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Optimal settings recording audio?


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I bought a Zoom H1 and Rode Lavalier for recording interviews.

Next week I will use them at a shoot so I'm bizzy testing and getting the right settings.

 

What are the Optimal settings recording audio and why?

 

The options on the Zoom H1 are Wav or MP3 - I choose WAV. Should I use 48 Khz and 24 bit or ....?

So what Khz and Bit rate should I use? The options are...

 

 

- 48 Khz 16 bit

- 48 khz 24 bit

- 96 Khz 16 bit

- 96 Khz 24 bit

- 44 Khz 16 bit

- 44 Khz 24 bit

 

 

Thanxs for helping!

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if you plan to do some surgical eq'ing in post to really punch out the voice or general noise correction then record in 24/96.  Those are the real benefits, but tbh the bit range and frequency can only do so much if it's not a high end converter to do serious post work.  with mid range to high end gear 24/96 handles correction better with more headroom in post, and in general recording.  I haven't kept up with web audio wrappers in years, but from what I remember most compressed video for web playback will still generally be 16/44, and you'll most likely publish to that.  always record in WAV

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Always 24-bit, just because it gives you more resolution with quieter sounds. Zooms are noisy when sounds are quiet (signal to noise ratio) so try and keep your gain quite high without clipping.

 

48kHz is your video standard, just use 48kHz 24-bit if in doubt.

 

I spent years in pro audio embroiled in endless debates about benefits of high sample rate (basically recording frequencies beyond our hearing range, but that may have an effect on frequencies we can hear or that processors can use). If you're working with lots of analogue outboard studio gear then 96kHz is good, if not go for 48kHz.

 

At one point I even started reading Dan Lavry's papers on sampling theory. After going that far down the rabbit hole I emerged to A/B a few recordings...

 

And concluded you should just stick to 48kHz 24-bit for the most part and save yourself the brain space and the sleep!

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Thanxs  - before reading your post JG I already decided for the 48 kHz 24-bit based on my readings and talks to others. But nice to hearyou have the same suggestion to ensure i made the right decision  B)

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Thanxs  - before reading your post JG I already decided for the 48 kHz 24-bit based on my readings and talks to others. But nice to hearyou have the same suggestion to ensure i made the right decision  B)

 

aside from general audible theory IT IS A FACT that you get far better results in cleaning audio at 24/96khz, especially with today's noise reduction plugins and applied FX within post.  this is why I mentioned the general benefit of higher hz if you consider optimized audio...and particularly from a Zoom device.  Also audio space is not an inconvenience today.  Maybe it was 7 years ago with the advent of recording multiple channels in a pro environment, but today hard disk space is of no concern especially if you're recording an interview.  lastly one of the main reasons why pro cams don't bother with higher hz from the built in mics is because it would technically record ''more'' (unwanted) internal noise!  It's even harder to understand without pro grade monitors.  

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