Attn: Sound people

!@#$%! · 05.14.2007, 08:05 PM

im thinking of buying the newish FOSTEX FR-2 portable recording, for interviews and video work.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...der?sku=240342

do you guys have heard of this, or have any experience with it, or with tapeless recorders in general? wondering if it's worth it (yes i'm planning to make money with it so it's not a luxury expense).

also, if you guys know mics, what kind of mic would you recommend for interviews? i have an assorment of lavalieres (AT-803b), but my shotgun is lacking.. (AT-815b i think). i'm looking at interviews and general location audio recording.

????

thank yous.

terminal pharmacy · 05.14.2007, 08:27 PM

fostex have a good reputation for location recorders and i have a friend who uses one for docos and he loves it. you can claim it on tax cos you are buying it for work etc. ok mic wise the audio technica lapels are quite good. if you want to buy new ones perhaps look at some dpa 4061 mics or sennheiser mke mics. your shotgun is more for distance recording, i get the feeling you want something that is better for closer work something like a sennheiser me66 which is a shorter length shotgun.

!@#$%! · 05.14.2007, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by terminal pharmacy

fostex have a good reputation for location recorders and i have a friend who uses one for docos and he loves it. you can claim it on tax cos you are buying it for work etc. ok mic wise the audio technica lapels are quite good. if you want to buy new ones perhaps look at some dpa 4061 mics or sennheiser mke mics. your shotgun is more for distance recording, i get the feeling you want something that is better for closer work something like a sennheiser me66 which is a shorter length shotgun.

oh ha ha we definitely deducting, matter of fact is being bought bye "the corporation". (we just recently got that).

so the fostex gets approval? great... hurray.

yes the 815b gives us weird "hollow" vocal sound, the lavs pick up really nice though-- so the shorter length me66 will do better at hanging overhead with a boom, uh? ive heard great things about sennheisers-- thanks!!

thanks man as usual great advice, thanks.

terminal pharmacy · 05.14.2007, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

oh ha ha we definitely deducting, matter of fact is being bought bye "the corporation". (we just recently got that).

so the fostex gets approval? great... hurray.

yes the 815b gives us weird "hollow" vocal sound, the lavs pick up really nice though-- so the shorter length me66 will do better at hanging overhead with a boom, uh? ive heard great things about sennheisers-- thanks!!

thanks man as usual great advice, thanks.

most shotguns sound pretty average you will never get a nice thick sound from them but you do need to select the right shotgun for the right purpose. as an example if you are shooting a wide shot say more than a five metre boom can reach close enough too then you would want to think about changing you mic to a longer range shotgun or a rf lapel otherwise i would use the shorter length shotgun. you nay also want to look at sennheiser radio gear as there is some transmitters known as butt plugs in australia that can turn any microphone into a radio mic.

!@#$%! · 05.14.2007, 08:50 PM

oh thanks. i have a wireless samson that's just ok, im looking to upgrade-- had to video some people on a hot air balloon once and i lost reception-- ha ha.

hha ha butt plugs.

yeah i think i'll consider the wireless option which beats the shotguns. i like how they give the acoustics of the place, whereas the lavs & wireless lavs make you feel like the person is in his little bubble, so sometimes i've mixed both for a nice vocal + environment sound.

terminal pharmacy · 05.14.2007, 08:56 PM

senny rf stuff is somewhat debilitating in its expense the sk5012 radio packs are around $4000au but they are powerful i have never lost reception on one but that is in the theatre so a bit different but they do broadcast over a long distance, the cheaper senny rf gear is still good though, a shit load better than the cheaper shure, audio technica and akg stuff. be careful buying new radio gear though, i don't know how it is where you are but the australian government has opened up the radio bands for highest bidder and we are starting to lose radio frequencies and the more we lose the more the entertainment industry suffers. if it continues unabited we will end up back in the 1960s because we will have to have everything hardwired.

!@#$%! · 05.14.2007, 09:02 PM

oh man-- yeah last time i was looking at an 800mhz which is pretty good because it's a low-population spectrum. 900mhz and 2.4ghz are kinda crowded and you get interference.

oh i'll look into the sennys & do some price checks.

i'm looking to spend $2000 total for interview gear, $1200 is already taken up by the recorder... an aussie dollar is like .83 us dollars so it's pretty close...

i always wire the subject with 2 mics, 1 lav and 1 shotgun in case there is noise on the lav (people rubbing their clothes, etc) or fuckups like broken xlr cables (it's happened), or radio interference, i always have the shotgun to fall back on.

CHOUT · 05.14.2007, 09:24 PM

thats a lot for doing interviews...
check out this zoom one for $300 Im gonna get one someday:
built in stereo condensers too...
http://www.zzounds.com/item--ZOMH4

terminal pharmacy · 05.14.2007, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHOUT

thats a lot for doing interviews...
check out this zoom one for $300 Im gonna get one someday:
built in stereo condensers too...
http://www.zzounds.com/item--ZOMH4

depends if the ints are for professional broadcast, the mic preamps in the fostex will be a trillion times better than those in the zoom toy for $300. any you also don't need stereo for that sort of stuff.

i have an xls that someone design for working out rf clashes etc if you want it, it is very handy when working with more than two radios, and it shows all other radio freqs like tv etc. i couldn't send it today though because it is on my laptop which is being used in a show at the moment that i designed so im using my girls laptop.

