Running with Scissors

UPDATE:  Time flies in the computer world – the iRiver iFP-895 is no longer available.

We are working on putting together some podcasting kits that students and faculty here at UMW can use – one kit will be for field work, the other for studio work. Our UMW Podfather, Gardner Campbell, has been most helpful in recommending some equipment for us that is easy to use and still meets the quality demands of his very discriminating ear. (Thanks Gardner!)

I tested out some of the equipment we are planning to use for the field recording kit: an iRiver iFP-895 MP3 player/recorder, Sennheiser pc150 headset/microphone combo, and a Sony ECM-MS907 Electret Condenser microphone.

You can hear a sample of what I recorded here: http://www.jerryslezak.net/podcasts/pod_test.MP3

The iRiver is quite a nice little piece of technology. It is basically a small MP3 player with 512 MB of built-in flash memory. What makes it unique is that it also can record – it can record voice using the built in microphone (which also sounds pretty good, but you get some noise if you are holding the iRiver while recording this way), or it can record from an external microphone that you plug into the line-in jack (the line-in jack can also be set to accept line sources like something coming out of a audio mixer). The iRiver also lets you set the recording levels, the quality of the encoding that you want, and if it records in mono or stereo. At the highest quality settings, there is enough memory for over 8 hours of recording. It takes a little patience to figure out what buttons to push, but for the most part it is fairly easy, but I can see a small instruction sheet will be needed to get first timers up to speed.

The Sennheiser headset and microphone combo works very well with the iRiver – what I like best is that while you record, the iRiver also sends the audio of your recording to the headset so you can hear yourself as you speak – I like this as it gives me some sense of how loud I need to speak or if I’m “popping my p’s.” This combination also gives you great freedom – you can easily move around while recording since you can simply slide the iRiver in your pocket or wear it around your neck.

The Sony microphone adds a different dimension – this allows you to be the “reporter on the street.” This is condenser microphone, which means it has a fuller, richer sound than the microphone built into the Sennheiser headset. It is also a stereo microphone which allows for a more immersive spatial experience if you want to capture that. It comes with a small stand that you can use to hold the mic or set it on a table top.

The iRiver software is fairly intuitive for managing and moving files from the iRiver to your computer, however you do need to convert the files recorded using the external microphone to MP3 using the conversion wizard built into the software.

All in all I’m very happy with this equipment – it should meet the needs of making field recording easy, but also allowing a level of quality that can be very high.

We are reaching the end of the semester, everyone rushing to the finish. It is typically a pretty stressful time, but something happened yesterday that slowed everyone down, at least for a moment.

Snow.

It fell softly and steadily, and blanketed the UMW campus. It looked beautiful, the way it piled up on everything – trees, benches, bikes. I got in early today and thought I would take a couple of pictures, but as I went around campus, each shot seemed more interesting than the next. The sun started to rise which added some more beauty to the scene. So a couple of shots turned into 104. I uploaded a good sample to my Flickr account, so if you missed it, or want to remember it when you have more time, you can take a look here.

By the way, if you are interested in Flickr, an online photo sharing site, you can check out what it has to offer here. The service offers basic free accounts as well as “pro” accounts that provide more storage space.

ODEO, a podcasting directory service (http://odeo.com) has just added online production tools – you can make a podcast right in the browser. You can listen to my first podcast recorded in ODEO by going here:

http://media.odeo.com/files/k/k/n/draft_16683_out.mp3

Or, visit my ODEO channel at this address:

http://www.odeo.com/audio/481537/view

It took me 10 minutes to make this podcast – the next one won’t take much longer than simply adding a couple of minutes to however long I want to talk.

One question so far – why is the recording limited to 3 minutes? Fine for me, but not fine for others!