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What kind of mic should I use to record lectures in a large classroom? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

11 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Nursing student here. I record lectures so review them at high playback speeds, and to share with classmates who aren't able to make it to class.

I've been using the small clip-on battery powered mics made for doing interviews, but last semester revealed a few weaknesses: The profs don't like to actually wear them, so I just clip them onto the lecture podium - works fine while they're standing at it, but they don't have good range, and most of the profs move around a lot as they lecture, so the volume of the recording is all over the place or completely silent if they stray too far away. Also 99% of the time a student asks a question, the mic doesn't capture it at all, so I just get a few seconds of silence followed by some random info with no context. The battery is also only enough to get through about 2/3 of a class period - fine if I remember to swap them out during a break, but not ideal.

Going forward, I'm hoping to find an option I can just plug into my laptop, sit near the front, and record. A normal desktop conferencing style mic stands out as a decent option, but thinking of the range issue I'm having with the portable mics, I suspect a conferencing type product will have the same issue since it's made to record sound coming from like two feet away from the mic.

I've seen like giant fuzzy mics used on movie sets - should I look for something like that?

And are there specific product recommendations you'd make that are on the less expensive end of the spectrum?

Thanks all!

Edit-

Thanks for all the feedback folks! Time to dig through reviews.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

I am an IT guy with an interest in photography and audio/video recording.

There are three options for you to do this:

Recording close to the source of the sound, using something similar to that of a Röde Wireless, this is what you have been doing so far if I understand you correctly.
Using a directional microphone like a shotgun microphone, this is probably what you are talking about as the "giant fuzzy" mic.

A shotgun microphone is great, I use a Röde VideoMic Go II as my mic when talking through my computer at home.

Using a shotgun microphone in this case however means that you need to play an active part in tracking the lecturer with the mic, you'll probably need to wear headphones to monitor the sound throughout as well.

Conference room mics. This is an interesting idea, you'll still have trouble recording the questions being asked but you should be able to record the lecturer decently.

As for what kind of mic you should get, I did look into the Logitech Rally Micpod, as I have experience with the system in my work, they sound excellent, but it doesn't seem like you can use it directly with a computer as it will only work with the Logitech Rally system.

This means you probably need to get a different kind of conference room mic, but I am having trouble finding a specific model for this.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 days ago

I second the directional mic. The used wireless models when i ran a university virtual classroom. The only issue is habits to charge your batteries before use.