Zoom H4N or Laptop + MBox

M

Marduk

Well-known member
hey guys
I'm having a hard time trying to decide which way i want to go for recording stuff like parties, concerts, weddings(the reception part) etc. I know what i want to do with on cam mics and recording ambience and stuff, i have that figured out. What i want to do is record a feed coming from the mixer, i dont want to go the wireless route and i dont want to run cables to the cam. Im willing to do the extra work in post syncing, so i was thinking either go with a recorder like the zoom h4n or use a laptop and an mbox. I know that the laptop will probably be less reliable vs a stand alone unit like the h4n but the laptop will give me more flexibility and options.

what would you guys choose? if you have any other ideas other then something like a h4n or the laptop route i would love to hear them

Thanks in advance
Ninos
 
I'd go with the dedicated recorder. The stuff you're shooting has no second take, so you've got to get things as reliable as possible. If you've got the budget to pick up a laptop and the mbox, maybe you should be looking at a higher end recorder from someone like Sound Devices.
 
what are the main things i should be looking at when picking up a recorder? The reason i suggested the zoom is because everyone hear recommends it and it has some nice reviews vs some other ones i saw. I have a budget for the laptop and mbox because i need an extra laptop and i could also use the mbox for my other speakers. i could use those stuff for other things, i get more options for the money. but if i was looking at just getting a recorder i would stay in the $300-$400 range.

also, lets say i was to go the wireless route, what would you guys recommend. i read up on wireless and how obviously its less reliable, prone to interference, can only do one channel no stereo unless i buy 2 of the system and stuff. i would not need any mics, just a receiver and transmitter too send and receive audio wireless, what do you guys suggest.

Thanks
Ninos
 
If you're going to go wireless, you're looking at spending a minimum of $500/channel for the transmitter and reciever. Senn G2/G3 is the most often recommended budget wireless kit.

The H4n is a great recorder, given the budget and your desired use, I think it's probably your best bet. If there's even room for a laptop to be parked near the mixer in whatever venues you're in, you still have to deal with the instability of the operating system, not to mention the chance of some random passerby messing with it.

If you do choose to go with a computer based solution, it's best to dedicate a computer to strictly that use and do some serious tuning to get it as stable as possible. And even then, you don't see people using computer-based systems for location work without a solid 2-track hardware recorder rolling as backup.
 
ok guys looks like im going with the Zoomh4n, anybody have some tips on using it. i know the wireless route would make my life a whole lot easier because lets say through out a 4 hour party i record and stop record and stop like 20 times. with the wireless setup it would not matter because the audio is attached to the video but the zoomh4 way i would have one long 4 hour audio clip and 20 or more video clips.

any easier way of syncing it up aise from manually going in there and doing it which is what im probably going to do, or is there maybe a way using some kind of timestamp with both the hmc150 and the zoom.

thanks again

Ninos
 
Is it really crucial that you stop/start so many times during the party?

If you're stopping and starting that often, you might be better off with the wireless unless you can come up with some easy way to slate each time you start shooting or work out a solution using timecode.
 
yeah i have to. the party starts around 7 and ends at 2 am. i don't really want to be shooting that whole time, there's three main singers that i will be focusing on, one will start at like at 8pm the other at 10pm and another at 12am. I'm going to be recording each singers popular songs and not every song they sing and i will also be shooting the crowd and the hall itself which i will do it when I'm not recording the singers and use that as b roll. is there a timestamp feature on the zoom, like something that gets written to the files metadata or do i not know what im talking about and something like that doesnt exist. Because I'm pretty sure that my camera (hmc150) has it and i can probably use that to see what time the clip was recorded and go to that time in the audio file and sync up that way.


Thanks
Ninos

edit: I just ran into this thread
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=164883

Now i'm confused and the thread did not really answer the question. From what i understand if i want to go line level in then i have to use the 1/4 cable to go in and not the xlr? which is fine doesnt really matter but then some are saying that the H4N does not have line level only the older H4 has? any one use the line level in the h4n and can verify that it is actually line level and not mic in.
 
Last edited:
There are some plug-in to sync sound whit video, just google search.
If you take the stereo out of the DJ console you have like a few option.

- Run 2 cable to your camera .... NO
- A digital recorder like the H4N... i think this should be the option, why a video-audio sync plug-in
- Wireless system .... $ but you dont have to post-sync

but the H4N and a sync plug in should do the job. I think http://www.singularsoftware.com/ devlop a plug-in but its for multi camera matching...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top