2009-06-02

Cheap stereo location recording

Lately I have been doing a lot of sound effects and atmosphere recording in country NSW. The locations are quiet, free from traffic and abundant in birds. 

Over the years I have generally borrowed high end microphones and location mixers from colleagues whenever I have needed to record in stereo in the field. Not wanting to spend big money or always depend on borrowing high end schoep microphones off friends, I generally use my Rode NT5 matched pair. These are setup on a T-Bar and allow for the recording of stereo atmospheres. The problem with the NT5's is that wind is very difficult to control due to the mic set up and the lack of any windshields (except for my home made stereo pair wind socks). 

- Lately I have been on a bit of a mission to find a good quality and economic outdoor field recording solution.

With much testing, my new low cost combination of choice is to use the Rode NT4 stereo mic inside the new Rode blimps. With this combination connected to a good field mixer and recorder, the audio quality is excellent!  ... no more wind buffets and quite affordable. 

However one downside is that you can't change the stereo spread of the microphone, but the portability and wind rejection qualities make up for this downfall.