Why is a Zoom (or other hand held) better...

[Doug Young]

One of the great things about a handheld recorder is the ability to record anywhere, and another is that it's totally silent. These two things can address 2 of the big gotcha's with homerecording. You don't have to worry about computer noise, and you can go anywhere - another room, a friend's house, even a public place that you might have access to - church, school, work, whatever.

I'm totally onboard with the need for good room acoustics, and 99% of the time that means some kind of "treatment", whether that's something permanent or a gobo. That's the biggest issue with most recordings I hear people post. It's funny that we're seeing an increasing use of skype for the talking heads on TV these days, and you have lots of pundits calling in from home - where it's incredibly obvious when the host and those in the studio talk, and then the guy at home talks. The skype picture quality is often fine, but you can hear that "I recorded in my bedroom sound" on their voice! So it's not just us guitar players....

That said, the important thing is to have a decent sounding room, which usually means room treatment, but doesn't absolutely have to be. Sometimes a normal furnished room can be fine - at least "good enough" for what we want to do. The cool thing with a portable recorder is that you can easily go to one of those rooms - try every room in the house, and also try different locations in the room. You may find something that works without needed specific treatment (or you may not, but it's worth a try).

Most of my You Tube videos are shot in untreated rooms. They're not perfect, and I can often hear the room in them, but I think they're "good enough for You Tube". The video I shot this past Christmas I did in my living room, which is just a pretty normal living room, walls, windows, carpet, etc. I did use relatively close micing with a pair of hyper-cardiods, which may help a little to focus the sound, so that's another thing to consider trying.

[MikeBmusic]

Chris and Kevin's comments about portable acoustic panels are spot on! I resisted the suggestions for years. Recorded in the living room (it was bigger than my other room) and hung a moving blanket behind me, facing out, at an angle, towards the longest dimension of the room. It was better than the highly reflective room I had been tracking in, but not a lot better.
I finally built six 4" thick panels, 3 of which I can quickly move around to block unwanted reflections, if needed. Plus some corner trapping and a couple of 2" thick ceiling cloud panels has made my recording life so much easier!

TBman - I didn't see where you mentioned how you are monitoring your mixes - inadequate speakers (in an untreated space) and headphones can alter how you perceive your mixes, too.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

Chris and Kevin's comments about portable acoustic panels are spot on! I resisted the suggestions for years. Recorded in the living room (it was bigger than my other room) and hung a moving blanket behind me, facing out, at an angle, towards the longest dimension of the room. It was better than the highly reflective room I had been tracking in, but not a lot better.
I finally built six 4" thick panels, 3 of which I can quickly move around to block unwanted reflections, if needed. Plus some corner trapping and a couple of 2" thick ceiling cloud panels has made my recording life so much easier!

TBman - I didn't see where you mentioned how you are monitoring your mixes - inadequate speakers (in an untreated space) and headphones can alter how you perceive your mixes, too.

I have one of those 5.1 Logitech speaker setups for the computer. I don't use headphones.

[Fairlight]

Yes, Zoom handhelds (specifically the newer ones with the XY capsule) sound good. REALLY good. They are an amazing value for the specs, features and ease. I've A/B'd my H5 with several other higher priced mics and the similarities are spooky. All the talk of sound absorption is good and important, but a separate discussion that is secondary to good microphones and placement. I've used mine in stairwells, offices, hotel rooms, outside gazebos, you name it. It really captures great ambience around the source as well. I have yet to hear anything sound as good as the H5 in that price range.

[MikeBmusic]

Originally Posted by TBman

I have one of those 5.1 Logitech speaker setups for the computer. I don't use headphones.

Great for watching movies - or checking mixes made with studio monitors. Not so good for mixing.