[Andrea Cavazzuti]

There’s many threads about this subject, just let me try also this one. I see you’re real experts.

So far I’ve tried to compare the Zoom H4N, Tascam DR-100 and Marantz PMD661. I’m a user more than an expert, therefore I need your advice.

I need the recorder to record separate audio for my videos (HD and HDSLR). I would normally feed my mixer SD302 or my receiver Lectrosonic UCR401 to the recorder. Of course it would be cool to be able, when necessary, to feed also a condenser mic which needs phatom power. The on-board mics could be useful to record some ambience sound, provided the quality is good. Anyhow, my priorities are:

1. sound quality (24bit a plus)
2. easy connectivity (each channel independent Line/mic choice and phatom switch, line out for monitoring)
3. multi channel recording which includes the built in mics
4. media used (preference for SD or CF standard cards)
4. dimensions (the smaller the better)
5. price

Any suggestion is extremely welcome

[Andrea Cavazzuti]

I’ve read a lot of comments and even gave a look to the manual of the Zoom H4N. I may have overlooked something since it’s still no clear to me whether, when using the XLR inputs, is possible to choose MIC or LINE input mode. It seems that phatom power is always applied or not to both inputs. Since I’m using a mixer, I need LINE input most of the time.

Does anyone know of any other small but better recorders (more expensive of course) to use with the 5DII ?

[Andrea Cavazzuti]

I fully beleive that. The camera is designed to use that kind of external mics. Since I’m using a completely different audio gear, I need to record audio separately. When I plug in my wireless receiver or the mixer, I definetely get a very strong background hiss throughout the footage.

I’m not an audio expert. Any further suggestions are welcome before I buy a recording device.

[Andrea Cavazzuti]

Thanks Phil, I suspected that. So, would you give any preference to Zoom, as compared to Tascam or other similar devices? Well, I see that Zoom is cheaper anyway.

[Andrea Cavazzuti]

Unfortunately the 302 mixer is not a recording device, so I have to rely completely on the in-camera sound. I’d like to find out if, provided the cable and connection are good, will the sound quality in my MOV files be good enough?

Probably my expectations from a DSLR are growing too big.

I work on PC.

[Andrea Cavazzuti]

Thanks for the suggestions. Actually I know most of the gear you’re talking about. My question now is whether I can trust going with what I have now and the main issue is just the quality of sound. I’m connecting the output (attenuated to -50dB) of my Sound Devices 302 mixer directly to the 5DII (in manual mode, of course). The mixer is comfortably hanging from my neck and I can monitor sound from it. On the other hand I can plug in three sound sources, via cable or remote. Of course I also have a boom operator. The thing is: should I trust the pre-amp and circuitry of the 5DII. So far, I haven’t done enough testing to answer this question. Of course the other solution is just to record audio separately (with Zoom or Tascam or other equivalent devices) and mix in post. BTW, do you know of any software for doing this that works with Edius?

[Andrea Cavazzuti]

Reply by myself, it was a stupid question indeed, since you can adjust output level on both mixer and/or receiver to a mic level (-40dB or lower). Sorry for this.

Anyhow, there is a slight but noticeable hiss in the sound recorded by the 5D. Does the mic input has some power (6V or so) applied?

[Andrea Cavazzuti]

It may be true but, if you really want to have full manual control of your footage, including focus, depth of field, motion artifacts etc., especially when shooting live action in complex lighting situations, then you need to be able to quickly adjust all key parameters: iris, ND filter, shutter speed, gain and focus (now maybe we can add gamma). We also know about degradation of image quality and difficulty to focus properly when using very small apertures (unlike still photography). In these situations ND filter may sometimes be the answer but you still need some finer tuning options.

Anyhow, with the old PD150 and also with the Z1 it was quite handy to adjust all these parameters and that was the way to get acceptable image quality. Probably with the EX-1 tha problem is not so critical, or at least I hope so.