To those of you who make recordings at workshops such as at a Tionól: What kind of recorder do you use / like / recommend?
Thanks-
DJones
Do a search on the user name eskin. Michael has introduced us to all sorts of great devices on several of the these forums.
djm
Well, here’s my arsenal these days:
Session tunesucker: Olympus DS-20 (only available at Radio Shack, you can get the DS-2, which is the same device with half the internal memory at BestBuy). Plug in a Sony ECM-DS70P “T” style stereo mike and its nearly as good as MiniDisc. Price for the DS-20 around $200.00, the mike around $70.00
When I want a great recording of a session: M-Audio MicroTrack 2496. Includes a very nice stereo “T” mike. Works with most pro mikes that can handle phantom power voltage of 30v, also accepts digital in. Price around $350.00
When I want a really great recording of our Tionol concerts: Marantz PMD-670 + Crown SASS-P stereo HTF mike. Price around $650.00 for the recorder, $750.00 for the microphone.
Of course MiniDisc and HiMD work great, but they’re so 2004… 
I’ve just updated my site on digital recorders for sessions and lessons:
http://www.uptospeed.net/hoi/digitalrecorders.html
Cheers,
Michael
Have you been able to try or evaluate the Edirol R1?
The R1 is a very nice device, several people I know use them. I’ve used one for a few days and was very pleased with the results. The only concern I have about the R1 is that they seem a bit delicate in build, I’d be concerned about pieces coming off over time…
Thanks for the info, it’s very helpful
D
I’ve recently purchased a Sony DVR device (ICDP-210) around $150, I found the sound wasn’t that great wit hthe condenser type mic built-into the unit.
I’m planning to buy another which one would you suggest to buy? I thought of this one around $140 (ECMZS90) by Sony Canada, do you think this is a good one to compensate for the sound it now picks up by itself, and would you think it would be just a good as a mini-disc?
upiper71
I like the Sony ECM-DS70P for use with voice recorders.
Anyone got a Samsung YH J70 Digi audio Player and tried to record live audio to it through the line-in?
Cheers,
H.
Harry wrote:
Anyone got a Samsung YH J70 Digi audio Player and tried to record live audio to it through the line-in?
Harry, I posted this last week or so here http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=33715&start=15 :
Apropos field recording solutions, I’ve been looking into MP3 players with recording capability for some time, and have finally concluded that most of the devices out there currently are deliberately crippled to some extent or another to accommodate DRM restrictions and avoid RIAA lawsuits. After trying out (and returning) one of the newer iRiver T-series and a Samsung YH-820, I finally gave up on newer players and found me one of the (now discontinued) iriver H-i120 players on e-bay, and am thus far impressed with the versatility compared to other gizmos out there.
To wit:
- a 20 GB hard drive
- it can be treated as an external drive once connected to your computer via USB, so you can drag and drop files both to and FROM device (the samsung doesn’t allow this)and create directories to your heart’s content.
- recording in WAV or MP3, with a wide range of bitrates; you can record via a line-in OR microphone jack, or an internal mike (which does pick up hard drive noise), and adjust the external mike recording level.
Field recording to such devices, mike choices, etc, are discussed ad infinitum on misticriver.net: > http://www.misticriver.net/showthread.php?t=4980&highlight=120+recording
The iRiver came with a cheesy external mike, but I just ordered stereo omnidirectional mikes with a 9V pre-amp from Giant Squid Audio Labs [ > http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/ > ] , which builds (relatively) high quality ‘stealth’ recording mikes and pre-amps designed for digital recording at very affordable prices - the mikes come with little alligator clips to affix them to your glasses, hat, lapels, etc. Not that anyone here would use them to produce bootleg recordings of anything, perish the thought.
The Samsung I had (have, actually, I gave it to my daughter) had the problem that you could hardly hear anything at all when I recorded with an external mic through the line in jack - you’d probably have to use some software to boost the sound levels and clean up the hiss. The other problem was that what I did record with the voice recorder seemed impossible to download from the machine onto my PC - you can add files using music match, delete files, but not download apparently (at least that I could figure out). A mic with a 9v preamp (Giant Squid or Church audio) ought to boost the signal to the line-in jack, but you might still have the upload problem to a computer.
Cheers,
Mark
I went ahead and purchased that exact mic yesterday and whoa! What a difference thanks for the recommendation.
upiper71
Thanks for the info., Mark.
Have had the same trouble with recording through the line-in. Have yet to try the software.
The Clancy tape ran into it at quite a low volume level from my stereo amp.
I say it would be grand at recording from a little desk that had some gain.
I wonder how it would fare with one of those little Sony mics for minidisk that takes an AA battery?:
http://www.shopireland.ie/electronics/detail/B00005QBUW/Sony-ECM-MS907-High-quality-Stereo/
Anybody else got ‘that Friday feeling’?
Regards,
H.
Harry,
I had a Sony ECM-MS907, but just returned it because it wasn’t working somehow. I read good things about them, and the battery power should mean that you get enough gain from them to get a decent sound level on your recordings, although I think I’d still prefer a 9v pre-amp. They seem to work best with the SONY mini-disc recorders - the misticriver site has a ‘recording guide’ which discusses mics ad nauseum (written by a guy in Dublin, actually): http://www.misticriver.net/showthread.php?t=4980
Good luck,
Mark
I’ve been using the Sony ECM-MS907 with a mini-disk recorder for years, with very good results, but bear in mind that it is intended for use with mic inputs, not line-in. The battery in the 907 gives it increased sensitivity, but it’s not a substitute for a pre-amp. I did try it once with the line-in on an mp3 recorder, but the results were barely audible.
Got that Friday feeling all over.
-Larry
Mark,
Not sure if this applies to the Samsung you have, but I managed to download files recorded on my thingy onto a PC. I just hooked it up the PC and clicked on ‘My Computer’ where the player was recognised as an external drive, I opened that up and extracted the recorded MP3s from there. The quality was very good (recorded through mic/ little desk remember). There is no indication that you can do this in the booklet and no function for it in the support software.
Regards,
Harry.
Eskin,
I´ve been looking into getting a nice recorder. I´ve been looking at the R-1 and PMD660 in particular, any preference? Do you know if they can use cards bigger than 2gb?
thanks,
Daniel
Not to my knowledge. 2GB seems to be the limit. Why you’d want anything larger I’m not entirely sure though?
Eidorol R-1 is smaller and more compact, the Marantz is a lot larger but has more features apparently. The mics are both condenser mics of similar quality I’ve heard. You’ll probably use your own dynamic mic regardless if you’re going to use these devices.
Depends really on what you’re using it for…get the smaller one if you’d like to have maximum portability, get the 660 if you’d like the extra features and don’t mind the extra weight.
Andy
At least consider trying out the M-Audio MicroTrack 2496… I have one and its really wonderful.
There’s a very in-depth review of the Marantz 660 here:
http://www.transom.org/tools/recording_interviewing/200503.pmd660.html
And if you check out the associated forums on that site you’ll see lots of discussion about it as well. Sounds like it has a few problems.
Of the compact flash recording devices out there, the M-Audio unit has been getting the best reviews I’ve seen so far, a bit surprising because M-Audio has a very mixed reputation (I’ve seen scathing reviews of their firewire audio interfaces from people who’ve sworn they would never buy another M-Audio product).
Thank you all for the replies. I will look into the M-audio then. I was kind of looking away from it since it doesn’t take nimh batteries which I have a bunch of, anyway…
Daniel