Freesound Forums

Ok then,
i am thinking ofd buying a new microphone. i am going to use it for field recordings ( air, sea, waves, birds, storms etc ) mainly.
i am thinking of buying the RODE NT 4. I have heard good things from some people who used it, but in my ears the quality of the recordings has a little bit ''over digitality''.
Here in freesound i have listened to many interesting things recorded from several microphones and i a little bit complicated..
So my budget is about 500 euros, what should i go with?

thanx for reading

p.s: did anybody ever tried - although its pretty weird - to record through a NEUMANN U 87 Ai?

I've got the NT4 but pure from a practical point of view I would rather like to have a pair of small battery powered condensers, so you're much more flexible in choosing the right stereo setup for the source. Soundwise I've got nothing to complain.

Well, I like the AT825. I recorded this with it:

http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=23131

No experience with the Neumann U 87 Ai. More a studio mic.

--Peter

HerbertBoland
I've got the NT4 but pure from a practical point of view I would rather like to have a pair of small battery powered condensers, so you're much more flexible in choosing the right stereo setup for the source. Soundwise I've got nothing to complain.

you mean the nt5's?
a frien already told me that. i guess its a little bit risky but more beautiful to make the set up in your own..

dont you have the stereo feeling by using nt 4? lets say you record a river... cant you see different recording parts in the l-r sinewave?

thanks for replying

pcaeldries
Well, I like the AT825. I recorded this with it:

http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=23131

No experience with the Neumann U 87 Ai. More a studio mic.

--Peter

thats nice

sadmac
dont you have the stereo feeling by using nt 4? lets say you record a river... cant you see different recording parts in the l-r sinewave?

For field recording fine: sturdy, compact and installed quickly. For a river it would be great. But if your (stereo) source is closer - let's say a meter or less - you need to be able to experiment with seperate mikes, angles and distances. Example: once I tried to record a piano and it was useless. Maybe read some more about limitations of XY and then decide.

HerbertBoland

sadmac
dont you have the stereo feeling by using nt 4? lets say you record a river... cant you see different recording parts in the l-r sinewave?

For field recording fine: sturdy, compact and installed quickly. For a river it would be great. But if your (stereo) source is closer - let's say a meter or less - you need to be able to experiment with seperate mikes, angles and distances. Example: once I tried to record a piano and it was useless. Maybe read some more about limitations of XY and then decide.

do you know any sources pls?
can anybody reccomend some mics in approximately 500 euros?

thank you very much

If you have no built in power supply available, then these seperate 9V powered mics will do the job: Rode Nt3, AKG C1000. They're not as compact as eg NT5's.
Audio Technica has some stereo mics for prices similar as NT4 as well as reasonable battery powered condensors in your price range.

Btw, did you listen to these recordings?

http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/packsViewSingle.php?id=1416

HerbertBoland
If you have no built in power supply available, then these seperate 9V powered mics will do the job: Rode Nt3, AKG C1000. They're not as compact as eg NT5's.
Audio Technica has some stereo mics for prices similar as NT4 as well as reasonable battery powered condensors in your price range.

Btw, did you listen to these recordings?

http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/packsViewSingle.php?id=1416

hi again,
thanx for the reply.
at the moment i am recording with my laptop and my sound card which means that i use phantom power for both the card and the mic.
i am thinking of moving to i river (or some other device) since my minidisc is no more satisfies me.
i just heard the recordings, very well made! the truth is that i cannot really ''feel'' the difference but its obvious that there is a ''stereo'' sense in all of them.
i liked very much what you have done, its very similar with what i want to do...
so which one of the 3 uses x,y which one stereo pair?
whats your opinion about the device where i record to?
thanx for your help, it is warmly appreciated

Hi, for the record, I didn't do this mic comparison, so I can"t elaborate on it. But these recordings are very well documented.
I do most of my recordings with minidisc and electrec stereo mic from Sony. For me small size is important. I realize that sound quality and noise floor can be much better.