, I am a little stuck on them for portable media records and probably will be until I can get a rack mounted SD card player or the like.

camilian

Apr 27th, 2005, 06:31 PM

I use both a minidisc and an Iriver. Both are great. Iriver is perfect for steath stuff, but the minidisc has much better sound.

Craig

Apr 27th, 2005, 07:01 PM

Iriver is perfect for steath stuff, but the minidisc has much better sound.
I'd be really curious to hear an example of this...can you record a sample from each of the same sound source/same mic to compare, with the iRiver set at 44KHz, 320kbps stereo for its sample?

Craig

camilian

Apr 27th, 2005, 08:00 PM

I will record something tonight.... you want that without pooping, correct?

camilian

Apr 29th, 2005, 01:58 PM

OK, sorry for the delay... got stuck in a shoot yesterday.

Here is the iriver file - http://www.brentina.com/soundtest/Iriver.MP3
Here is the minidisc - http://www.brentina.com/soundtest/MiniDisc.mp3

Now most of the noise from the iriver is on the right channel. If I take it in to Audacity and pull out that channel I can get most of the hum out... but that is more work. If I place the iriver into mono, that noise is spread across both channels.

I should also say, the minidisc has a level indicator wich makes a HUGE difference while recording.

Craig

Apr 29th, 2005, 02:11 PM

Thanks Chris, that IS interesting. Not only because the minidisc does sound significantly better but also because the results you're getting from the iRiver are significantly different from the results I get from mine (I'll try and post a sample later tonight). Which iRiver and mic are you using? Also, which version of the iRiver firmware (displays on power on)? I did have one problem with preamp noise that sounded similar to what I hear in your sample on my iRiver when I upgraded the firmware to 1.28...I've since gone back to 1.25.

Finally, at least on the 700 and 800 series iRivers, you can set the display to show the sound levels while recording/playing through the preferences. While this isn't nearly as accurate as a basic level indicator, at least it helps.

Craig

camilian

Apr 29th, 2005, 02:29 PM

I am using the IFP795 with a audio technica lav - cheap $35 mic. As you might remember this is the second Iriver I have had.

I am using 1.25 firmware.

Could you point me to the option to show sound recording levels? I can not seem to find that in the settings.

Craig

Apr 29th, 2005, 02:36 PM

I don't have the iRiver with me but I think it's the second menu (Display?) and there's an option to show graph/levels/... or something like that. If that's not it I'll check when I get home.

It's not perfect but it's better than nothing.

Craig

jeffoest

Apr 29th, 2005, 02:48 PM

Chris,

Thanks for sharing!

It does seem like an unfair comparison though, doesn't it? On the iRiver sample, I heard sound coming from mostly the left channel with a lot of fuzz in the right channel. What was that? As Craig said, that's not the way my iRiver sounds either - it was horrible!! lol

If it's helpful, I can post a small sample of some recording I did last weekend with the binaurals and the iRiver at a fair... the files are at home though so I can't get to it until tonight.. But they sound great - no noise, etc...

Leveling without meters is a pain that i would rather not do but I did find that messing about for an hour so between recording with the iRiver at different input levels for each mic (and simulating different environments) and looking at the resulting recordings through Audition and adjusting accordingly, I was able to craft a few input settings that seem to have worked fine for me so far...

For a minidisk to be better (or an iRiver for that matter) everything else being equal it would have to come down to two things 1) A/D converters and 2) digital compression algorithsm....At the $200 price-point for the whole thing, I'm taking a leap but I would say that there probably is not much difference in the A/D converters... so the difference (if there is any) would end up being in the compression algorithms.... is that right?

camilian

Apr 29th, 2005, 07:45 PM

It does seem like an unfair comparison though, doesn't it?

Yes and no. I am using the exact same mic, so the fact that the Iriver treats it different from all my other recording devices (minidisc, computer, mixer) does come into it. Now I could remove that channel and it would sound much better... but if you check just the left channel you will see there is still noise.

If it's helpful, I can post a small sample of some recording I did last weekend with the binaurals and the iRiver at a fair... the files are at home though so I can't get to it until tonight.. But they sound great - no noise, etc...

Please do, it is hard for me to beleive that I got two broken Irivers... but that might be the case.

so the difference (if there is any) would end up being in the compression algorithms.... is that right?

