Hi everyone, I'm looking to buy an audio recorder for use in the field, mostly along-side my 5D Mark II for now. My 'wishlist' is a little different than most, who seem to be happy with an H4N or DR100, etc. I'm looking for something a little more feature rich. Specifically I am hoping to buy something that has timecode support, plus is able to output timecode as an audio channel (I believe it's called LTC timecode?). 4 XML inputs, 4 discrete channel recording. I know this is going to cost a few bucks -- I'm just trying to get a sense of the various competing models with these features. Any help is certainly welcome!
Need some hardware advice on field recorder
- Thread starter tfg
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Rippie
Veteran
We really need to know a lot more information in order to help. Budget, your needs, what the rest of your audio equipment is etc.
If the rest of your gear is below par then it doesn't make sense to buy a super high end recorder, instead it would make more sense to spread your budget out over multiple pieces of gear.
Without more info I would agree with ullanta. A Sound Devices 744T.
If the rest of your gear is below par then it doesn't make sense to buy a super high end recorder, instead it would make more sense to spread your budget out over multiple pieces of gear.
Without more info I would agree with ullanta. A Sound Devices 744T.
I'll give you a general rundown: I'm a TV editor by day job, and have plenty of experience dealing with audio on the post end of things (audio included) and worked as a camera OP for 5 years before that. I mention this only so that you'll have an idea of my level of my knowledge/expertise. I do not have any audio gear currently, and own a 5D Mark II camera. I'm trying to avoid buying an H4N or comparable audio recorder because I feel the devices restrictive with the lack of timecode and only 2 input recording channels.
My desired workflow is this:
- Shoot with LTC audio going into the 5D Mark II.
- Edit in Avid, which can automatically sync up video/sound via the LTC audio channel.
Budget wise, I was hoping that the unit itself would not surpass $2000. I do not have a set amount, nor do I have an urgency to buy immediately either. I'm thinking of this as a general investment that, over time with additional purchases of mics, becomes just another part of my shooting package that I own.
Doc Bernard
Indie Arms Member
Once you start getting into timecode out and more than 2 preamps, things really start narrowing down.
+3 on the 744T, based on your requirements. But it will be twice your stated budget, unless you buy used.
But I wasn't aware the 5d accepts timecode as a slave. If it does, call me educated on that. But if it goes in as an audio signal also, yeah, I guess you can do it. But you sacrifice a channel on the 5D. So I guess you will be still manually tweaking the audio in post to align it, same as if you didn't use TC. Timecode is an interesting beast. Over long takes, if you do not have high quality oscillators in both master/slave, there will be drift, without a doubt. I would be highly confident in the SD744T's TC stability, but the 5d.......not so much, as they really didn't focus a whole lot on the audio aspect of the camera when designing it. And the Magic Lantern hack for the 5D, amazing as it is, still depends on the hardware/oscillators of the 5D (which for what you are wanting to do, is the weak link in the chain)
A slate though, helps tons. And if you can drop the TC requirement, your choices open considerably and the prices drop quite a bit.
If TC is a real concern for you, I would be considering a camera that had dedicated and designed TC in or out, as if they went to that level, they would be using higher quality oscillators in the circuit.
I don't think I would trust a TC "work-around" like what the Magic Lantern hack does if it was that critical.
+3 on the 744T, based on your requirements. But it will be twice your stated budget, unless you buy used.
But I wasn't aware the 5d accepts timecode as a slave. If it does, call me educated on that. But if it goes in as an audio signal also, yeah, I guess you can do it. But you sacrifice a channel on the 5D. So I guess you will be still manually tweaking the audio in post to align it, same as if you didn't use TC. Timecode is an interesting beast. Over long takes, if you do not have high quality oscillators in both master/slave, there will be drift, without a doubt. I would be highly confident in the SD744T's TC stability, but the 5d.......not so much, as they really didn't focus a whole lot on the audio aspect of the camera when designing it. And the Magic Lantern hack for the 5D, amazing as it is, still depends on the hardware/oscillators of the 5D (which for what you are wanting to do, is the weak link in the chain)
A slate though, helps tons. And if you can drop the TC requirement, your choices open considerably and the prices drop quite a bit.
If TC is a real concern for you, I would be considering a camera that had dedicated and designed TC in or out, as if they went to that level, they would be using higher quality oscillators in the circuit.
I don't think I would trust a TC "work-around" like what the Magic Lantern hack does if it was that critical.
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I don't think it officially accepts very much, just a line-in for audio. The idea is to feed the timecode as audio into the 5D via line-in.
Indeed, twice the budget. But, if that's what it takes I will just have to plan a little more and decide if it worth while.
Noiz2
Sound Ninja
First a jump back to your first post. LTC is what is recorded on a TC track or a track of multichannel tape and is what you want. VITC was the other common TC format but only works on video tape (don't think video files have a place for it).
Depending on how lean and mean you want to be another option would be a Denecke box like the SB-3 plugged into the Tascam HDP2.
That would be in your budget. If the Avid can sync based on two LTC tracks then you could even go with the multi track Tascam and lay TC down on one of the channels. That would give you five tracks of sound +one TC and the whole kit would be well under $2K.
Or if you really need tracks and can be cart based you could go with BoomRecorder on a Mac. A Mac Mini and screen plus interface and the TC box would probably run around your budget level and you can record pretty much as many tracks as you can get interfaces for. I tested 76 tracks simultaneously from a Mac Book Pro to a USB2 hard-drive with no drop outs. And I have recorded 14 in's for over four hours straight with out any issues at all.
BR will jam to TC.
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>>That would be in your budget. If the Avid can sync based on two LTC tracks then you could even go with the multi track Tascam and lay TC down on one of the channels. That would give you five tracks of sound +one TC and the whole kit would be well under $2K.
Thanks for the excellent post. Just a further question: The HDP2 appears to be a stereo recorder (2 XLR) + TC-in XLR -- correct? If so, which multitrack Tascam unit were you referring for under 2k and 5 tracks?
Thanks for the excellent post. Just a further question: The HDP2 appears to be a stereo recorder (2 XLR) + TC-in XLR -- correct? If so, which multitrack Tascam unit were you referring for under 2k and 5 tracks?