High Quality Speech Recording -- What Mic?

[soro2005]

Hi! I'm new to this forum and thought I might try to tab into all the experience that's around I'm stocking up my sound recording equipment to go do some linguistic fieldwork, so I need high quality, high fidelity, high sensitivity, everything high, but perhaps not so much the full frequency range. I take that one as well, though.

My question: I'm recording mostly what we call "natural conversation", that is people sitting all over the place and talking. Sort of omnidirectional in other words. Yet, to know who's who and not to lose a sense of the spatial setup, I also need stereo. I want to be able to understand what people being a few feet away from the mic say, and I need a setup which doesn't look too outlandish, with a whole bouquet of mics sticking out of some pod. I also don't want to cable myself as that looks way too freaky for the setting. So it should sit on a table, ideally on some sort of pod which cancels some of the impact of people accidentially knocking the table.

I've gotten quite good results with a Sony ECM-MS907 the last time around, but since I have to replace it anyway, I thought someone has perhaps a better idea. The rather narrow pickup angle of the ECM-MS907 has forced me a couple of times to move the mic further out than I would've liked. So, I guess what I'm looking for is something like that one with a considerably wider angle, 180° minimum, so it can sit -- just like some participant of a conversation -- on one side of a table and listen to the left, to the right, and straight ahead. Any ideas? Thanks for your suggestions!

Edited April 27, 2005 by soro2005

[A440]

You might just get a pair of small binaurals and make your own cushion/stand for them, separating them by about 6 inches for a nice stereo spread.

These are tiny and very lifelike-sounding

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-2

Sometimes you can also find them on Ebay sold by Soundprofessionals for $29.

Another very unobtrusive solution is in-ear binaurals that just look like little earbuds.

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-TFB-2

What you hear is what you get.

You can also find one-point stereo omni mics, but separation helps a lot.

[soro2005]

Thanks! So it seems I'm stuck with the bouquet style omnidirectionals on a tripod, or with one-point stereo? The earbud thing sounds interesting. Unfortunately, it won't work for me as people sometimes talk to me while something more relevant is going on elsewhere. Besides, it's a little too stealthy for research. People have to see I'm recording. Research ethics... My professors went out to do research with truck loads of sound equipment. I can't believe that stuff has gotten so small I'm even worrying it's getting too small. And I get far better quality.

One stupid question: How do the earbuds behave with sound coming from myself while I'm wearing them? Do they pick up some of the waves that come through the inner channels? Funny thought.

What would be a good one-point stereo with a wide angle? Is the Reactive Sounds Delta any good? People seem to like it, but I can't find any information on the angle from which it picks up. I should perhaps mention I'm of course recording into minidisc.

Thanks again!

[A440]

The Delta is advertised as directional, not omni--the mics are in an aluminum enclosure that apparently shuts off sound coming from behind.

It's also designed either to plug directly into the MD (motor noise, wear on mic jack) or to sit in its "mic pod" tripod--but apparently picks up mostly what's in front of it. You can't lie it on its back, which is rounded, and Reactive Sounds has said it's too heavy to clip to a lapel.

All the omni one-point stereo mics, including the ultra-cheap "Stereo Lapel Microphone for Minidisc" sold on eBay, record all around them. You could clip that to something soft and lay it on a table. You get some of the warmth of a stereo recording, rather than the one-dimensionality of mono, but because the two mic elements are so close to one another, you don't get a real 360-degree feeling.

Take a look around the sites of www.soundprofessionals.com and www.microphonemadness.com . They have a lot of omnis, including some one-points that are similiar to your ECM-907 with wider frequency response.

As for ethics, how about just laying the recorder on the table? You can make sure the level meter is moving.

[soro2005]

Thanks again, that's very helpful. I've emailed Reactive Sounds about the pickup angle of the Delta, and they say it's about 180° facing forward. I thought I should share that info. Very swift response by the way. That might actually do the job for me, or I go with one of A440's suggestions.

The ethics thing: My MD doesn't have any LED level meter that would be visible from afar . No, seriously, the point is precisely to have the equipment somewhere out on the table, rather than attached to the body or disguised as earbuds, sunglasses, or whatever people come up with for use in situations that require a little more stealth, mobility, or what know I.

[A440]

Take a look at this from Microphone Madness: two omni mics on tripods.

http://www.microphonemadness.com/products/mmstertrip.htm