On-location sound recording and Zoom H4n levels

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paulbland

New member
Hi, I have a question about sound recording.

I tested out my new Zoom H4n recorder for the first time. I hooked it up to a boom mic, about 2 feet from the actor's mouth and set the levels. To get his voice hovering around -6 dB the levels of the zoom were pretty high, around 90. He was talking normally in a relatively quiet room.

The problem was the hiss. There was a lot of hiss when the levels were up this high. I tried bringing the levels down ago around 50. His voice then hovered around -24 dB, but the hiss was much better.

My question is, in this situation, where should the levels be? How do I find the balance between hiss and decent levels for the recording?

(FYI: Using Zoom H4n, mic is Rode NTG-2, using phantom power 48v, no battery installed)

If anyone had a few words of advice I would be really grateful.

Thanks,
Paul
 
The Zoom is a great device for the price, but it has terrible preamps overall. You cannot raise the volume over a certain point and get useable sound. I don't remember what that point was in my testing.

First solution, put a battery in your microphone. Always. And make sure it's always charged. I believe you can also put in a boost through the Zoom, but I don't really remember that either. Then learn to accept low levels that need to be raised in post.

Second option is to get a mixer to go in front of the Zoom, but you lose the portability there. So it may not be possible for you.

The third option is to get a more expensive recorder with proper hardware.
 
Thanks for the response. I've heard great results from the Zoom, so I don't feel I need to upgrade.

I've also heard several times that phantom power will sound better if you have that option (i.e. not using a battery at all). Can anyone else clarify this point?

So- should I go with the higher levels when recording and attempt to remove this hiss in post, or should I go with the lower levels and try to raise the overall level in post? (Or somewhere in the middle?)

Thanks again
 
"I've also heard several times that phantom power will sound better if you have that option (i.e. not using a battery at all). Can anyone else clarify this point?"
-- Normally with a dual option Phantom / battery powered mic, the Phantom Pwr. will have slightly better specs, usually a few dBs more of max SPL. Any audible difference between the two power sources would be negligible... (unless the battery is near dead), Phantom Pwr. is just down converted to bias current anyway on a electret condenser mic.
 
There are phantom power settings if you dig around in the menus. Test out various settings and volume levels, see what you end up with. Always test everything as much as you can.
 
I picked up a cloudlifter cl-1 the other day to help boost gain for voice overs. It was worth every penny! I still boosted the levels in post so i could keep the gain low on the recorder, but you have to try really hard to hear any hissing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YYL0njoeNw (Not my video but a great review and pratical test)

He is actually using an h4n in the video. Just note, it uses the phantom power from the h4n so you would still use the battery in the mic.
 
If you're setting levels so that the dialogue is hovering around the -6db mark, that means you only have 6db of headroom before your audio will go into distortion. With those levels, a loud fart can ruin your track.

Back the gain off a little, at least another 10db to give you some wiggle room. That will also reduce the hiss from the H4N preamps, and achieve a reasonable balance of signal/noise.

I doubt you'll notice an appreciable difference on the NTG2 with phantom vs. battery power (you would on a high end recorder's preamps), but phantom usually delivers better results. Try them both and see. If there's no difference, then use the battery in the mic. That way, you'll increase the battery life of the recorder by using less power.
 
Mike Paul said:
That way, you'll increase the battery life of the recorder by using less power.
Click to expand...

This is most of why I say use a battery. The Zoom doesn't carry a huge power pack, and when they get sucked dry I've noticed the phantom power can even become unreliable.
 
rmflyfisher said:
I picked up a cloudlifter cl-1 the other day to help boost gain for voice overs. It was worth every penny! I still boosted the levels in post so i could keep the gain low on the recorder, but you have to try really hard to hear any hissing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YYL0njoeNw (Not my video but a great review and pratical test)

He is actually using an h4n in the video. Just note, it uses the phantom power from the h4n so you would still use the battery in the mic.
Click to expand...

Is this just for dynamic mics? Mine is a condenser
 
paulbland said:
Is this just for dynamic mics? Mine is a condenser
Click to expand...

It was made for ribbon mics but was quickly used for other things when people figured that it just adds 20db of clean gain to the signal chain. It would use the phantom power off the h4n, so your condenser would have to be battery powered.
 
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