CIRCLE WITH A DOT

@madskjeldgaard we now got some lom usi mics, but it seems the bottle-neck after all is the Zoom H4N preamp noise.

setup:
zoom h4n in 4 channel 48000Hz 24bit mode with internal mics and usi xlr with +48V phantom power; quiet environment (in a quiet valley in the mountains, some birds and bees)

case 1, low gain:
rec gain on inputs (zoom mics and usi mics) set so that a close clap peaked around -9dB on the meters
amplifying/normalizing the recording of quiet birds in audacity showed noise floor around -35dBFS for both sets of mics (audible hiss)

case 2: high gain:
rec gain on inputs set much higher (eventually might have been at maximum? didn't note it down exactly)
amplifying showed noise floor about -15dbFS (entirely unusable roar)

now looking at better field recorders: sound devices mixpre 6 II (EUR1390 for 4 inputs) vs zoom f3 (EUR315 for 2 inputs)...

audio file:
zoom h4n low gain internal, then low gain usi, then high gain internal, then high gain usi

any tips on microphones / preamps for field recording very quiet outdoor environments?

my Zoom H4n (from 2008 or so?) seems to have quite a high noise floor (after digital amplification in Audacity) when the rec level is set to maximum and the environment is almost silent.

what are people using these days?

the H4n has a 3.5mm socket marked EXT MIC on the back, but I've never used it, and there are two line-level (afaik?) inputs (combined 1/4" jack/xlr sockets) on the bottom that I've used to record mixing desk and room audio simultaneously for live gigs (no complaints for that use case).

#Outdoor #FieldRecording #Hardware #Recommendation #Microphone #PreAmp