DAT recordings VS. .WAV

[Chezdigtlstudio]

I've been trying to find out what people think of recording dialogue and other movie sounds on a computer by connecting a microphone to the soundcard MIC jack, recording it as a .WAV file. Some say that I need a DAT recorder, but I really don't want to spend $500. What do you think the quality difference would be between the two?

Also, Anyone have a low-budget recommendation for a studio MIC?

[Alex]

I've read that the lower priced sound cards are not very good.

So one question to ask is if you had a dat machine and low end sound card, might "line-in" via a dat machine onto a low end sound card be equivalent to a high end sound card directly into the computer?
I don't have the answer, just the comparitive question to put forth.

One "solution" is to buy a Digital-8 camcorder or a Mini-dv camcorder with audio in capabilities and use that for recording audio.

The cameras are as cheap as $200 bucks! The advantage of the camcorder is you could create a visual reference of your sounds by slating the sound or by showing the object you are grabbing sound of.

I believe there to be potential problems with menu driven set-ups for live location situations versus using dedicated equipement with built in dials and knobs that can be instantly viewed without having to access a menu.

Sometimes the sounds the computer makes can be heard with sound acquisition, and the longer a cable you use that is non-XLR the more chance there is to pick up electronic noises such as humm and motors and other types of interference.

It's usually better to have a tape original of your sound and then load into the computer from that. If down the road you discover a better way to encode your audio, you can always go back to the tape and reload the same sound in.

[Chezdigtlstudio]

Hey Alex, thanks for the info. As a matter of fact, I do have a MiniDV camcorder, and it was failrly inexpensive ($250) but none of the camcorders I saw (except the actual $3000 DV cameras) have an audio input jack. I do have access to a HI8 video camera with audio input though.

You mentioned the humming noise from the computer.

After recording the live dialogue on location, I plan to record dubbing inside a soundproof booth while the computer is outside the booth. So hopefully the mic won't pick up any of that noise.

I need to buy a studio MIC and I have this thing called a Johnson J-station pre-amp I was going to use in between the MIC and the computer.

I think I'll splurge and buy a decent sound card, which one should I get?

Thnaks again for the info.

[Alex]

Here's a really good DV website with several distinct forums, including one for audio.

The only minimal criticism I have is a couple of members sometimes rate the quality of a specific microphone as to how that microphone sounds on their dv-camcorder, which isn't actually a fair way to rate a microphone. Microphones should never be dissed because they don't sound good on a camcorder chock full of automatic features that cannot be reset.

But that isn't everyone there, it just threw me off at first when a couple of posters complained about microphones because those microphones didn't sound good on their prosumer gear which is chock full of auto settings that can't be adjusted!

But there are very knowledgeable members who should be able to rate the sound cards.

DV Forums

[Chezdigtlstudio]

Originally posted by Alex:
Here's a really good DV website with several distinct forums, including one for audio.

The only minimal criticism I have is a couple of members sometimes rate the quality of a specific microphone as to how that microphone sounds on their dv-camcorder, which isn't actually a fair way to rate a microphone. Microphones should never be dissed because they don't sound good on a camcorder chock full of automatic features that cannot be reset.

<font size="2" face="verdana, sans-serif">"Prosumer", that word is so funny. Not quite consumer but yet not professional. I know exactly what you mean. I bought this "prosumer" editing program called PINNACLE STUDIO 9 ($180)which works real great if you don't plan on making longer than a 5 minute movie, otherwise it locks up during rendering no matter what kind've computer you have (unless you don't want to add any transitions, in that case you can have a 6 minute movie.) I wish I could afford a program that does real-time rendering. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your input about sound. I'm going to check out that forum right now.


(end quote added by Alex to separate the quote from the response)

<font color="#FFFF00" size="1">[ January 30, 2005 01:10 PM: Message edited by: Alex ]</font>

[Alex]

Wow, it's amazing how freeing and limiting NLE can be at the same time. [img]eek.gif[/img]

I'm not an expert in NLE but I do learn what others are using. Vegas Video seems to be extremely popular. On the Mac side Final Cut Pro is very popular.

[Mr Blackstock]

oddly enough i was logging in to ask the very same question!

while i read the replies concerning the sound in idea, i think it may be plausible to record sound, say straight into a laptop using a typical sound recording program off the net. one i used awhile ago was a simple "one click" affair.

concerning sound interference, i used a dat machine recently on a small shoot, and the **** thing was more problems than most!
if the battery life was not sporadic, the dat was picking up EVERYTHING, from the slight hum of the dv camera, and i mean slight, it took us awhile to find it, to the faint creaks of the house we were shooting in.

i also, awhile ago, tried using a canon mv501e? i had the mic, boom et all. trouble was the sound had a distinct hum to it. not to mention the **** jack kept disconnecting.

considering the potential problems using another tape camera, or dat, not to mention the associated costs-i will give the laptop method a go.

i believe that once the music recording program is set up correctly, i cannot imagine there being too many problems. unless they have a hum as well?

Mr Blackstock

[Chezdigtlstudio]

Yeah, that's crazy. You know, Sound is so important I just can't see ever using the actual sound from on location. So you know what I went out and bought a pretty nice studio condenser mic from Guitar Center for $99 and now I'm ready to do some dubbing in my soundproof booth. Screw it, I'm just going to dub everything and add background noise in seperately so I can control how loud everything is. The actors will just have to come back sometime after the shoot and listen to themselves saying the dialogue the first time (as I recorded them on my tape recorder), repeating it again the same as before. It will be a lot of work but then that's why filmmaking is fun, right?

The condenser mic was $99 plus I had to buy a Phantom power adapter for $35 and 2 cables for $25. I have this thing called a "Johnson J-Station", it's a pre amp I bought a couple of years ago for &120 and it does a great job adding all kinds of effects and making voices sound really great. Also I wanted to mention that I found out that Guitar Center has a special audio PCI card that allows you to connect analog and digital audio sources (even midi) always with the correct impedance so the quality is perfect! That thing is around $200. So for just under $500 I've got everything I need to record great audio. I don't think I 'll ever bother with DAT recording.