!@#$%! · 05.14.2007, 09:43 PM

thanks a lot for the replies

came back briefly to say-- it's audio for video, and if things go well it might be broadcast at some point. but even if it's not broadcast in the end, still requires archival quality, so we need to get the best possible.

ive been reading about the fostex, and while the batteries are a bitch, it seems to have excellent preamps. while it's not the sound desing unit with a 40 gig HD, it looks plenty good! certainly better than recording with the camera preamps & onto flimsy DV tape...

--
ps-- been looking at those wireless sennheisers... a bit pricey, but maybe i can budget them into the next project.

---
ps - sweet!!! i'd like to see that file please. pm me your msn if you don't mind. i'll check tomorrow.

05.14.2007, 08:05 PM	#1
!@#$%! invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: mars attacks Posts: 42,648	im thinking of buying the newish FOSTEX FR-2 portable recording, for interviews and video work. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...der?sku=240342 do you guys have heard of this, or have any experience with it, or with tapeless recorders in general? wondering if it's worth it (yes i'm planning to make money with it so it's not a luxury expense). also, if you guys know mics, what kind of mic would you recommend for interviews? i have an assorment of lavalieres (AT-803b), but my shotgun is lacking.. (AT-815b i think). i'm looking at interviews and general location audio recording. ???? thank yous.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

05.14.2007, 08:27 PM	#2
terminal pharmacy invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 3,358	fostex have a good reputation for location recorders and i have a friend who uses one for docos and he loves it. you can claim it on tax cos you are buying it for work etc. ok mic wise the audio technica lapels are quite good. if you want to buy new ones perhaps look at some dpa 4061 mics or sennheiser mke mics. your shotgun is more for distance recording, i get the feeling you want something that is better for closer work something like a sennheiser me66 which is a shorter length shotgun.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

05.14.2007, 08:50 PM	#5
!@#$%! invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: mars attacks Posts: 42,648	oh thanks. i have a wireless samson that's just ok, im looking to upgrade-- had to video some people on a hot air balloon once and i lost reception-- ha ha. hha ha butt plugs. yeah i think i'll consider the wireless option which beats the shotguns. i like how they give the acoustics of the place, whereas the lavs & wireless lavs make you feel like the person is in his little bubble, so sometimes i've mixed both for a nice vocal + environment sound.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

05.14.2007, 08:56 PM	#6
terminal pharmacy invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 3,358	senny rf stuff is somewhat debilitating in its expense the sk5012 radio packs are around $4000au but they are powerful i have never lost reception on one but that is in the theatre so a bit different but they do broadcast over a long distance, the cheaper senny rf gear is still good though, a shit load better than the cheaper shure, audio technica and akg stuff. be careful buying new radio gear though, i don't know how it is where you are but the australian government has opened up the radio bands for highest bidder and we are starting to lose radio frequencies and the more we lose the more the entertainment industry suffers. if it continues unabited we will end up back in the 1960s because we will have to have everything hardwired.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

05.14.2007, 09:02 PM	#7
!@#$%! invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: mars attacks Posts: 42,648	oh man-- yeah last time i was looking at an 800mhz which is pretty good because it's a low-population spectrum. 900mhz and 2.4ghz are kinda crowded and you get interference. oh i'll look into the sennys & do some price checks. i'm looking to spend $2000 total for interview gear, $1200 is already taken up by the recorder... an aussie dollar is like .83 us dollars so it's pretty close... i always wire the subject with 2 mics, 1 lav and 1 shotgun in case there is noise on the lav (people rubbing their clothes, etc) or fuckups like broken xlr cables (it's happened), or radio interference, i always have the shotgun to fall back on.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

05.14.2007, 09:24 PM	#8
CHOUT invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Minneapolis MN Posts: 3,128	thats a lot for doing interviews... check out this zoom one for $300 Im gonna get one someday: built in stereo condensers too... http://www.zzounds.com/item--ZOMH4 __________________ Chout's rare Sonic Youth vids: http://youtube.com/SONICchout
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

05.14.2007, 09:43 PM	#10
!@#$%! invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: mars attacks Posts: 42,648	thanks a lot for the replies came back briefly to say-- it's audio for video, and if things go well it might be broadcast at some point. but even if it's not broadcast in the end, still requires archival quality, so we need to get the best possible. ive been reading about the fostex, and while the batteries are a bitch, it seems to have excellent preamps. while it's not the sound desing unit with a 40 gig HD, it looks plenty good! certainly better than recording with the camera preamps & onto flimsy DV tape... -- ps-- been looking at those wireless sennheisers... a bit pricey, but maybe i can budget them into the next project. --- ps - sweet!!! i'd like to see that file please. pm me your msn if you don't mind. i'll check tomorrow.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|