Hi guys,

I'm a Uni student studying Music Technology, this year i will be trying to find a placement and I would personally like to do Sound Design for games so I am working on a show reel.

My question is about recording equipment, I need to get something to record out and about but I'm struggling to decide as my budget is not massive, and im worried low sound quality will effect my show reel prospects, Can anyone recommend me a good portable microphone?

Many thanks

the most practical solution to this, in my opinion, would be if you or a close friend has an iphone. The mic quality actually seems to be pretty decent considering it's primary function is just voice memo. (i'm no sound pro, nor do I know the specs of the iphone microphone, but the few things I've recorded are not bad for certain things. )

Not sure if $100 is within your budget, but the Shure SM57 is a great general-purpose microphone. The mic is lightweight and pretty portable, though you'll also need a cord and something to record into (I use my laptop... if you do this I recommend running the laptop off the battery and NOT having it plugged in to a wall outlet, otherwise you'll typically notice a feint hum). If you go this route you'll also want a small mic. preamp between the mic and laptop as well, which adds a bit to the cost and can decrease the portability a tad, though you can get pretty inexpensive small ones and figure out a way to strap them to your laptop (or recording device).

I've been using this setup for a while and the sounds are clear and crisp!

Ooh, also: if you're already at the University you could try checking with their media department. Sometimes they let students check out equipment (and they're often stocked with some quality stuff). Another trick is to get a student work study job with the media department (my old University let me borrow all sorts of stuff when I worked for them!). And sometimes the campus library has equipment for students as well.

I would say you'd want something like this:

http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/tascam-dr07-mkii-portable-digital-recorder--86138

I haven't looked in depth at that particular model, but that sort of device is going to give you a heck of a lot more portability than lugging around a laptop, interface, mic and preamp! I can't vouch for the sound quality, but hopefully that'll point you in roughly the right direction.

Thanks for all the advice, lots of options for me to choose, I think im going to get a portable recorder just as it seems like a useful thing to have for the future and then, if I need higher end equipment I will borrow condensor mics from uni

I've heard great stuff of the Zoom H2: http://www.zoom.co.j...sh/products/h2/

This kind of gear is a 'portable field recorder' and comes with all the features you need; in-built stereo microphones with 360º, records directly to SD cards so no hassle with transfering your recordings and has an 1/8" input for other microfones you may wish to use (such as shotgun ones for instance).

Be careful when you go searching for 'the best' portable recorder as you can easily get lost in the amount of choices available...

I've used the Edirol R-09 with some really nice results. Not a perfect unit but definitely gets the job done.

I started out with a mini disc and a Rode NT3 mic which takes a 9V battery for internal power. The AKG C1000s is another good one, and you can change the polar pattern on this mic. It too take 9V internal battery eliminating the need for phantom power. You can buy or make a cable that converts XLR to minijack to plug into any recorder's input. I moved onto an iRiver H140/H120 which has mic in, and 20-40gig HD and can record as WAV used can cost as little as $60, and the C1000s or RodeNT3 you could find under $100.

The Zoom H2 I wouldn't recommend, purely because it doesn't take XLR inputs meaning you're stuck with it's internal mics which I personally don't like the sound of.

The Zoom H4n - also which I'm not very keen on the sound of the internal mics again, at least provides XLR inputs so you have a good choice for doing some stereo recording with the internal mics and some spotfx recording with an external mic. However it is an affordable piece of kit. If you can afford one, the Sony PCM-D50 sounds fantastic but will set you back about $400.

Take note, that any portable recorder will need a windscreen as the mics on the recorders will pick up wind even just walking or turning - RedHead make some awesome ones for around $35 for portable recorders. Portable recorders with built in mics will also pick up handling noise, so you need to have a steady hand, or purchase a hand mount - Rycote makes one of the best (but more expensive $100)

Here's a few review sites with AUDIO examples to hear the difference between portable recorders.
SITE 1 - AUDIO EXAMPLES
SITE 2 - AUDIO EXAMPLES

If you're recording material inside a studio, you don't have to worry too much about noise and room reverb, so the microphone choice becomes one more of personal preference of the sound. A more flexible solution would be a shotgun mic to get as much of the source and as little as the side and rear signal as possible.

As far as quality of sounds for show reel - it's fairly important, but more so is suitability of the sounds, mix, and consistency across the samples. Taking a recording and using it straight up often doesn't work and you'll need to process it, mangle it, layer and shake it up to get the right sound. Your ability to be able to figure out how something sounds and how you process sounds to get to that vision is to me the money shot.

Also if you're sound designing to video, consider also sourcing free sounds online as building blocks for designing new sounds, never use an existing sound as is. You can create a lot of new sounds by processing existing sounds, editing and layering various sounds to make new ones - this will infact be like using sound libraries which sound designers use as raw materials for creating new sounds.

The best way to learn is just to start. Find a short - 30sec video clip of some video game or animation and try to replace the sounds. There's open source audio editors available to help you out - like Audacity

Good luck!

Again thank you there's some really great advice here, espically for someone relatively new to the industry I look forward to putting it into practice!

Here's a few review sites with AUDIO examples to hear the difference between portable recorders.
SITE 1 - AUDIO EXAMPLES
SITE 2 - AUDIO EXAMPLES[/quote]

These are a great help for deciding, lovely to hear some examples for myself. Thanks alot