I wanted something better to record my practice sessions and workshops at Tionóls other than my $10 cassette tape recorder. I couldn’t justify several hundred dollars for a recorder for this purpose so I took a look at a digital voice recorder (mentioned on Michael Eskin’s web site). These too ranged in prices from “inexpensive” to “more than I could justify”. I had seen and heard this Olympus model http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1193 at the East Coast Tionol.
I thought the quality was worth giving it a try.
For what it’s worth here is a sample of the quality (sound, not my playing) I was able to get from the recorder. http://mysite.verizon.net/littlems1/media/sound/sebegsemor.mp3
I had it set to record at the highest quality setting. I did not use an external mic. It has and internal stereo mic. It was recorded in my basement. I had the recorder sitting on a chair and found the best sound recording was achieved if I had the recorder sitting about three feet away, in front and to the left of my pipes.
There’s a built-in mic (a tiny hole in the front). One AAA battery plays for about 20 hours, and it’s got a built-in FM radio. The quality of the recordings is nothing to write home about, but if you just want capture the tune, it works well, even from across a classroom. I’m not the kind of person who tends to listen over and over to recordings of classes anyway - I just want a mnemonic to remember things by, and this does the job.
Hey that Olympus recorder sounds great. I’ve been using a 20 year old cassette recorder that clicks every 5 seconds. This would be great for lessons. Thank you Jim
I’ve been using the Olympus WM-320 for the past few months and have been very pleased with it. The sound quality isn’t quite up to mini-disc standard, but it’s a whole lot more convenient. For lessons and picking tunes at a session, the built-in mics are more than adequate. I wish it recorded in mp3 rather than .wma, but that’s fairly minor. My only complaint is that the battery indicator goes from full to almost dead rather suddenly, and usually at the worst possible time, so always start with a fresh battery if you’re recording something important.
I use a sony minidisc recorder. It was a few hundred dollars, but probably cheap now on ebay as new models have come out. I also use the digital mic which is about $70, but the quality is so good that you can use it to record concert performances at tionals and such. It can be downloaded onto your computer, edited and copied onto a cd or ipod. many advantages in terms of sound quality, and seperating tracks, but no hard drive, just the minidiscs until you store on your computer hard drive.
I use the Oly DS-2. It works great. I use the Sony “hammerhead mic” too. I dump the stuff to my mac and slow them down with Amazing Slower Downer. It is a great way to learn tunes. If I could change anything, I wish the DS-2 recorded to SD chips so I could drop in fresh chips when I filled up one. When recording at the highest setting, it fills up fairly fast, since it has only about 65 min. capacity. If your at a week long music camp with no PC or Mac to dump to, you have to record at a lower quality setting. Rechargable batteries would be nice too.
You can find new and slightly used DS-2’s on ebay for under $100.
Back in April I bought an Olympus VN-960PC. I’m very pleased with it as a recorder. $89 Cdn. Now on sale for $79 I see. In any event, I haven’t fully mastered the Olympus Digital Wave Player software that came with it. Back in April I recorded and successfully downloaded some tunes but couldn’t figure out how to access them to e-mail to a third party. In other words, I succeeded in getting the tune to my PC, but there they remained captive. Since April I haven’t had the time to spend to figure out the software. Choice: fart around with software or play some tunes. The latter has been winning out. If anyone has any quick tips or hints, they’d be gratefully received.