Hi,I am a filmmaker, I own one shotgun mic which is a rode ntg 2. I am looking to buy a field recorder. Do the expensive ones have better sound quality. They all record at 24 bit. There is one however that record at 1 bit which is supposedly ultra high quality. Do sampling frequency affect the quality of the sound that is recorded? Most are recorded at 96 khz but some are recorded at 192 khz. I am looking for the best possible sound quality. Also do I need a field mixer if I only use one mic? Do the gains matter and how much should I look to spend on a field mixer? Here is a list of recorders in varying prices. Most of them record at 24 bit 96 khz. Does the price affect the quality of sound? Some of these recorders have onboard mixers as well. Are onboard mixers as good as external mixers? Thanks in advance.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/699403-REG/Zoom_H1_H1_Ultra_Portable_Digital_Audio.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/757065-REG/Tascam_DR_05_DR_05_Portable_Handheld_Digital.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/821259-REG/Tascam_DR_40_DR_40_4_Track_Handheld_Digital.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/600761-REG/Zoom_H4N_H4n_Handy_Mobile_4_Track.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/832911-REG/Tascam_DR100MKII_DR_100mkII_Portable_Linear.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/830941-REG/Olympus_LS_100_LS_100_Multi_Track_PCM_Recorder.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/929347-REG/tascam_dr_60d_4_ch_track_linear_pcm.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/821260-REG/Roland_R_26_R_26_6_Channel_Digital_Field.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/706462-REG/Korg_MR_2_MR_2_1_Bit_Hand_Held_Digital.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/673541-REG/Tascam_DR_680_DR_680_8_Track_Portable_Field.html

 

Hi Jonathan

I have this one myself:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/832911-REG/Tascam_DR100MKII_DR_100mkII_Portable_Linear.html

And I can do almost any job with it. Had it for about a year now, and I have loads of great recordings made with it! I often uses it with my two AKG C214 .... and it sounds outstanding. When I make speach-recording these days I dont need my studio any more, I just use this setup!

I can recomment this recorder!

Good luck!

 

If you look for a great field recorder, which means recording from an external or built-in microphone, then bit depths and sampling rates are only a small part of the story. It's the quality of the ADC's and the circuitry around them that really makes a difference, which is usually noticeable between cheap and expensive models (but not as much today as it once used to be).
One important parameter is imho the correct sampling rate, which should be supported by your video workflow (e.g. 48kHz instead of 44.1kHz support (just an example) in case your final media should have 48k, so you don't have to resample your recorded material every time).
Most final video is done in 16bit/48k or 24bit/48k.
So you want to record from your NTG2?
If I was in your sitution, I'd choose a recorder which is rugged, small (small enough so you can somehow mount it on the cam), has long battery runtime, and the best possible automatic gain control.
Even better, if it has 24bit AND the circuitry that is actually able to capture the dynamic range of your NTG2, you can somewhat do the gain control later in post processing, if the levels do not vary extremely over time.
Also, it must be user-friendly so you don't have to delve into menus each time you record, and it should also be shielded well enough so it does not pick up any electronic noise from your cam, no matter where you mount it.
Ah yes, and proper phantom power, in case you want to use a different mike one day. With proper I mean precise voltage and low noise (since 48V are always generated by high-frequency voltage boost converters, but not always in a noise-free fashion).

You will hardly find a satisfactory product without trying.

Why not check some products in real life, and see how well the different AGC implementations work and how the recorded audio actually sounds.
Sometimes, cheaper products can be excellent, but you don't know before you compare them.

 

yo

http://www.sounddevices.com/products

absolute superb pro products imo,not cheap but 1000times approved around the globe

i know you already have a mic but maybe u could lease and try a sennheiser me66/64 (broadcast/ENG standard)

but no,price is def not linear to quality in my experience..but quality often costs some dineros

the zooms are ok,never worked with portable tascam products

there is no best soundquality-video standard is imo 24b/48k,and bit depth is much more important than sample rate-(knowing that many will disagree about the samplrate)


cheers

 

Thanks for the help everyone. I am confused to what one bit recording is. They say one bit is incredibly high quality. Is it high quality if the ADC quality and circuitry is bad? How do I determine the ADC quality and circuitry quality just by looking at the spec? And, do I really need a field mixer? I only have one mic and I have no idea on how to use a field mixer or what any of the knobs do.