I'm interested in capturing sound, either during on-campus lectures, or when recording videos, or when lecturing over zoom.
Here are some of the devices that I own, and what I think:
Logitech C920 webcam with integrated microphone:
The sound is ... fine. Even at a few metres distance, actually. Nothing like a proper, dedicated microphone, but way beyond e.g. the microphone you'd find in a laptop.
BlueParrot B350-XT bluetootch headset:
It's absolutely bloody awful as a sound source. Absolutely fine for listening to music with, but as a headset for recording sound it stinks. The sound during phone calls is fine, but expectations aren't generally very high. Bloody expensive too.
Logitech G930 wireless gaming headset:
Decent sound, but lacks dynamic range in terms of the microphone. Won't work well during a live lecture since it covers both ears. Great at keeping sound out, so very good as a headset for listening to music.
Samson XPD2 wireless lavalier microphone:
Have ordered, but not yet received. You can use it as a lav mic, but I'm going to experiment with using the Zoom H1n below as the input (via a 2x 3.5 mm cable plus a 3.55 mm female -> XLR converter), so that I can record on the H1n simultaneously as I live-stream. We'll see how it works out.
I also bought what is supposed to be a better Lavalier mic (J-082S 044) and a 3.5 mm/XLR adapter:
Blue Yeti microphone:
This is my default microphone for video conferencing and recording videos. It's a great microphone. Cheaper than the crappy B350-XT above. Has several different pickup patterns. I love it.
I'm using it together with a boom arm I got off of Amazon ('Neuma Professional Microphone Stand with Pop Protection').
Zom Handy H1n sound recorder:
This is my favoure toy though. It's small, light and have great sound. It's a stereo microphone when use as a sound recorded. You can also hook it up via USB (and have it powered via USB) and use it as a high-quality MONO microphone when recording videos or video conferencing. You can NOT record at the same time as you're using it as a USB microphone. I also got the Zoom APH 1 N/GE Accessories Bundle.
The portability makes it great for a number of uses. You can pass it between lecturers that want to record good-quality sound for lecture videos, and it's easy to take home (the Blue Yeti is a heavy beast).
You can also stick it the podium when giving a lecture and it will capture surprisingly good sound. You can record sound and replace webcam sound in post using e.g. KDENLive. You can attach a lavalier mic and use it to record sound during a live lecture and replace webcam sound in post. And more.
It has a 3.5 mm mic input and a 3.5 mm headphone output. I'm planning on experimenting with recording on the H1n at the same time as I've got the headphone output connected to the Samson (above) so that I can stream the sound to my laptop, and share it via zoo, since wireless technologies can be unstable in a lecture hall with lots of phones with wifi running (anywhere you have students). We'll see how it works out.
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Once the audio is taken care of, I plan on using the following for the visual, and use OBS Studio to tie it all together.
Document camera JOURIST DC80
Webcam Logitech C920
I've also ordered a chromakey set for fancier video production. Will be interesting to see how it turns out.
