Hi Chris,

That's odd about the DM420. I've been using three of them for quite a while and haven't had (luckily) the problem you had. Are you sure it was rubbing against something like the corsage? Or was it happening all the time at every event?

Chris, your situation sounds like maybe an issue with the wire for your lav. Perhaps it is damaged internally from getting bent? It's also possibly an issue with the DVR itself, although I'd guess it's the lav wire.

I agree that the H4n is pretty bulky to use on a groom or officiant. I would see if you can get your hands on a different mic (preferably new) and try your Olympus again.

I should have been more clear on how I set it up. During the ceremony, it was hooked up to the church's PA system via 1/8 TRS plug. During the reception, it was also hooked up on the DJ's output via RCA to 1/8 TRS. I didn't get to use it on the groom via lav mic since I already had them hooked up to a Sennheiser wireless mic. The "dropouts" were happening both during the ceremony and the reception. It could possibly be that it was a bad DVR since it was happening at random times. I have to admit though I did really like the device's form factor.

are you recording in WAVE format?

i believe it was mp3 not wav.

Thanks Taky, I too use Premiere.

Did Premiere show the number 100.06 as you adjusted the speed, or was that a calculation you arrived at via doing a math equation ??? I am assuming that is 100.06%, correct ???

This may be a stupid question, but is there a "preferred" format to use ???

Typically I would go with WAV over mp3 to maximize quality over file size, if I had that option.

I calculated this number myself as I try different number so the clip is synch perfectly. Funny after I typed 100.06, premiere will not show the value (or it just round up.. not sure).

also, this is from my particular model of my recorder. You should try out your own to find out if the drift occured.

I read from my H2 zoom recorder, sometimes recording in WAVE file the memory card has problem catching up the high data rate.. thus drop out occurred. I recorded in mp3 in 256kbps. sounds good to me,

Digital Recorders
 

Drop out and interference has caused me too many problems so I use 2 olympus WS-311M recorders and a ZoomH2 for more ambient stuff - you'll need to re-time a litle in post but they have never let me down

Pete

I would have assumed a recorder that offers WAV would be able to crank it through, but maybe the card comes into play as well ??? Taky..... you bring up a good point and something I will research well. Thanks.

Just opened the H2 manual and here's a direct quote

"Depending on the combination of operation mode and recording mode, data transfer to the SD card during recording may momentarily not be able to keep up with the data stream, leading to a brief sound dropout (skipping). When this occurs, the indication "Data write Error" is shown on the display during recording and after recording is finished. The likelihood for dropouts increases when the processing load on the H2 is heavy. If dropout errors occur, change the recording mode and redo the recording.'

and then a chart showing what's heavy processing load to light processing load... it goes like this

WAV96kHz/24bit
WAV96kHz/16bit
WAV48kHz/24bit
WAV44.1kHz/24bit
WAV48kHz/16bit
WAV44.1kHz/16bit
MP3

So recording in WAVE will cause higher chance of dropouts.

You should be recording at 16 bit 48k stereo WAV. No need to use higher SR or bit depth.
If you still get dropouts you need to replace your card.
Spend the money on a class 6 or better and you'll have no more trouble.
You might try reformatting the card first - fragmentation can cause speed problems too.

best

c

Chris, I can see me picking a SR of 6 bazillion and 8 if it was offered, that would be so like me !!!! :-)

I assume you say we should stick to no more than 16bit 48K because that is what video is primarily shot at ???

I can see what Taky posted about file volume and the recorder having a difficult time with the higher rate and flow of that much information to the card. It just surprises me a manufacturer would offer settings that it knows its product can't keep up with. Very unusual IMO.

From everything here I went with the Yamaha CXs, a pair so far, and Giant Squid Omni lav mics for them. The lavs, went with one black and one with white cable and clips, for the bride. Now I need windscreens for them, as they don't come with them. For the bride's mic, I need to find either white or fleshtone, or both of those, and typical black for the other.

Any suggestions on where to find some, and your experiences in what I should look for or make sure I don't get ????

Re
 

Excuse my ignorance so if I was using a h4 or h2 for speeches at a ceremony along with my g2 where do I put it for best audio? In the speakers pocket ?

Luke

You certainly seem to have a different market for DVD in your area. Here I often have difficulty in convincing a groom of the benefit of wearing a mic, I don't think I'd ever be able to persuade a bride to.

I did it by placing a voice recorder on top of DJ speaker and let a wired lav mic hanging in front of the speakers. Check out my blog. I have a video to show the difference

Recording Good Sound at Event | L.A. Color Blog