Remote Recording Rigs for outdoor noise/effects

[EraserheadBaby]

Hey slutties,

As you can see I am pretty new to being fast and have yet to be broken in. I spend most of my time fingerbanging through this site and learning as a guest until I felt I had a reason to join (a question). I would like to go ahead and pop my cherry with the following as I checked the forums and still don't see what I feel might be there but I think I am in the right place. Its probably just basic knowledge. Anywhere here goes:

I am looking for advice for recording outdoor sound effects and countless other things with no line out or midi, like old sound toys to broken smoke detectors. I enjoy things with a grainy texture, but like perfectly audible not like white noise but... Like I had a Juno 106 and Prophet 600. I sold the Juno like instantly lol because it sounded way too pretty. ...for a mic im guessing that comes with tubes? I'd love to hear suggestions. I dont know where to start with a rig and mic, but Id love to know lol. For the mic I just want it to sound more alive than it actually is you know, for the rig Ii have no idea what I need but portability would be nice.

This site has been very very helpful, I found the MPC vs MV thing to be outstandingly informative, enough so to determine a purchase. I didnt even know that was the piece of gear I was looking for to begin with, I thought they were just part of hip hop madness and BOOM. Theres my answer. amazing. I only mention that because thats where whatever I take will be going and Id like it to work well with that...peas and carrots so to speak. Money doesnt really matter...efficiency and quality sound is all Im looking for. Thanks so much for your help. Don't worry. It will be a long while before I post again. I usually find what Im looking for.

[Kiwiburger]

Budget & expectations? A little two track digital hand-held recorder like the Roland or M-Audio boxes are a start - but I think they aren't very useful as is.

Battery life is the first issue - so you could use external battery packs.

Mics are the next issue - the built in ones are susceptible to wind noise, which is the major problem with outdoor recording. There are various options for dealing with this - the "dead cat" being one. Decent mics need phantom power - and the phantom power offered on these cheap digital toys isn't really hot enough.

So the next step might be a good portable mic preamp with phantom power. If budget isn't an issue, the Rupert Neve Portico preamps can run off 12V batteries, and they don't get much better than these.

You might also want a better A/D converter - at which point you might start looking at options that run off USB or Firewire. You don't necessarily need a PC or laptop - you can get 12V to USB power devices. Laptops can offer good recording options - but can produce noise, which starts to complicate matters.

Reasons to consider laptops would be if you need to synchronise to backing tracks - or if you want decent level meters for tracking.

There are various recorders at all price points - you might consider a single unit compromise. I prefer to use components - easier to maintain & upgrade when the break or become obsolete. But sometimes size, style or convenience is more important.

[EraserheadBaby]

Originally Posted by Kiwiburger

So the next step might be a good portable mic preamp with phantom power. If budget isn't an issue, the Rupert Neve Portico preamps can run off 12V batteries, and they don't get much better than these.

Originally Posted by Kiwiburger

There are various recorders at all price points - you might consider a single unit compromise. I prefer to use components - easier to maintain & upgrade when the break or become obsolete. But sometimes size, style or convenience is more important.

That is very helpful Burger, I really appreciate your time. This probably sounds crazy but looking up phantom power and mic preamp for the first time, and now its oh yes of course lol. Preamp is the solution for sure. lol. I thought that was only a possibility for studios. I dont know much, but I know that when I find what I need for a setup 99 percent of the time I spent planning it will go directly in learning my new gear and that I cant wait for. Hopefully about a year or so I'll have something to show.

[seansolo]

Something like the Tascam HD-P2 can do nicely in this situation. Paired with a Sennheiser shotgun mic (such as the MKH416 or the cheaper ME66) you've got a better-than-decent portable system there, all recording to compact flash. It doesn't suck, and with digital inputs, you can always stick better micpre's with digital converters (like the Grace Lunatec V3) for even better sound.

[EraserheadBaby]

Originally Posted by seansolo

Something like the Tascam HD-P2 can do nicely in this situation. Paired with a Sennheiser shotgun mic (such as the MKH416 or the cheaper ME66) you've got a better-than-decent portable system there, all recording to compact flash. It doesn't suck, and with digital inputs, you can always stick better micpre's with digital converters (like the Grace Lunatec V3) for even better sound.

Thankyou. I feel like that is extremely close to what Ill end up buying. I wasn't sure about recording in digital, just digitally sampling or recording analog pretty much but this looks right. Could there be a large benefit in buying one of these to run parts if not a whole digital mix through it (like completely digital signal with both analog and digi parts) before or after completion on a mv 8800 as like a last step. Vintage Synth Explorer - Mutronics Mutator or is that a waste since its not being fed live? Curious. Im probably confused but Im starting to get it I think. Also what is a good A/D converter might be? Im not totally onboard with that yet. I know analog is great but if its digital to begin with... hmm.