What type of a microphone should I use to record speakers at a conference? I’m just a guest and do not have acces to the line coming from the podium mike. I record with a handheld digital voice recorder.
The first thing you should do is check with the conference organizers and see if this is permitted. Many conference speakers, especially if they are paid to be there, have clauses in their contracts prohibiting their remarks being recorded. Also if the conference sells recordings or transcripts of the proceedings they will undoubtedly have policies against private recordings.
As far as your OP, I’m not really an expert on microphones, but a lot is going to depend on the size of the room, how close you are sitting to the PA speakers, how much ambient noise there will be, etc.
They’re press friendly conferences. I keep my recorder in my hand and other folks have the giant mikes on a boom, so I’m sure there’s no subterfuge or illicit recording going on.
I’m sure too. However, I’m hoping tha there’s a type of microphone that responds better in these varied situations than others.
The ideal mike is a shotgun mike, which is very directional and picks very little sound from any direction other than the one you are pointing it in. However, these are expensive and probably not worth it for you for one time.
This one is a condensor mike with special power requirements (“phantom power”) that you are almost certainly not set up to do, but it gives you the idea of what is used for this type of application. This one is over $1200.
http://www.shure.com/microphones/models/sm89.asp
Here’s some lower-priced versions, starting at $250
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/review_shotgun_mics.html
It’s not just one time. but the mike should be compatible with my little hand-held.
So, a shotgun mike is the type you’d recommend.
Thanks