Microphones For Portable Recorders 3: How To Choose?

Updated July 2024 for clarity and to remove anachronisms. Prices updated.

This is the third in a series of articles on choosing external microphones for portable digital recorders. Part one discussed why we might not wish to use the built-in mics on our recorder and part two was an overview of microphone types plus power and cabling requirements.

Now is the time to fix your objectives in mind. Are you recording lectures or community meetings? Are you gathering dialogue for a video? Are you conducting interviews in the street? Are you recording live concerts or your own band in rehearsal? Are you making nature or soundscape recordings?

I will discuss each use case and recommend microphone types (dynamic, condenser, electret, boundary), polar patterns (omni, cardioid, shotgun), and power requirements. Specific tried-and-true microphone models will be mentioned as a starting point.

Microphones For Portable Recorders 2: Types and Powering

Updated July 2024 for clarity and to remove some anachronisms. 

In part one of this series I discussed portable audio recorders and the limitations of using their built-in microphones. This article will explain which microphone types are available and how to power them.

I will avoid excessive technical detail, instead emphasising practical concerns.

Microphones For Portable Recorders 1: Recorder and Rationale

This article was first written in 2013 and has been updated in 2024.

Once you own a portable audio recorder the next issue is obtaining a good set of microphones. This topic is complex, since there are hundreds of possible models. To make an informed choice you need to understand certain technical issues.

What types of microphones are there? Which are optimal for which tasks? What connectors do you need? Does the microphone require power and how do you provide this? In this article series I address these questions.

In this first article I will review how to choose an audio recorder before discussing certain limitations of built-in mics. In the second article I will discuss different types of microphones and discuss their power requirements. In the third article I will discuss the most appropriate microphones for several common recording tasks.