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What type of audio equip. do I need for man-on-the-street interviews?...

by TimothyW
10 replies
I see that I can buy an mp3 hand held voice recorder -- but that's more like for making voice notes to yourself for later use. Is the voice quality good on those --- and what do I do, just use that as a mic -- moving it from under my mouth to under the mouth of the person I am interviewing?

What I need is something that is portable (runs on batts) + records good quality -- maybe onto an SD memory card(?) in mp3 format.

Maybe with a mic IN jack?

This is for man-in-the-street audio interviews.

Please advise.

Thanks!!

-- TW

PS: I cannot spend much $$ on this -- must keep this low budget.
#audio #equip #interviews #manonthestreet #type
  • Profile picture of the author MattVit
    If you're looking around the $200 mark...
    Digital Video Recorders

    I can also give you a discount off that if you PM me. We have plenty in stock, can ship immediately for an arrival of about 4 days time.
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  • Profile picture of the author MattVit
    Oh wait - just voice?

    You wouldn't happen to have an iPhone would you......
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  • Profile picture of the author MattVit
    Actually we have plenty of these, I haven't put them up on the site yet.

    Can store 560 hours of audio, USB charged, also acts as an MP3 player.

    It's $70 with $20 shipping, but PM me your budget and I'll do you a deal.



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  • Profile picture of the author Don Schenk
    I have owned several of these, and you will want a unit that can recordCD quality or better.

    The best bang for the money is the Olympus LS-7. It records your choice of .wav, .mp3, and .wmf. It has a frequency respons of 20Hz to 20,000Hz, and dual range bass roll off to remove low pitch background noise such as furnace and air conditioner fan noise.

    Most places sell it for around $200, but I found one at Amazon for $157.

    Before that I used a Zoom H4 followed by an Olympus LS-10. So far the LS-7 plays rings around the other two.

    The LS-7 uses both internal memory and/or micro SD chips. It comes with a USB cable, and when you plug it into a computer, it appears as an additional hard drive so you can just copy the files to your computer.

    Tim, I sent a PM with the location of a file recorded on it.

    :-Don
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  • Profile picture of the author julesw
    You can use a mobile.

    I've used an ipod before too.

    Yo can get a small external mic that fits on it for $10

    Better is a handheld mic, you can get it in tight to your subject to reduce background noise like you see news reporters do.

    and you can get a wireless one that will work fine and be less messy with leads.

    Have a look at Azden wireless mic outfits on amazon.
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  • Profile picture of the author TimothyW
    Maybe I can use the kodak flip-type camera I already have, with external mic -- and just record as if it was a video, just keep the camera in my pocket (recording black video), then extract the sound track off the video later, in-studio. That would work too -- yes?
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  • Profile picture of the author julesw
    @tim

    yes you can, just get a decent mic, with a windshield, record then delete video and export as an audio file from your edit software.

    not sure your niche but why not shoot the video too, you could use it to make trailers for your product on youtube
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  • Profile picture of the author RyanLB
    Depends on the quality you want. a condenser mic with a boom would be the wrong way to go, but you can do well with a nice stage mic.
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  • Profile picture of the author TimothyW
    There are times when people WILL give their opinions candidly on AUDIO, and they would NOT do so while being VIDEOED. It's like talking to a blind man. It's more anonymous. They don't have to worry about "how they look" (on TV!!).

    Question for Ryan -- What kind of "stage mic" should I use -- it would have to have an 1/8" plug, right?

    Please advise. Thanks!!

    -- TW
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  • Profile picture of the author Karan Goel
    An iPhone for beginners.
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