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Recording Gear
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robsol
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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 6:11 am    Post subject:  Recording Gear
Subject description: Discussion about recording devices and microphones
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I thought I'd provide a helpful site or two for those interested in portable recording devices. Wingfield Audio provides reviews of various handheld recorders out there, and they update their site as new ones come out. They also give you some audio examples to listen to:

http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/portable-recorder-reviews.html

(Keep in mind that they also sell them...)



Rycote has manufactured wind shields specially designed for some of the handheld models out there, and they look cute too. It's worth it taking a look just for that sake. Wink

http://www.rycote.com/products/families/mini-windjammers-handheld-recorder/

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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 6:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Rob, I thought your post deserved it's own thread here, so I split it off from the welcome/about topic.
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also .. could someone please turn down the thermostat a bit.
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shanemorris
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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 7:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Thanks Rob! Good post!

Very informative page on the current line of field recorders.

Im going to have to eventually upgrade to one of these models. Very Happy

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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 7:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I must admit I have been thinking of getting one of these devices to carry around.

I was thinking of a Olympus LS-10 as they are small, anyone used one of these?

Andy
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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 9:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I have the LS10 and it sounds very good for the price. I am not a fan of MS miking, so I am biased against the Zoom H2 for example.

The battery life is amazing on the Olympus, and it is very simple and intuitive in use. It has 2 Gb's of internal memory, which is great for spontaneous recording, and you can add on to that using SD cards up to 8 Gb which are cheap and readily available.

It is not as versatile as other handhelds, it will not let you use it as a USB mic for example, and you can't make your own folders - you are stuck with the five folders (named A - E, plus an additional "music" folder that you can't record to) that it provides you with.

The mics are good, but not great. I would never use the max 96 kHz quality recording, because the mics don't reach much further than 16 kHz anyway. If needed you can record from the stereo line in too.

All in all, it sounds the best in its price range, which is why I chose it. It is slightly larger than a mobile phone, so it is not as convenient to carry around, but it comes in a nice carry bag. The moment I can find out where to get the Rycote Mini Windjammers for it, I will get them. It does not take much for the mics to get overloaded by wind noise when recording outdoors.


For anyone who already has it, there is a firmware upgrade (v 1.10) available which lets you record longer than the 2 Gb limit imposed on the previous version, amongst other things.

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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 9:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Oh, and thanks Jan for splitting the topic. In hindsight, it is better this way. Smile
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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 9:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the info. Sounds like it may be for me.

Cheers

Andy
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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Just thought I'd mention here that I got a fairly good result recording with a simple Walkman cassette recorder TCM-400D a couple of years back. I think that it was recorded using just the built-in mic, but I won't swear on it. Here is the song that ended up using a field recording of me walking down a slushy winter street towards work. The stereo effect was made by simply plaing the track in the left ear and the playing it with a long delay (5-20 seconds) in the right ear:

http://www.df.lth.se/~flash/bakelit/Bakelit%20Film%2015%20-%20Day.mp3

This was before the days of mp3 and SmartMedia recorders, but may still be worth a mention, since pressing rec on a cassette recorder is pretty damn fast compared to other devices...

Edit: typos

/Stefan

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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 12:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Not text based but another thing to look at is Plogue Bidule:

http://www.plogue.com/forums.html?option=content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=35

You can try this for free at the moment or pay $75 to own it, also runs as a plugin which is very useful.

I find it a useful tool.

Andy
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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 7:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Did you mean to post that in the Kyma forum, Andy? Wink
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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 7:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Looks a bit out of place doesn't it.

It was meant for you Rob anyway!
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 5:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

hey rob
i saw you that you said you are a little biased about the Zoom H2. the price is much more affordable for me right now (as i didnt plan on a new field recorder in the budget for this year) and they sell it here at Best Buy for under $200.
Just wondered what your thoughts were about this unit. Is it good for the money? Worth the investment? I definitely like the compactness of the unit ... i currently use a MD and a external mic.

thanks for any input,

shane

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

The H2 is a great little unit for the price, Shane. It does much more than just record - you can use it as a USB mic or record quad sound on it, for example. It is much more versatile than the LS10 that I have, and probably sounds better than MD (depending on the mic you use with the MD).

I'd say give it a test run if you can - or compare it with others on the Wingfield Audio site link further up on this page.

I chose the LS10 because above all I want sound quality and imo it wins hands down in the price range. As I said, though - I am not a fan of MS (mid-side) mic techniques, unless you get very decent mics to do it with. Budget MS sounds a little "sterile" to me and does funny things with transients. On the plus side it is fully mono compatible and transfers to different systems well (although not headphones).

It is just a matter of opinion after all, and I am being overly critical probably. There are a few niggles with the H2 to keep in mind, one being the carry bag it comes with being of low quality, and an other being how the H2 handles files if you run out of battery or switch off without stopping first (it basically fails to save the file). Small things, probably.