That sounds correct to me.. I was reading in a digital video magazine that the minidisc is still being used in most production because of the superior compression over other digital formats. Don't know how correct this is, I will try to track down that article... I think it was in DV, or some industry mag. Might have been from Jay Rose.

camilian

Apr 29th, 2005, 07:53 PM

I don't have the iRiver with me but I think it's the second menu (Display?)

I have the visualization menu that lets you turn it on during playback, but can not find anything that will allow me to see levels while recording... wacky.

jeffoest

Apr 29th, 2005, 08:59 PM

Chris,

Yea I see what you're saying - you can't get much better of an A/B test than that. I just hate to think that you got another bad one.

Anyways, here's the recording. This is through the iRiver at 320kbps. I'm using the binaurals as we are walking down a road. You can hear the wind unfortunately (even though I had the 'windshields' installed) but I find that when moving it's hard to avoid with these mics. Also I MUST learn to not move my head so much as it totally screws with the stereo field lol

Oh this recording was made BEFORE i dropped one of the mics into my beer... (turned out to be just fine)

http://www.thisandthatpodcast.com/BinauralSample.mp3

camilian

Apr 29th, 2005, 09:28 PM

Hrmm... That sounds great... Will have a little time to play with it tonight, try a few different mics and see what I get.

Craig

Apr 30th, 2005, 12:54 AM

I have the visualization menu that lets you turn it on during playback, but can not find anything that will allow me to see levels while recording... wacky.
No, I'm wacky...I could have sworn the levels were there while recording but I just checked and they're not. My bad.

The recording quality I get is pretty much the same as Jeff, so I won't post a sample unless you want one from a Sony ECM-MS907 just for fun.

Jeff, which binaurals were you using?

Craig

Craig

Apr 30th, 2005, 12:56 AM

Oh this recording was made BEFORE i dropped one of the mics into my beer... (turned out to be just fine)
Better than dropping your cell phone into the toilet, at the WORST possible time. Not fine at all.

Craig

jeffoest

Apr 30th, 2005, 01:33 AM

Craig - they were these ones from Sound Professionals:

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-TFB-2

Jeff, which binaurals were you using?

Craig

May 29th, 2005, 05:47 PM

Also I MUST learn to not move my head so much as it totally screws with the stereo field lol

Holy moly, you're not kidding! I think I was just about to get a little motion-sick. Everything's spinning! ;-)

So many microphones, so little money....

JesusGeek

May 30th, 2005, 04:52 PM

it sounds like i'm in the same boat as a lot of other people.

i bought the italk and the griffin lapel mic for recording a recent tour I took in Israel in hopes of turning it into a podcast, but the audio really isn't all that great.

I'm already planning to purchase a replacement, and it's coming down to Adam Curry's iRiver setup vs. Fr. Roderick's (the CatholicInsider) MD.

So far the iRiver iFP-799 looks a little more attractive just based on price and what I've heard with Adam's soundseeing tours. (Plus Roderick's MD just broke on him).

This dilemma sounds like making of a great "behind the scenes" podcast! :wink:

Craig

May 30th, 2005, 10:19 PM

Actually, a review of the iTalk done with the iTalk was the first "Behind the Scenes" way back in November. The next "Behind the Scenes" will be on "guerilla podcasting" using a $60 iriver (128K) and a $15 headset mic.

The primary advantage to MD is a slight increase in audio quality and the fact that you're using removable media, which means that you never have to worry about running out of recording time. On the other hand, with a 1GB iRiver iFP-799 recording at 44MHz, 256Kbps you've got something like 9 hours of recording time if I recall correctly, 18 if you go to 128Kbps. The primary disadvantage to an MD is limited battery life...on the iRiver you've got 8+ hours on one easily-replaceable standard AA.

Craig

JesusGeek

May 31st, 2005, 02:55 PM

Actually, a review of the iTalk done with the iTalk was the first "Behind the Scenes" way back in November.

Craig

i'll have to download and check it out, but I think I can already guess what the verdict is. :lol: The best thing about the italk is the price (i think i spent $60 for the italk and mic combined).

The bummer is that it could be a great use of an ipod if apple would just unlock the bitrate with a firmware upgrade. I guess they keep the quality so low to keep the ipod from becoming a live-concert recording device. Maybe they'll see the errors of their ways with the embracing of podcasts in 4.9 and issue an update at the same time.

ya right! :D