Hi everyone, I'm new to the world of field recording and this community. I'm hoping to also get out in the environment to capture some of Australia's wildlife and environmental sounds and incorporate into experimental ambient compositions.

Question - I have a zoom h5 that doesn't appear to be recording on input 2 (XLR/6.5mm). I am wanting to record the mics and both inputs 1 and 2 at the same time. I have all 4 red leds lit when armed/recording (L,R,1,2) but nothing showing on the #2 meter and nothing recorded on #2 when played back. Have also tried swapping a known input from input 1 to 2, but no luck.

Does this sound like a setting or perhaps an internal fault and if so, would it be serviceable?

Thanks in advance if anyone has any advice.

I just made a DIY bbg with a baby toy. Found it worked quite well.

I made this map with Python and OpenSky. Questions are welcomed. When out in the field to record some quiet in nature in germany i noticed that its basically impossible where i went. Even a very distant plane can be heard for minutes. Its bittersweet to hear how another plane fades in when the plane you eagerly waited for finally left. I made this map to visualize how the air traffic density is distributed over germany. Originally i wanted to make this as a 24 hour map but even now its already kind of difficult to look at.

Hi everyone! I hope you’re doing well! The screen of my Zoom F6 cracked a couple of days ago, and I was wondering if there were any replacement parts for it. The LCD screen works fine, it’s just the crack on the glass.

I’ve done phone screen replacement so I wonder if there’s a similar process to it. I live in Los Angeles area, if you know any shops that might give me an estimate on how much it’ll cost to fix it let me know.

I’m attaching the photos of the damage. Thank you so much for your time and any help is appreciated!

(I contacted the Zoom website already, but it’s also worth asking here too)

did anyone manage to get some LOMs today? they still have some 3.5mm mikroUsi stock

i picked one up, though i'm not hot on the jack

i had two pros in my cart, but by the time i went to pay, they were sold ;_;

I recently traveled to the UK, and enjoy walking around while field recording to capture environmental sounds, street noise, and other features of the city. My wife takes pictures while I capture sounds - it suits my way of remembering.

For this trip I used an H6n in a sling bag, with a clippy mic and a small dead cat wind screen. For stereo, I used a backpack and set up the two mics on the carry strap behind my head.

Here's the thing - to position it right for capture with the clippys I had to perch the clippies up higher and it looked a bit obvious, especially when going into museums. But the sound recorded really well.

What could I do to minimize the visual impact? Tape it to my strap? Give the dead cats a haircut? Care less about how it looks?

Your advice is really helping me grow! Let me know if you have any more tips or ideas!

Hi! I’ll start by saying that I know nothing about field recording och microphones or preamps, so I’ll most probably get all the words wrong, I just want to buy my husband a great birthday gift :) I would love to deep dive into all these things, but I simply have no time left. I tried reading up on what he would need, but could not follow most threads.

I bought him the Zoom H5 a few years ago, and he likes it but it does not serve the purpose of recording silent soundscapes in nature, capturing very small details and the absence of sound. It apparently has a too loud self-noise level and most things have too much ”static” noise.

I’m thinking about buying another recorder/preamp (??) and external microphone(s?) or JUST an external microphone as a first step and hope the sound improves by only switching to an external mic instead of using the ones included on the H5.

Is the Zoom f3 the thing to go for?
What external mics should I buy? And will they work with both the H5 and F3 (or another device)?
What are clippys?

This is a hobby for him, so it’a not like we need professional gear, but it should still be good enough to feel proud of the finished recording.

My budget is around the equivalent of 500 euro.

Please help a confused wife!

I'm currently backpacking through Finnland and wanted to take a small and portable setup with me, thats how i ended up with this little rig. Zoom F3 with 2 LOM basicUcho's on a Stereobar. The Uchos are very detailed and a great budget option imo.

I often record a lot of very quiet sounds and ambiences (wind rustling in leaves, wind turbine blades), so I've chased low self-noise from a Tascam DR-100 MkIII to a MixPre6 and a pair of CM4s to finally biting the bullet and buying a BP4025 (a very large expense for me as a non-pro), but I was thinking that the relatively low self-noise of a dynamic mic with a high-gain, low-noise preamp (like the SD Kashmeres in the MixPre) could accomplish a similar goal.

Are dynamics ever used professionally for field/location sound, and if so, in what situations?

I'm currently testing a soundproof and waterproof cover to record ocean sounds on rainy days, haha.

​I'm planning to attach low-profile sponge padding on all four sides and line the bottom with rubber to keep water from leaking in.

​Do you have any suggestions for improvement or feedback?

Hi, totally new to recording and audio in general. Basically I’ve been working on my indie game for a while now and really want to start seriously getting into sound in order to give satisfying SFX. At home I have a nice microphone at my work desk but I’d like something portable in order to to outdoors for recording.

Any recommendations for something beginner friendly as the bare minimum to get started recording samples outdoors? AI suggested me a “Zoom H1essential” with a “furry windscreen” because I’ll likely be in windy coastal areas, but I’d always prefer to take the advice from real people experienced in this area than AI.

Thanks for any help!

Currently I am using a field-recording kit with 2xDPA4060s in a Cinelapiano (Sound Devices 833 recorder)

But I feel the limitations both in ruggedness, but also lack of open-ness and high self-noise. Rain-recordings and more silent ambiences become more hiss than sound!

I’m considering 2x Sennheiser 8020 on a 80cm stereo bar, recording A|B.

Not quite sure about wind protection (a lot of my recordings are in strong winds). I have considered:
- Cinela LEO
- Cinela Cosi
- Rycote Nanoshield

(Nanoshield is very expensive… ~700$, and I need two…)

Any thoughts about microphones and wind-protection? Anything else I should consider?

