Miniature recording equipment. (OT?)

Sep 07, 2004 27 Replies

The iRiver IFP-395.

512M memory, will do voice recording at 96K for some 12 hours. The inbuilt microphone is small, and will give adequate results for recording your own voice and someone you are speaking to in a quiet enviroment. For better results, you'r looking at attaching a couple of external mics. This is all easy to conceal, (the IFP is some 80*25*25mm), if you'r wearing more than a bikini.

Yup.

Directional microphones that can help reject unwanted sounds - be they other voices or indeed 'acoustic' - are large and *very* expensive. Like the best part of a grand for the industry standard. And even with one of those, to get decent quality speech it needs to be quite close. With the average omni that most of these type of machines use, you're on a hiding to nothing.

A good example is the sort of personal mics you'll see on newsreaders, etc. Not bad quality when close, as they are when worn, but have you heard what they sound like when they've fallen off etc and are only a few feet away? Near unintelligible. In a reasonably quiet studio.

Well, without having a better idea of exactly what you're trying to do, it's difficult to pitch at the right level

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

Well, when I went to the HSE discussion on gas safety on behalf of this NG a couple of years ago, I took a simple pocket dictaphone with me, everything came out clearly and I had no problem analysing it later on

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote | A good example is the sort of personal mics you'll see on | newsreaders, etc. Not bad quality when close, as they are | when worn, but have you heard what they sound like when | they've fallen off etc and are only a few feet away?

Yes, QVC had one with a loose clip a couple of weeks ago :-)

Owain

But I assume you put the machine in a reasonable place - like on a table? A table can act as a ground plane and help a mic quite a bit. Difficult to do if you want to keep it concealed, though.

I'd thought about taping the thing into a wooly sock or somesuch so it wouldn't rustle about in a pocket so much.

I'll need (mainly) to record 1:1 conversations, possibly in a room, or outside (normal speaking distance), or on the 'phone....

No, sorry, I saw your earlier article - but I don't know what those programmes are. I was going to reply but got distracted.

J.B.

Which will remove even more of the high frequencies needed for clarity.

Ah. If they are 1:1 and you are close, that stands a better chance of working. Try and position the mic on yourself as far as possible away from your own voice - this will equalise the levels a bit. On one wrist can be a good place. But do some experimenting before.

Maplin sell a lead for this which plugs into the phone socket. YS78 at

9.99.

You've managed to avoid such a prog? Lucky man.

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