I have Sony camcorder hdr-sr11, i need to know what is the best ext. mic to record live rock band music?

Question

when i record using only the incorp mic the sound is very distortionated, therefore i want to use ext mic to record rock live music. thanks

Answer 1

I looked through the manual... It does not look like this camcorder has manual audio control.

You could get the best most expensive mic available and it will still sound distorted... The problem is that without manual audio control the built-in automatic audio gain leveler is not able to keep up with really loud audio. Lots of clipping and very muddy sounding. You need to be able to control that audio gain - and what gets through the audio circuit and through the camcorder and onto the tape.

The easiest option is to use a field recorder like those from Zoom, M-Audio, Marantz, Sony, Edirol, Tascam (and others). They have built-in mics and manual audio control. When you bring the video into a computer for editing, bring the audio in from the field recorder, too. Mute the bad audio that came in with the video and synch the imported audio from the field recorder.

Another easy option is to replace the camcorder. Personally, I don't like AVCHD compressed video - too much video compression - currently the least expensive camcorders of which I am aware with mic-in jacks and full manual audio control are the Canon HV20, HV30, Sony HDR-HC7 and HC9.

Just so you know, I use a Sony HDR-HC1 with a BeachTek or juicedLink XLR adapter and for live music (if I have not made prior arrangements with the audio engineer to get a good discreet AUX send board mix), I use an Audio Technica AT-825 or Shure VP-88... and yes, I have successfully recorded live rock, metal, screamer and other bands with NO distortion.