Choosing a portable recording system

[Ignacio Simon]

I need a portable recording system for filmmaking.

I am considering to buy an m-audio mobilepre or a Tascam US-122 to
connect to my laptop usb port (I hasnt got firewire). The mic I am
going to use is a Sennheiser me66 xlr shotgun (with a boom).


The more I read, the more confused I am, because different people have
different level of demand, different ears, objectives, money, etc...

I will try to give a reference of my demand:

I have a portable sony minidisc recorder (mz r700)with a sony
ECM-MS907 mic. This in NOT enough for me. There is a HISS too
noticeable, and I would need a deck in order to output digitally.

On the other hand I have (at home) a Samson C01 condenser mic, a
Behringer Eurorack mixer (MX602A, used as a preamp)and a Terratec EWX
24/96 sound card (I use it at 16/48). Knowing that the Behringer
Eurorack is far from being a good preamp, the quality I get IS enough
for my needs (I want to do video, not pro audio). The hiss level is
perhaps 1/10 or 1/20 (subjective)less than the hiss from the minidisc
recorder.

With this reference would anybody tell me if an M-audio mobilepre or a
Tascam US-122 will give me a quality level better, or at least
similar, than my second reference point (Behringer + Terratec).

Sorry for the length of the explanation. I hope you have underestand
what I am trying to express.

Thank you very much!

Ignacio Simon

[Bob Cain]

Ignacio Simon wrote:
>
>
> With this reference would anybody tell me if an M-audio mobilepre or a
> Tascam US-122 will give me a quality level better, or at least
> similar, than my second reference point (Behringer + Terratec).

Can't speak to the M-audio but the Tascam should. I've
measured its input noise at -127 dBu.


Bob
--

"Things should be described as simply as possible, but no
simpler."

A. Einstein

[William Sommerwerck]

What do you mean by "filmmaking"? Do you mean simply recording dialog, or are
you recording a musical performance?

For the former, how about a Nagra? For the latter... I've recorded full symphony
orchestra (on two channels, of course), with a Sony DAT I can slip in my pocket.

[Scott Dorsey]

Ignacio Simon > wrote:
>I need a portable recording system for filmmaking.
>
>I am considering to buy an m-audio mobilepre or a Tascam US-122 to
>connect to my laptop usb port (I hasnt got firewire). The mic I am
>going to use is a Sennheiser me66 xlr shotgun (with a boom).

And how will you synch this?

>Sorry for the length of the explanation. I hope you have underestand
>what I am trying to express.

No.

What kind of camera are you using and how does it synch? What kind of
recording do the post-production people want? These are the two
questions you must ask.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Emanuel Zorg]

You may want to ask a question like this on the newsgroup

rec.arts.movies.production.sound

which is more specifically focused on sound for film and video.

If you want to record sound for video as well as film, you
will find a relevant forum moderated by Jay Rose, who has
written a couple of valuable books on the subject, at
www.dv.com in the community forums section.

I know little about commercial film production, but I recall
reading somewhere that commercial film shoots routinely
cost something like $20,000 per hour. In an environment
where one little malfunction and reboot could prove so
expensive, I would imagine that a sound mixer would be
too concerned about reliability to even consider using a
pc-based recording system. A mistake costing the production
only six minutes would cost the same amount as a typical
laptop! But then, your original message was a little sketchy
about what you're trying to do. Perhaps you are shooting
student films or something where you will be expected to
make mistakes and reboot and keep people waiting as part
of a learning process.

By the way, I have the Sennheiser ME-66 you mentioned and I
really like it. My impression is that people recording
dialog for film will only consider using it outdoors, feeling
that its architecture distorts too much if it gets near a
ceiling, as may happen indoors. Indoors, they seem to be
more likely to use a supercardiod or hypercardiod instead
of a shotgun. Nevertheless, I regard my ME-66 as a great
bargain and very useful. If you use it with a minidisc
recorder, you probably have to insert a battery in the
microphone. I've found that it seems much noisier when
I use a battery than when I use phantom power, so you may
be able to reduce the noise by switching to a recorder that
supplies phantom power, such as the Marantz PMD670. Having
no moving parts, that recorder may prove more reliable than
a pc-based system, as well.

[Len Moskowitz]

Ignacio Simon > wrote:

>I need a portable recording system for filmmaking.
>
>I am considering to buy an m-audio mobilepre or a Tascam US-122 to
>connect to my laptop usb port (I hasnt got firewire). The mic I am
>going to use is a Sennheiser me66 xlr shotgun (with a boom).

Simplify, simplify, simplify. A laptop is too much for this job.
Either get a dedicated linear PCM digital audio recorder or perhaps our
PDAudio system.

--
Len Moskowitz PDAudio, Binaural Mics, Cables, DPA, M-Audio
Core Sound http://www.stealthmicrophones.com
Teaneck, New Jersey USA http://www.core-sound.com
Tel: 201-801-0812, FAX: 201-801-0912

[Ben Marshall]

M-audio Mobile Pre's are great units, especially for the cash. I use
one for audio analysis.
BEN