Question on 32-bit float recorder and "any" mic/lavalier

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Hello everyone, I'm a noob here, I'm hoping I could get some help on a question I've had... When it comes to 32-bit recorders (lets say like a Zoom F3 or R4 or something like that ), in theory could you plug in practically any (lets say at least not dollar-store) mic or something into it and would it still have the dynamic range benefits of the 32-bit recording? Again I have a pretty rudimentary understanding of this side of things (I usually work more on the video side lol)    

but I was wondering, are most microphones capable of I guess "recording" the dynamic range of sounds that the recorder would then "record"? Or are there certain mics only that have the hardware capable of even receiving that range of sound?
- Is that basically what the "frequency response" spec is on microphones? Thanks for any help

[Hugh Robjohns]

...in theory could you plug in practically any...mic or something into it and would it still have the dynamic range benefits of the 32-bit recording?

Yes... although the dynamic range of cheap mics is likely to be less than that of more expensive alternatives.

I was wondering, are most microphones capable of I guess "recording" the dynamic range of sounds that the recorder would then "record"? Or are there certain mics only that have the hardware capable of even receiving that range of sound?

The benefit of the 32bit floating-point option is not so much about capturing bigger dynamic ranges but more about not having to carefully optimise the preamp gain for a given dynamic range coming from the mic.

In most cases, the recorder will capture whatever the mic throws at it, regardless of how much the mic cost. ...And better mics give a better quality of sound.

Is that basically what the "frequency response" spec is on microphones?

No, the frequency response describes the
mic's bandwidth — the usable range between the lowest and highest pitches the mic can capture.

Dynamic range is about the signal amplitude between the mic's (or recorder's) noise floor and their overload level.

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Thank you for the info! Ok I think I'm getting it better now... So it typically isn't the microphone itself that might be the limiting factor but instead it's the recorder (or what might be processing or recording the signal?) that needs to be able to record in 32-bit?

That's pretty cool because I wondered if, for instance in my case, if I were to just buy a 32-bit-capable recorder and plug in one of my shotgun mics (that aren't bad but not super high-end), that at least that would allow me to not have to worry so much about gain levels and could recover overly quiet or overly loud/clipping sounds But like you said, the quality of the sound will correlate definitely with the quality of the microphone.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I wondered if...I were to just buy a 32-bit-capable recorder and plug in one of my shotgun mics ... that would allow me to not have to worry so much about gain levels and could recover overly quiet or overly loud/clipping sounds

Yep. That'll work just fine!