One thing to remember is that all these units have a relatively high noise floor - including the LS10 - when compared to less portable solutions, so recording soft sounds will inevitably have some hiss on them. I just experienced this the other day. Again, I am quite demanding I guess... Smile

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 8:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Muied Lumens wrote:
The H2 is a great little unit for the price, Shane. It does much more than just record - you can use it as a USB mic or record quad sound on it, for example. It is much more versatile than the LS10 that I have, and probably sounds better than MD (depending on the mic you use with the MD).

I'd say give it a test run if you can -

One thing to remember is that all these units have a relatively high noise floor - including the LS10 - when compared to less portable solutions, so recording soft sounds will inevitably have some hiss on them. I just experienced this the other day. Again, I am quite demanding I guess... Smile


ok i bought the H2 and enjoy it so far.

As Modulator ESP pointed out , the recording level is adjustable... but if the level coming in is too hot it still distorts no matter where you set it. As long as your input is clean ... your recording is good.

Aside from that, i like the unit pretty well. Quad recording is cool ... although i dont have quad sound to listen to it. being able to record both frontside and backside is a handy thing for field recs imo.

I did experience some hiss like you mentioned as well ... when recording some low volume stuff. but ... it is an improvement from MD and the hiss is low.
hoping for many hours of fun recordings!

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 3:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

A couple of new recorders announced recently:

Olympus LS-11:

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1471

Now with longer battery time and more internal memory, plus the good old "voice-activated record" and the ability to edit files on-board. You can also put in markers/cue points, but if these are compatible with audio software I don't know.




... and Sony PCM M10:

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-audio/resource.solutions.bbsccms-assets-cat-audio-solutions-pcmm10.shtml

A little more info here:

http://www.soundonsound.com/news?NewsID=11803

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Anybody with experience using the new iPod recording accessories such as the Alesis ProTrack or Belkin GoStudio?

I have an aging iRiver H340 (mp3 player/recorder), and am considering replacements. I like having large storage space (Hard Drive, or external memory cards), MP3, OGG, FLAC, and WAV formats. An iPoo doesn't have all of these functions, but is supported through so many accessories, it begs worth looking into.

My iRiver has mediocre recording quality, but is very portable and workable. I often take it on vacation for music, and have the added bonus of field recordings through small microphones. This is a must for me in finding a replacement.

Maybe on of the above players is also a suitable replacement as an mp3 player...
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 4:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

AFAIK, all of the portable recorders mentioned above have at least rudimentary music/mp3 playback facilities.

The iRiver is an amazingly good player, and I believe recorder too, with a nice mic attached. They are a bit bulky nowadays, maybe.

I am not very familiar with the iPods and iPhones, but it sounds even more bulky to me to have various extra attachments to them... can you just get a mic for them, perhaps?

It all comes down to what you want to use it for - if you want to capture sound on the go, the smaller the better - and with a fully contained unit (ie integrated mics) you are flying.

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 8:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

All my thoughts exactly. The iRiver *IS* amazing, especially with enhancements from rockbox--
http://www.rockbox.org

I am very sad it is on the blink, since it has served me well for over 5 years, and it was playing videos to boot long before the ipod video existed! And with a USB-On-THE-GO port, I could attach a card reader and move pics off my camera while away!! All with full support for open sourced codex. It also doesn't look like a recorder at all, and has allowed me into a concert more than once on those grounds Wink

The iPods *don't* record, which I find a major drawback. Their only strength in my eyes are the massive support in accessories, and the fact they also run rockbox!

Rockbox is currently porting PureData to itself, for portable music making fun Wink
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 6:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Yeah, I've seen rockbox in action, but I didn't know that it also runs on iPods!

Pd on a portable device, though... I don't know if that is a blessing or a curse! Wink


Seriously though, the lack of an input is a problem, possibly linked to the music business and DRM, just as a random thought...

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 8:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

More handy news - Samson introduces the Q3 handy video recorder:

http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=2020

It's going to be hard to keep up with all the things going on at the moment...

Edit: I posted this here because the audio part is based on the Zoom H2 recorder, and hence is relevant for proper field recording work (by the looks of it).

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 9:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Cool that looks great !


thanks Rob

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 9:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Muied Lumens wrote:
Samson introduces the Q3


Samson? it looks like a Zoom to me Wink

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 11:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

seraph wrote:
Muied Lumens wrote:
Samson introduces the Q3


Samson? it looks like a Zoom to me Wink


Yeah, but Samson is introducing it! Twisted Evil

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 11:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I just got a Zoom H1 that I have paired with some Sony MDR-XB40EX headphones. I have posted a few clips in the field recordings section for those who want hear it.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 1:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I bought Zoom H1 a few days ago, as well. A good device for little money. The spring is coming and I am looking forward to go out with my wife and collect some nature recordings for my upcoming projects Very Happy
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