It has 512MB of ram, and can record about 32 hours of 64bps mono “voice”.
I am not sure about the quality of the built-in mic, and many MP3 players out there have the same feature, but there’s no real way of knowing which is best for music recording. There’s one thing about these drives, they can be used as a USB external hard drive, which means getting files FROM the drive is a piece of cake, a simple drag and drop, which is a good advantage over the MiniDisc players.
Anyway, the fact that you can start recording in like 3 seconds, all-in memory, no mechanical piece, is a big plus, and the size is so small, it’s like you can always wear it and catch tunes when you don’t expect it.
Is it the dream machine for session lurkers?
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I doubt you’d be happy with a session recording on a built-in microphone.
Another thing to consider is the size of the recording. If you record a few hours of session you’re going to fill up a memory-based player. So you really want a hard disk based player.
I’m very happy with a Creative Nomad Jukebox 3. I picked it largely because of its recording capabilities, and that it has dual replaceable batteries. (Which has recently become a big issue on the Ipods.) As a bonus, it has built-in capability to slow down playback, which is a nice learning tool. It does require an external mic. I use the Archos one with a built-in pre-amp. It’s fine for recording sessions.
Unlike the mini-disc based recorders, you can transfer music in digital format back & forth from the Jukebox. If you buy a minidisc and want to (say) burn a session onto a CD, you’ll have to re-capture it on your computer by piping the audio into your sound card. Do-able, but not for the technically faint-of-heart .
I would recommend looking at the Creative and Archos offerings. (There’s no record capability on the Ipods yet.)
Scott,
I have a first generation Nomad, 10 G. Please specify exactly which mic and battery preamp you use. You mention Archos, but I suspect there is a choice. I think this setup will work with the first gen Nomads as well as the Nomad threes…
Lisa
I would recommend looking at the Creative and Archos offerings. (There’s no record capability on the Ipods yet.)
Actually, Belkin makes something called a Voice Recorder for the iPod, so it does have recording capability. I have not heard it and I do not know if it would be appropriate for recording live music. Hopefully someone will exploit this capability with a better quality input device in the future.
The add-on recorder for the iPod records 8bit mono, so it’s not really appropriate for recording sessions. However, it records something on the order of a week’s worth of sound, so as a audio sketchbook for a composer, it would be great.
Most require a preamplified external mike, like those from the Sound Professionals. I used a RipFlash for Willie week last year, worked great.
The iRiver iHP-120 40GB hard disk MP3 player has a standard microphone jack that supposedly can provide plug-in power for Sony stereo mikes. They also have a new unit out called the iFP-590 series that accept microphone input and have up to 1 GB of flash memory.
I want to specify that a MP3 player would fill one specific need: to quickly record stuff without having to setup any equipment. What I mean is that I got a MD recorder already, and an external microphone. I’m happy with the stuff and when I go in Ireland and go in a session I just sit down and setup my microphone and start the MD, and it’s ready to record.
… but sometimes, I don’t plan on recording anything but I would like to have something in my pocket that I could just quickly grab and start recording in like 3 seconds. With a MD or a HD MP3 Player, you need to start it and it takes time. Also, a HD MP3 player is TOO big for my needs, forget about it. Anyway, that’s why this Mp3 player is only for “emergency recordings” as I got my MD if I really want to tape a whole session.
It might be crap, I took a chance. It can record 2 hours of mono 64kpbs stream, and has USB port and software to be able to easily convert what’s on the player to WAV or MP3. I’ll try it and let you know if it’s crap or not.
Three seconds? Way too slow. I can’t wait that long.
What I want is something that will allow me to record the tune that ace player was playing 10 minutes before I walked into the pub. Or possibly the one he’s going to play as soon as I’ve left to catch the last bus home.
Wait… why not a device with a probe that I can simply attach to someone’s temple and download all their tunes and knowledge straight into my cortex?
BTW I hope they froze Seamus Ennis’s brain so that when technology becomes available we can access all that stuff he had in there.
Hang on a minute. How did HE get it all in there anyway? Was there some candle-powered device we don’t know about back then? Is this covered in Grey Larsen’s book?
Steve, I know it’s Sunday, but, really: read over this post of yours and please consider the benefits of becoming a blue-ribbon stalward like I am. Never been happier than since I took the Pledge.
Hey Steve, you’re gonna pay for that! In my defense, I would like to point out that I need technology to make up for what I don’t have in my musical surrounding. I mean, it’s not as If I were living in Ireland and could go at a session every day, and you know that Montreal sessions usually suck. I am still guily as charged?
It’s also 8k 16-bit mono (apparently that’s all the iPod can record at this point) but it does have a line in jack if you want to plug in an external microphone for better sound quality than the built-in one.
The rumour (to be confirmed later today) is that Apple is coming out with some smaller, cheaper iPods today, priced around $100 US or so. If this Griffin gadget fits on those iPods as well, you might have the perfect, unobtrusive pocket recorder for quickly grabbing tunes at a session. And even if it is mono, so what – you’ll at least have the tune.
I’m still waiting for Apple to come out with an iPod that can record high-quality sound via an external mic. If/when that day comes, I’ll buy one and let my MD recorder fade into the sunset.
The thing that surprised me most about the iPod mini was the price. For $249 you get 4 gigabytes. But for another $50, you could get the 15 gigabyte entry-level iPod. It doesn’t make sense to me: why would anyone want the iPod mini when they can get a full-fledged iPod for only $50 more? I suppose the selling point is the size – no bigger than a credit card.
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