Budget Recorder for foley

I

Ian Sanders

Member
Hi, I'm going stightly crazy trying to decide which recording device to get.

I need something for recording foley primarily but it would be good to be able to use it for narration and diologue.

i have a limited budget and have been considering either the Zoom H4 or H2.
i don't know whether the built in mic's would be adequate or if i need external mics, in which case would that influence the choice.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Ian
 
The Zoom H4n would give you the options of recording with internal and external mics.

For Foley (is it capitalized, by the way), you'll probably want to record in an acoustically treated, or at least semi-dead, space using a better mic. Remember, Foley pertains to sounds that are created in post. And stereo mics aren't always necessary for Foley.

If you're recording real sounds out on location, that would be FX recording. In that case, the built-in stereo mics on the Zoom are more than adequate. You can get some great ambient tracks, sounds of vehicles and machinery, forest/nature sounds, etc., from the built-in mics.

For VO and narration, again you'll probably want a better quality mic and you won't be recording those in stereo.

The advantages to the Zoom H4n are that it does have mics built-in, is fairly inexpensive, and is much more compact for planting in tight spaces during recording. The disadvantages are the preamps that are not terrible but not as good as the Fostex, limited I/O, and clunky user interface.

A better solution might be the Fostex FR2-LE, with an assortment of mics. It has no built-in stereo mics, but the preamps are great and it'll let you do most everything you need it to do.
 
thanks for the reply C2V.
I think i meant more FX recording, is it called a 'wild track'?? background ambient sound.
If i opted for the H2, would a single mic be adequate for the voice over and more specific sounds (foley)? if so which would you recommend? How important is the lack of XLR connections that are available on the H4?

Cheers
Ian
 
FX, wild track, ambience... most all can be done with the internal mics. Also note that hendling noise and wind are huge issues with the Zoom recorders. I hear that the windscreen on the H4n is much better than the one provided for the original H4, but you'll have more windscreening options for outdoor use of you use external mics.

The lack of XLR input (the H2 offers only 1/8" TRS) limits the mic selection to just a few mics, and most of them sub-par. You can, of course, use line-in from an external mixer, but if you did want to get a good mic for Foley you would have to have XLR in or an external mixer.
 
The H4n windscreen might be better than what comes with the H4, but it's still not very good if you want to use it outside.
I've had very good experience with these though...
http://www.redheadwindscreens.com/
Excellent performance even outside.

I believe Rycote makes similar (but slightly more expensive) versions of this for the H2 and H4.
 
Ian,

Your talking FX recording. It's not a "wild track", well not really. Usually a "wild track" is a track recorded wild that would normally be recorded in sync to picture. Usually "wild track" refers to dialog. But there is a term sometimes used WIFO (WIld FOley). Foley by definition is recorded in sync to picture but there are times when you record things that would usually be Foley but your recording non sync because, well say recording snow FS in actual snow. You will treat the tracks as if they were Foley once you get them back but they are not "real" Foley they are FIFO.
It's a safe bet to record FX in stereo. You can always colapse to mono if needed. THe onboard mics are pretty good for most recordings, but as mentioned you want to watch handling and wind noise.
A supper simplification but not bad rule of thumb is that if the thing is biger than your head you should be recording stereo.

Ambiences (Amb.) and Backgrounds (BG's) should be recorded in stereo.

For FX recording on a budget I would go with the zoom's mics and when I added on I would add an Oktava Hyper and a contact mic. You can make a contact mic from a piezo element so that is very cheap. Somewhere in there I would also get a good mic pre. The best bank for the buck I know of is the Sound Devices MixPre. I know it seems weird to have a mix pre that costs a number of times what your recorder costs but A mixPre (set up correctly) can make a MiniDisk sound as good (almost) as a DAT. And heck the Hyper is going to cost almost what the Zoom does.

Go forth and Record! It's fun. And it's FX so even if it's not right for what you wanted chances are it will get some use down the line.
 
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