lecture recordings

[indigodreaming]

hi there,

i have been charged with the task of findiing the best microphone to use with a sony hi-md to record lectures - and i know nothing!!!

it will only be voice that needs to be recorded and the setttings range from a medium sized room in a house, to a chucrh hall to a garden setting. mostly it will be one person speaking however question arise from the audience which also need to be captured.

I have heard that sony mikes are good but please can anyone advise me of the best microphone to get (doenst have to be a sony) and what type omni? binauraul? HELP!!

[KrazyIvan]

I do this on a regular basis. I also have 4-6 mics plus the speaker's mic and a mixing board to do this. I hook up the line out on the mixing board to the line-in on my MD unit.

I think with a single mic plugged directly into an MD unit you will find that you will need to be seated close to the speaker. You will also find that audience participation will be hard to pick up on traditional consumer mic's available. Unless you are willing to walk around with a mic in hand to capture the questions/comments you will probably not like your end product. Beleive me I have done it enough and that is why we have gone the mixer route. It does not have to be an expensive mixer. It just has to have a good number of inputs. I would go with a minimum of eight channel mixer. You can get some decent Shure mics for around $40-$50 a pop. I have also used some AKG mics that come in three packs for $99 I bought at Musician's Friend with a good level of success.

If you go the Single MD/mic combo be prepared for any noise like HVAC systems or outside ambiant noise that is close to the mic to be readily apparent in the recording. I use this mic for general lecture recording: http://www.audiotstation.com/forum/showthr...&threadid=27122

[A440]

KrazyIvan is talking about a professional-quality recording. If that's what you need, follow his advice.

If what you want is for your own use, to review a college course or something, just about any mic will do the job. If you have a small mic that came with a cassette recorder or something, try it.

Since you are recording a single source in front of you, a directional mic would be best. Those are called cardioids. Imagine a heart (as in cardiogram) with the point at the microphone and the shape of the heart in front of it: that's where the mic picks up. If someone is speaking from behind you, you'll have to point the mic at her or it will be muffled.

You don't need two separate mics because you're not trying to capture a stereo image, just a single source. But you do need a stereo mic--not a mono mic--or you will only get a recording in one channel.

So what you need is called a one-point stereo cardioid mic. You can find them at www.soundprofessionals.com, www.microphonemadness.com, Sony or elsewhere.

Here's a Sony directional mic that will work.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller...egoryNavigation