Auto gain feature

[Sean Jeong]

Just a quick question, I've been hearing that the auto gain has a tendency to change the audio when theres too much noise. I've been going around on b&h looking for accessories to go with my camera and I've been wondering if I would need to get a portable recorder with a shotgun mic. If the auto gain is a big problem than I would but I'm not too sure if it is...

 

[Fa451]

I would say look at the H4N. The problem with an autogain is the variation of bgnd noise. It can be very hard on post to remove a constantly changing noise.

 

[Ben_B]

The H4n is a great low-end audio recorder with built in mics. I personally have the H4 because I managed to get it for much cheaper ($160 barely used, a good price even for the H4, vs twice that for an H4n, used or otherwise.)

 

[Sean Jeong]

Would you use the h4n as the mic itself or would a mic like the Azden sgm 1x have better quality and less noise?

 

[Fa451]

I use a RODE NTG1 and the result is excellent, really. Neutral sound, very low noise, etc.

You can do fun things with the H4N mics, but i would never use them professionnally for anything other than ambiant sound. They sound thick and boomy on voices.