Question:
What do I need for recording lectures, business
meetings and interviews?
Answer:
This on is actually pretty easy. In most cases, you
can get a good recording of a lecture, business meeting or interview
with a simple recorder and microphone combination. If you want to record
into a computer directly, see below.
You don't need a fancy recorder with lots of bells and
whistles...a low end MD recorder will provide all the sound quality
you need, and then some. We recommend any recorder that allows you to
adjust your recording levels manually while you are recording. All of
the current HiMD recorders have this feature.
As far as mics, a simple mono mic will do an acceptable
job, like
this one. It will produce a mono signal that will sound excellent.
If you want to hear the same signal on both channels (we call this 'dual
mono'), then select the 'dual mono' option on the microphone you
buy. If you will be in a noisy environment, then you would want
to consider the Cardioid version of this mic found
here. This mic is also available in 'dual mono'.
Now, if you occasionally would like to use the same
mic to record things like practice sessions, music lessons, rehearsals,
and the like, then the small "T"
mic would be a better choice. It has excellent sound quality and
is very easy to use. The stereo effect is not extreme, but sufficient
for many situations where you don't need a wide stereo image.
If you would like to be able to make a recording where
you can tell where the people speaking are located in the room, or which
direction sounds are coming from in general, then a binaural microphone
is required. There are many to choose from in a wide range of prices,
but the most realistic recording would come from this
model.
If you want to record an interview and would like to
use clip on mics (lapel mics) and set of Binaurals like
these would pick up both you and the person you are speaking to
very well. If you are going to do this in a noisy place, a set of Cardioids
like
this would be better as they will reduce some of the unwanted noise.
There are certainly plenty of other choices for mics
for these purposes, but the ones mentioned here will do the job for
the lowest cost while still yielding excellent results.
If you want to record directly
into a computer, the best way is with a USB microphone like
this one. It will product excellent recordings and is very simple
to use.
