At 03:42 PM 2009-07-14, Robert Cham wrote:
>You do need to know that NPR stations that used card readers to
>handle the output of such machines of various brands have now
>stopped as the contacts in the machine wear out rather rapidly. At
>KTRU we insist that students transfer files by USB instead, as most
>NPR stations now do.
The problem with the H2 in that regard is it's USB 1.1, not 2.0 (I
think to save power and/or money). I am wondering how long it will
take for me to wear out the contacts swapping the card once per week
at church. We record all services, including any funerals/weddings,
but only pull the card after the Sunday service I attend. So far, so
good. If we have to replace the recorder ever 2-3 years, that's not
the end of the world, even at $249 CAD.
>I just bought an H2 ($159, on sale at Full compass) for recording
>relative's memories for genealogy purposes. I haven't even put the
>batteries in it yet. Any hints for recording a ninety year old's
>responses to my questions? I assume that the 120 degree mics
>approximate the 110 degree setup of ORTF and the 90 degree ones do
>the same for X/Y. For my situation a figure eight mic would be
>ideal, but it's better to be unobtrusive than good with shy
>interviewees. What about the built in limiter? Is it any good for
>something like this?
I used the built-in limiter for my Dad's memorial service (on the
first setting) and also used it for the management consultant's work.
I normally use this at 44.1/24 so we're not bit-limited, just preamp
noise limited. I don't use the AGC on line level for the church
recordings, but do have a pad between the Mackie 1604 and the Zoom.
The new Yamaha board we're putting in this summer has a separate
output level control we'll use to feed the Zoom. That should allow us
to tweak the level a bit better.
From what I've read on the NatureRecordists list on Yahoo Groups,
the best results are had with a Sound Devices MixPre feeding an H2.
I'm not sure I'd do that when, for 2x the price I could have a
full-bore, one-piece SD 702 recorder and with 32 GB CF cards, the 722
has lost some of its allure.
The built-in mics do very well, however, in the H2. For your
application, I'd consider placing the device on the table between you
and the ancestor and perhaps skewing it 45-60 degrees so one mic is
aimed at each of you and recording in the 4-channel mode and doing a
bit of post production.
The best oral history recording I did with my Dad was with the D8 DAT
walkman and a pair of Sennheiser MKH416 short shotguns. The second
best was with the SD722 and the DPA4006TL pair, but it had more room
noise (no surprise with omnis), but it's second best as it was 8
years later and Dad wasn't as sharp by then.
This page is highly recommended for users of the H2:
http://richardhess.com/notes/2009/04/13/zoom-h-2-line-input/
The comments about the reported noise in the mic inputs were with the
H4N which otherwise looks really attractive. The H4 doesn't allow you
to put a signal into the built-in mic channel, while the H4N does.
I still think the way for me to get extra tracks (other then going
into hock for a SD788T) would be to buy an SD702 and use the link to
sync it with my 722. That way, I'd have four sync'd really good
channels and 100% redundancy (either unit can fail and I still have
something). I had thought of getting the H4N but the complaints about
the ext mic channels scare me.
http://www.bradlinder.net/2009/01/first-look-at-zoom-h4n-digital-audio.html
Read the repost from Oryiki from the Naturesounds list at the bottom.
There are some good comments about the Olympus LS-10 floating around
on the Nature list as well. I think, however, it doesn't handle the 2
GB limit at all. The H2 handles it with some loss. The Sound Devices
are seamless.
Cheers,
Richard
Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask]
Aurora, Ontario, Canada (905) 713 6733 1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
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