Cheap mic to record acoustic guitar to PC?

Discussion in 'Musicians and Instruments' started by Stuff Jones, Jul 16, 2018.

  1. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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    Title says it all. I was thinking of the Tascam DR 05, but maybe there's something cheaper and more guitar focused?
     
  2. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    The Zoom H1 is in the same price range as that Tascam so might be worth comparing the two if you can. I have a Zoom H4 and it is a high quality piece of equipment. Tascam makes good gear as well though, I expect you will find either works well for your purpose.
     
  3. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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    Thanks. Is this better than using a cheap condenser mic?
     
  4. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    The H4 is a known entity here; many ambient recordings made with it. A colleague of mine uses the Tascam. They are comparable. Neither is going to make Schoeps, Neumann, Microtech Gefell, etc worry. But you can achieve very good results if you record in a decent sounding acoustic space with low ambient noise. Placement with respect to your guitar (acoustic) or amp (electric) will have great impact on the quality of the results. Do NOT use lossy compression on the tracking sessions. 44 or 88 KHz with 24 bit depths.
     
  5. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    I have no experience there, but the Zoom and the Tascam record in stereo, and they are portable and not tied to a PC. Whether those are useful attributes only you can decide.
     
  6. dmckean44

    dmckean44 In a Sherwood S6040CP relationship

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    The next step up would be a cheap pair of small diaphragm condenser mics and a quality audio interface. I like this monoprice mics:

    https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=600700
     
  7. Andre Y

    Andre Y Friend

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    transom.org is a great resource for information about consumer and prosumer-level recorders and related things. It's more focused on NPR-style podcasting, but the comments about recorder performance and usability are great. They just posted a review on the Zoom H1N too.

    The comments above about proximity are good tips. A friend who's a flamenco guitarist taped an H1 to the inside of his thigh while playing outside, and the results are surprisingly good.
     

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