#Samson sound deck how to sound good portable

While they work wonderfully in a pinch (like this interview where basically all of my gear failed on me on the spot), you wonвЂ™t always get the best vocal sound quality compared to something like a shotgun mic. Even the bulky H5 can squeeze into a jacket pocket if you really need it to. Just like a lav, handheld recorders are fairly portable. Some, like the Zoom H1n or the Zoom H5, are pocketable and super easy to use. The last way to get quality audio outside is to use a good olвЂ™ fashioned digital recorder. The Zoom H5 is one of the most versatile voice recorders around.

#Samson sound deck how to sound good portable

Another con is that these mics are usually fairly large and not the most portable option, not to mention expensive. Even then, a camera-mounted shotgun mic isnвЂ™t ideal as they require a great degree of accuracy: if youвЂ™re pointing it a little too far to the left youвЂ™re going to record diddly squat. Unfortunately, shotgun mics usually require other hardware like a boom pole, which then requires a boom operator-unless youвЂ™re fine with mounting it on your camera. ItвЂ™s also made to pick up sounds that are directly in front of it, and reject ambient, off-axis noise. The good thing about a shotgun microphone is that you can get clear sound without the microphone being in a shot. In the case of something like the popular Rode VideoMic, it gets attached to the camera and points directly at the person speaking.

This is why shotgun mics are usually pointed directly down at the person speaking. These have a very directional pickup pattern, which means it wonвЂ™t pick up too much sound happening to its sides. If youвЂ™ve ever seen a behind-the-scenes shot where some poor soul holds a long stick with a microphone at the end, thatвЂ™s a shotgun mic. If youвЂ™re able to spare some more room in your kit, one of the most popular mics for recording outside is the shotgun microphone. The Sennheiser MKE 600 is a shotgun mic with a supercardioid polar pattern. This is fine if youвЂ™re an on-screen reporter, but not so great if youвЂ™re looking to record a film where microphones typically arenвЂ™t in the scene. Since lavalier mics must be close to the personвЂ™s mouth, they almost always show up on camera. One downside to using a lav is that it has little to no padding, so a slight bump will probably clip your audio as heard in the clip above when our former podcast producer, Adam Doud, removes the lav from his shirt. Lav mics are really good at capturing sound as long as theyвЂ™re close to the person speaking. You can plug it right into your camera or voice recorder and get crispy, clean audio all by yourself. If youвЂ™re short on audio engineers and are doing everything yourself, being able to get clean audio from something that fits in your pocket can be powerful. Whether youвЂ™re a reporter on the go or making a short travel vlog for your YouTube channel, lav mics are small and easy to use. The lav microphone is very commonly used outside because of its portability. Lavaliers are small and super portable, making them easy to use while on-the-go.