Best devices for sampling an environment?

D

dactyl

New member
I want a device which I can use to record an environment, for instance a busy street, animal sounds, a crowd, a playground, etc. I want it to save to a digital format (wav/mp3) so that I can easily pull the samples into my DAW and work with them. I'm pretty new to this, so I am looking for suggestions on what type of device I should get. It needs to be portable.

I've been looking at the Zoom H2n, but I honestly don't know if this is the best type of device for what I am trying to do.

If anyone can give suggestions as to what devices would best accomplish this, I would really appreciate it.
 
The Zoom H2n is what I use. It gets me good quality recordings and is easy to use. I even plug it into my Nikon DSLR camera for making videos and the soundtrack quality is excellent. It's always in my pocket.
 
dactyl said:
I want a device which I can use to record an environment, for instance a busy street, animal sounds, a crowd, a playground, etc. I want it to save to a digital format (wav/mp3) so that I can easily pull the samples into my DAW and work with them. I'm pretty new to this, so I am looking for suggestions on what type of device I should get. It needs to be portable.

I've been looking at the Zoom H2n, but I honestly don't know if this is the best type of device for what I am trying to do.

If anyone can give suggestions as to what devices would best accomplish this, I would really appreciate it.
Click to expand...

What you'll need is a good field recorder. One with low self noise. Recorders like the H2n are "ok" they lack a lot of detail and they lack versatility.

Here's a couple basic guides on budget recorders
this guy is pretty badd ass, makes a lot of sounds for NI and very approachable

The Sound Designer's Guide To Purchasing Field Recorders | Diy Music Biz
Budget Field Recording Equipment For Game Audio and Film | Diy Music Biz

If you want serious sound quality you will need external mics to hook up to your recorder (yes more than one) as onboard microphones are very limited. You'll also need good editing skills as there is some background noise you wont be able to eliminate in pre-recording.

Regardless of what recorder you choose, make sure you meter well (gain staging) and record at the highest resolution possible.
 
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