- #Traveling with a zoom audio recorder on a plane Patch#
- #Traveling with a zoom audio recorder on a plane plus#
- #Traveling with a zoom audio recorder on a plane download#
If you want your in-house audience to hear things in stereo, then you’ll need another stereo breakout cable (and one more XLR adapter, to be safe). I keep a 1/4″ to XLR adapter ($9) handy in case the PA only takes XLR. Most PAs either have a 1/4″ input or an XLR input. I like to keep things simple, so I use a 3.5 mm to 1/4″ TS (mono) cable ($5). What you use depends on whether you care about your in-house audience hearing stereo or mono sound. You need a cable to connect the “line out” on your Zoom to the PA.
#Traveling with a zoom audio recorder on a plane plus#
But if you want to be totally self-sufficient, buy one or two Mackie loudspeakers (I like the SRM450v3, $400) plus stands. I do most of my shows on the road, and I can’t be hauling loudspeakers on the plane with me. My method here depends on there being some kind of PA system at the venue where I’m doing my show, and there usually is. Once you’ve got all of your sound sources plugged into the Zoom, it’s time to send the output to the house sound system. Either use the stereo breakout cable and leave one end hanging, or buy a TS (mono) cable. Bad things happen when you send a stereo cable into a mono input jack - phase cancellation between the stereo channels will eliminate all sounds that are balanced across the stereo field, the way a karaoke machine eliminates lead vocals from songs. However, DO NOT connect your iPhone or computer to the Zoom using a TRS cable, like the kind you might use to connect your phone to your car stereo. If all the sound you’re planning to play is mono, you could just leave one of the 1/4″ plugs on the stereo breakout cable hanging, thereby freeing up another input on the expansion module. (Quick aside on visuals: When projection is available, I usually integrate visuals into my live shows - in which case, I put my sound into a Keynote presentation and send the headphone output of my laptop to my Zoom via the stereo breakout cable.) The mini plug goes into the iPhone’s headphone jack, and the two 1/4″ plugs go into the inputs on the Zoom’s expander module, because the iPhone doesn’t need phantom power. I use a Hosa 3.5mm TRS (stereo mini plug) to dual 1/4” ($7).
#Traveling with a zoom audio recorder on a plane Patch#
To get the sound from the iPhone to the Zoom, you need a slightly unusual kind of patch cable called a “stereo breakout” cable or “Y splitter” that will split the stereo output of the phone into two separate mono channels (remember, each of the inputs on the Zoom is strictly mono). (Note: If you’re playing sound off your phone during a live show, remember to put it on airplane mode so you don’t get calls or texts!) You can preload up to 729 sounds, adjust their playback levels, fade them in and out, etc.
#Traveling with a zoom audio recorder on a plane download#
You upload your sound files from your computer to Google Drive or Dropbox and download them into the app on your phone.
This is the best sample pad app available for doing this kind of work - and I’ve blown too much money trying other ones. My go-to, all-purpose handheld mic is the Shure SM86 ($179), which is a condenser mic with no battery compartment, so I need the phantom power available from those four main inputs.įor playing music, actualities and other recorded sound live, I use the iPhone app CueZy (free with $7 of in-app purchases to make it fully functional). If I only have one or two guests, I keep one of my mics pointed at the audience to capture their reactions. I run my host mic and up to three guest mics into channels 1–4, using really long XLR cables ($25 each) so that my guests and I have freedom of movement on stage.
The only drawback is that the inputs on the expansion module cannot feed phantom power, which is necessary for condenser mics that don’t have their own power source. For another $70, you can get an expansion module that gives you two additional XLR/TRS inputs in place of the on-board mic. The H6 is a six-track recorder - four XLR/TRS inputs plus L and R channels fed by a detachable stereo on-board mic module. It serves as both my recorder and my mixing board for the house sound. The centerpiece of my setup is the Zoom H6 ($400), which I think is clearly the best consumer-grade audio field recorder on the market right now. I do it with about $1,000 worth of equipment, almost all of which I already had in my radio reporter’s toolkit, and all of which fits in my backpack. If you’re still hesitant because you’re scared by the logistical challenges involved, here is my technical setup for performing and recording live episodes of The Pub. If you make a radio show or podcast, there are a lot of good reasons to try recording an episode in front of a live audience: It’s fun, it cements bonds between you and your fan community, it wins you new fans (tell everyone to bring a friend!) and it can even generate revenue.