audio recorder and field mixers??

[jambredz]

I'm going to step out and look like a fool for the sake of knowledge and ask...cuz i dont understand. Whats the difference? say i have a boom mic with xlr cable running running into a zoomh4n for example ...or boom running into a field mixer they both can be used to record cleaner audio than running it into the camera?

I dont know...and also if using sumthing like a zoom then it will have to be synced also right? My "sound for film and tv" dvd is on its way so i guess things will be clearer.

 

[Alex H.]

Simply put, a recorder actually has a mechanism to record the sound. It may feature more than two inputs, and even more than two tracks of recording. It might even be able to function as a mixer.

A field mixer does not record. It will have more than one input with pre-amps, signal routing (either rotary pan or L-C-R switching), hopefully some sort of limiting. The mixer moves the signal on, and that signal can either be sent out to a digital audio recorder, the camera, or both.

If you use a recorder separately from the camera... yes, the audio will have to be lined up with the video in post.

 

[jambredz]

thanks alex. So the basic function of the mixer is for limiting purposes?

And will recording to something like the zoomh4n be better than straight to the dvx?

Also can u monitor with headphones on that (zoom)?

 

[Alex H.]

So the basic function of the mixer is for limiting purposes?

No. Decent or good limiters are a wonderful feature. But the primary function of the mixer is to function, well... as a mixer. Let's take the basic three-in, two-out design of boxes like the Shure FP33 and the SD302. You have three mic/line switchable inputs with pre-amps (and pre-amps are only active with mic-level in, as their purpose is to bring mic-level sources up to line-leve). The pres have phantom and/or T power. They can also be panned/assigned to left, center, and right. (Sweepable pan is much more useful than hard-switched L-C-R.) This allows you to split things out before they are sent through the stereo outputs.

If you have one mic, you can send it out to one or both of the output channels. If you have sweepable pan, you can use that to create your safety channel. Two mics, you'll probably want to split them hard left and hard right, separated for mixing in post. Three mics, and you'll have to triage which one you want better control over in post. And as an example of three mics mixed to two channels, in my days with a certain garden- and home-themed network, we'd have a show host interviewing two home owners. I'd put the talent on her own record channel (straight to DBeta), and would mix the two home owners on the fly to the other record channel.

To summarize: the mixer offers preamps, signal amplification, signal routing, limiting, metering, and monitoring.

And will recording to something like the zoomh4n be better than straight to the dvx?

Well, in a way. The DVX has preamps that are better than some as far as the so-called "pro-sumer" class of cameras is concerned. And I have gotten perfectly usable audio straight to the DVX. But I find it much cleaner if recorded to the camera with line-in from a mixer's line-out.

As for using an external recorder, there are good and bad points.

Good:
- Sending a mixer's line-out to the recorder's line in can give you pristine audio.
- Some of the new digital recorders have pre-amps that are better than the DVX if you have no mixer (the original H4 is not one of those, though I hear the pres are vastly improved in the H4n).
- The recorders may offer higher-resolution or higher-bitrate recording. This may or may not be of use to you.

Bad:
- Some recorders have poor pre-amps, meaning that you'll need an external mixer.
- These recorders are non-TC. To sync audio to video in post, you'll need to be diligent about slates and logs.
- These recorders have no SMPTE clock, so the audio will drift from the video. The way around that is to time-compress the audio in post, since it will run longer than the video.

Also can u monitor with headphones on that (zoom)?

Yes. I would never trust a recorder that had no headphone connection.

 

[jambredz]

kool...thank you