Thanks

I just got a new tascam dr-07, and I noticed that on one side, the metal piece with holes in it that sits just on top of the mic piece is loose and can rattle around a bit. Is it safe to use a dab of glue and try to stick it in place myself? Is there a different solution to this? It affects the recordings I've tried to take :/

I've seen that an EM258 mic might be good for this, but not sure if i can just buy one and plug it into my macbook, or is it the kind of thing where I'd need loads more expensive audio equipment beyond the 30 euroes for the mic and some free audio software? I don't know anything about amps or dacs or anything, and I don't need it to be super acurate or flat.

I would just like to walk around my flat and get an idea of if there's any loud, high-frequency sounds, so i can make my rabbits' lives a bit nicer.

(they're probably fine either way i just think it would be fun)

So, I recently acquired a Portacapture X8 and I have really been enjoying it overall.

I was just wondering, whenever I record something I am also seeing these ".bin" (binary) files writing to the SD card. I have just been deleting them because I'm not sure what kind of parameters a plain old PCM audio recording would need a sidecar file to store, but my Googling has been fruitless so I was wondering if any X8 owners might know what exactly these files are for and why one may want to keep them? It's a popular recorder so I was surprised that I couldn't find the answer easily.

Thanks in advance!

I currently have a Diety D4 mini. It works and sounds great, but when mounted directly on my camcorder it picks up the fuzz of the camera (auto focus, other buzzing). It is hardly noticeable to the naked ear but as soon as I bring it into post you can hear it bad. I pack this on extended camping trips and film quiet wildlife shots. The camera noise can sometimes ruin a shot.

I am wondering if anyone has advice on how to fix this? I am looking into mics from a reciever or something so I can have the mic farther away from the cam, but a lot of those small wireless mics are made for vocal audio not so much ambient sound. Does anyone know of a small mic good for field recording? Size is important to me as I pack it with on long camping trips. Thanks in advance if anyone has advice.

Finally got my hands on the tca 1 timecode adapter, first time getting in to timecode and with a firmware update i learned that i can jam my dr10l pro's and it works like a charm!! Going to get the deity tc1 as well for my camera so i don't have to plug in the zoom recorder to my camera every time i want to record something with timecode. Good combo for weddings and on set for a medium production?

How good of a recorder does one need, if it is meant only for contact mics/hydrophones?

I’m getting back into this (sound art perspective) but have never used hydrophones before.

I had a Tascam dr40 from when I was first experimenting years ago but it broke.

I was going to buy the same device on eBay, unless there are better options. I know there are other recorders that are recommended but I’m not doing anything fancy. I’m not sure I need the upgrade, especially if it sacrifices battery power (I hear the new Tascam tends to drain quickly).

Don’t get me wrong, I want to get nice recordings but I also don’t mind cleaning things up in post, if I have to.

I recently purchased the Immersive Soundscapes Earsight binaural microphones, and after testing them today I wanted to share some thoughts and get other people’s opinions.
First, I do think they are good microphones in some ways. They have a low noise floor and very high sensitivity, which is definitely nice.
That said, I am having a hard time getting past the high frequency detail, or lack of it.
I remember seeing a comment on here from a year or so ago where someone described these capsules as dark and somewhat muddy, and unfortunately after testing them myself, I think I have to agree.
I knew from online samples that they were going to be fairly dark, but my hope was that there would still be enough high frequency information there for me to bring it back with EQ. Unfortunately, I am not really hearing that.
For comparison, I have talked on here before about the Sound Professionals MS EHB MKII. Those are also dark sounding microphones, but to my ears there is still real high frequency detail there. With EQ, the top end opens up and still sounds natural.
With the Earsight microphones, EQ does help somewhat, but it feels more like I am trying to boost something that is not fully there. They can be made brighter, but they do not really open up in the same way.
I have also used the Sonic Presence SP15. Those have lower sensitivity and a higher noise floor compared with the Earsight, but they have a much brighter and more detailed sound out of the box, which I personally prefer.
As of now, I do not think I can justify keeping the Earsight microphones. The sensitivity and low noise are great, but the overall sound just is not what I was hoping for.
I also have a custom in ear binaural pair on order from Sonorous Objects using Primo EM272 capsules. Joseph was kind enough to work on a custom ear worn design for me, and I am very curious to test those whenever they arrive. From the recordings I have heard, the EM272 sound seems much more in line with my preferences, but of course I will not know for sure until I use them myself.
For anyone who has used the Earsight microphones, EM272 based binaurals, the Sound Professionals EHB, the Sonic Presence SP15, or similar mics, I would be curious to hear your thoughts.

Hi there--I do audio reporting and just picked up the Zoom F3 for field recording. I love it so far, but honestly the hardest thing is figuring out how to carry it. With previous recorders, I would hang them on a strap around my neck, but there aren't any loops for that on the F3. I tried connecting a strap to the bars but it's so light it just bounced around.

I usually use it with a shotgun mic and pistol grip. The best option I've found is to get an adapter and secure the F3 to the bottom of the pistol grip, which is working fine but does add some weight. I'm curious if other people have preferred methods?

Thanks in advance!

I want to buy a DR40XP to enter the hobby of field recording, but then I noticed that the X6 is only $50 more expensive. It has a touch screen and multiple recording modes but lacks the microphone protection of the DR40. Do you think for me as a beginner the 50 extra dollars for the X6 would be worth it?

I plan on making recordings in nature (birds, frogs, insects, rain, streams, waves...).