Mic Advice and Recommendations

J

Jim Simon

Veteran
I film weddings. I find the quality of the original Zoom H4n sufficient for the task. It's Auto level mode works very well for my needs. I hook into the DJ board, place the Zoom in front of his booth and record in four channel mode. Perfect...almost.

The H4n won't give me a single four channel file. The only option is two stereo files. So this year I'm upgrading to the F4 to get that single, four channel file. That'll simplify my editing nicely.

The F4 doesn't come with built-in mics like the H4n does. So I'll need to add a couple mics and maybe an ORTF mic stand to place in front of the DJ booth. Any recommendations?
 
I'm not super into audio, but I will say that when using a battery powered recorder, you want a mic that has it's own battery. I have an Audio Technica AT-875R that I run with the H4N for sound on short and feature films. I only get about an hour of battery on the Zoom due to it supplying power to the mic.
 
Zoom H6 is another option.
Six tracks,good preamps,nice little screen
 
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Jim Simon said:
The H4n won't give me a single four channel file. The only option is two stereo files. So this year I'm upgrading to the F4 to get that single, four channel file. That'll simplify my editing nicely.
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I haven't really thought this through and am not really familiar with Zoom recorders, but could you perhaps run your H4n files through the free WaveAgent utility from Sound Devices and combine those two stereo files into a single polyphonic Broadcast WAV file? (or maybe you'd first split the stereo files into mono, and then combine into a single BWF-poly file)?

I find Wave Agent useful for all sorts of tasks. It's simple, flexible, light weight, and free. You could probably see if it'll help you in less than 30 minutes (including downloading and installing). https://www.sounddevices.com/products/accessories/software/wave-agent

Or does anyone else here know for sure that Wave Agent won't help here?
 
FWIW,
Magix Vegas Pro (formally Sony Vegas Pro) has a preferences option to assign two channel files as stereo pairs or as mono tracks. If the F4 only saves a multi-channel poly file, some NLEs won't load it if it contains more than two channels. In that case, you're back to Wave Agent.
 
Can't you just bring the two stereo files in and just split them into four mono - that's what you do in Premiere, I assume other editors are the same?
 
that's what you do in Premiere, I assume other editors are the same?"
Not all, with some NLEs, it's quick and easy, with others it's a PITA and not possible in a lot of consumer NLE apps.
Wave Agent is about as cheap and easy as it gets if your NLE can't do it.
 
The zoom f4 has phantom power I believe, so no need for a battery powered mic. Especially if you can power the F4 via DC.

You could look at the LyxPro microphones for a great value. Certainly better than what was built into the H4N.

You get a pair and each has capsules. Price can't be beat. Actually, they are out on their website and amazon but I am sure you can still find them somewhere. I snagged them a year ago and they're pretty good.

https://www.lyxpro.com/products/lyxsdpc2-stereo-pair-of-pencil-condenser-stick-microphones

EDIT: found them here, a little higher in price but still a good value. Only 1 left? I wonder if LyxPro manufactured these to get their name out their as a loss-leader or something?

https://www.ecrater.com/p/30099467/...BIRqryDl55skfuWauEqZrvH1NBJOu7JxoCe4wQAvD_BwE
 
Jim Simon said:
So I'll need to add a couple mics and maybe an ORTF mic stand to place in front of the DJ booth. Any recommendations?
Click to expand...

Superlux S502:
https://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_s502.htm

El Director said:
I'm not super into audio, but I will say that when using a battery powered recorder, you want a mic that has it's own battery. I have an Audio Technica AT-875R that I run with the H4N for sound on short and feature films. I only get about an hour of battery on the Zoom due to it supplying power to the mic.
Click to expand...


No, just instead take the proper approach and use an external power supply for your recorder if shooting for full days.
 
Yeah I've been pondering for ages as if to buy it... has some decent user reviews on gearsultz

But got so much other audio gear I want to get first!
 
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