Please recommend video audio recorder

[guitargabor]

My new "band" just completed its first "gig".

Our trio played at an Christmas party for the neighborhood.


Everyone was recording us with their iPhones.Video on those is OK but the audio, not.

Please recommend a decent basic combination video and audio recorder .

Our bass player is computer savvy so he will be in charge of the editing and software...

Just need a better way of recording our gigs .

Thanks,Gabe

[min7b5]

I think your best bet is to continue to shoot the video with the iPhone (though ideally on a tripod, and more than one iphone for mutable angles) but then record the audio on a little Zoom-style recorder separately. And then, especially since you said your bass player is tech savvy, have him combine the video and audio in post (not hard to do). Using just one device for both audio and video will always be a big compromise, because while the microphones need to be fairly close to the action to sound good, the video recorder(s) needs to be further back to capture the image.

[gfirob]

Might be over-kill but the best recorder for this kind of thing that I have used is the Sound Devices MixPre-6 II 6-Channel / 8-Track Multitrack 32-Bit Field Recorder. They cost about a thousand dollars, but they are the best.

[Gordon Currie]

I'm with Eric on this.

Your video tends to be towards the back of the venue so your framing is better.
This location is not always the best for audio. You might want the audio recorder to be much closer.

Separating the two is best. You might be able to take a direct signal from the mixer (if there is one).

If your video ends up with audio embedded, you can use that to help line up the 'quality' audio track.

[keith.rogers]

If you're running everything to the board, and it's a new one with a digital out that carries all the data (i.e., not just stereo), you can just record that to notebook. Some boards let you just plug in a USB stick/drive and record all tracks to that. That's the easiest route, but maybe not if you have to buy a new board...

The Zoom F8 is a more affordable option to Sound Devices. I used both the F8 and F8n (following using an H6 for a couple years). Their newest version also supports 32-bit float. Curtis Judd Audio on Youtube is a good reference for doing location/live recording with a focus on audio gear, a lot high-end stuff but he covers the Zoom equipment, too.

I used an inexpensive 8x splitter from Behringer to tap off all of the live PA feeds, and where necessary, e.g., for a bass playing direct to an amp, introduced a good DI and fed the balanced output to the same splitter. If you have unmic'd equipment, like drums or percussion, you'll want to add a mic for that. An 8x snake went from the splitter to the Zoom, and a short snake to the board, though in some cases I might have used a few mic cables (maybe just a duo, e.g.), but make sure you have solid, tested cables/snakes/splitters/etc., regardless. If something goes wrong in the [house] sound - you don't want it to be in what you've added .

[Rudy4]

Ditto Eric's post.

There are a few options depending on how much you want to invest.

You might find some ideas in THIS topic I posted a while back.

HERE is another recent topic with several good ideas.

Bottom line, do video with the best camera you have (often a smart phone) and combine with audio captured closer to the source.