Ceremony audio - What lengths do you go to?

[Adrian Tan]

Re Zoom H4N, I've mentioned this before, but another dodgy thing I've experienced at least twice is the device taking 20-30 minutes to boot up from when the power button is pushed. I don't use them anymore, and this is one big reason why.

About the Yamaha C24, just wanted to add that my second shooter and I have sat there and watched two Yamahas as they recorded for two minutes and then switched off of their own accord, to make sure we weren't imagining things. So, if anyone is having problems with that device, it's not necessarily a case of "forgot to double press the record button".

Incidentally, Nigel, thanks for the internal memory tip! Only catch is -- I think you might have to start recording just before speeches start, rather than set-and-forget at start of reception. I've got a feeling that the internal memory is only 2gb.

Looking at the Yamaha files from my last wedding, I think we left it rolling from about 6pm to midnight, and it chewed through over 3gb of data, and we don't have it on maximum quality settings.

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Adrian Tan

RIncidentally, Nigel, thanks for the internal memory tip! Only catch is -- I think you might have to start recording just before speeches start, rather than set-and-forget at start of reception. I've got a feeling that the internal memory is only 2gb.

Looking at the Yamaha files from my last wedding, I think we left it rolling from about 6pm to midnight, and it chewed through over 3gb of data, and we don't have it on maximum quality settings.

You must be recording to WAV. I record to 320Kbps MP3 & there is enough space for several weddings on the internal memory. It sounds plenty good enough to my ears.

BTW I have just been reviewing what I brought back from Saturday's wedding & despite having two Yamaha C-24s running for the speeches (or so I thought) there was nothing of the speeches on one of them & two clips of about a couple of seconds each in the other.. At least I had the camcorder mic & a wireless mic feeding the camcorder too but it is a little disconcerting. Maybe there is a random stopping fault with all C-24s which is why the model is discontinued

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Peter Riding

Have you never missed setting a locked down b-cam to record even though you could have sworn you did press that damn record button?

When this has happened it's usually because in my hurry to get it set up I have managed to press record twice & thus switched it off again.

[Roger Gunkel]

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

You must be recording to WAV. I record to 320Kbps MP3 & there is enough space for several weddings on the internal memory. It sounds plenty good enough to my ears.

I'd agree with that, as I always record the voices to mp3. I can really see no point recording in wav format as it takes much more memory and the frequency range and dynamic range of the human voice just doesn't warrant it. Just about everybody listens to music on mp3 these days, and if it is good enough for that it is certainly good enough for voice.

It could well be that other people having issues with portable audio recorders might benefit by just recording in mp3.

Roger