It appears the Audio-Technica AT897 shotgun microphone is not loud enough (via XLR input) for use with an H4N audio recorder (because of bad preamps, apparently), but users of AT875R and H4N say they get louder recording volume due to the AT875R being more sensitive or hotter, however, it can only run on phantom power (the AT897 can either be battery-powered or run on phantom power).
I'm just wondering if there's a large enough difference between the AT897 and the AT875R that an exchange would be beneficial enough.
For me, I have to raise the recording level of the H4N's XLR input (that the mic gets plugged into) all the way up to 100. When I get the recordings into post, I have to raise the volume by usually 400% or 12 dB in order to hear my voice reasonably loud enough. Now, when I recorded outside in my backyard, there was quite a bit of noise that was as loud as my own voice. I was able to use Sony's Noise Reduction filter and basically salvage my voice, but I don't want to have to do that every time for outside recordings. I can usually discern differences in terms of quality between separate recordings of my voice after applying filters and it just sounds weird and obvious between shots.
Yet, I recorded again last night indoors when it was very quiet and there was basically no noise in post, so all I had to do was raise the volume by 12 dB and maybe some equalizer. But rarely, there will be some parts of my speech that clips and normalizing that just sounds weird. 5 feet away or closer to the microphone seems best for quality. But at this point, working with the AT897 has given me the best quality audio than anything else (lavaliere, on-board camera mics, etc.). I'm not going to replace the H4n for something else, so that stays in my chain. Would a better solution be getting a preamplifier?
I'm mostly using this for narrative filmmaking and instructional videos.
What are your thoughts or advice?
I'm just wondering if there's a large enough difference between the AT897 and the AT875R that an exchange would be beneficial enough.
For me, I have to raise the recording level of the H4N's XLR input (that the mic gets plugged into) all the way up to 100. When I get the recordings into post, I have to raise the volume by usually 400% or 12 dB in order to hear my voice reasonably loud enough. Now, when I recorded outside in my backyard, there was quite a bit of noise that was as loud as my own voice. I was able to use Sony's Noise Reduction filter and basically salvage my voice, but I don't want to have to do that every time for outside recordings. I can usually discern differences in terms of quality between separate recordings of my voice after applying filters and it just sounds weird and obvious between shots.
Yet, I recorded again last night indoors when it was very quiet and there was basically no noise in post, so all I had to do was raise the volume by 12 dB and maybe some equalizer. But rarely, there will be some parts of my speech that clips and normalizing that just sounds weird. 5 feet away or closer to the microphone seems best for quality. But at this point, working with the AT897 has given me the best quality audio than anything else (lavaliere, on-board camera mics, etc.). I'm not going to replace the H4n for something else, so that stays in my chain. Would a better solution be getting a preamplifier?
I'm mostly using this for narrative filmmaking and instructional videos.
What are your thoughts or advice?
Last edited:
