Recording devices

[soprani]

Hi all,

I hope this topic hasn't been beaten to death, but I didn't find anything with my search. Perhaps I wasn't using the correct wording . . .

My faithful old Marantz bit the dust recently and I'm wondering what people are using to record tunes these days? What I'd like is something smaller, lighter, and maybe digital.

And cheap of course!

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks a million!

[BillChin]

Cheap sort of limits things. I use a Sony Voice Recorder and Sony ECM mic (I paid about $110 for the entire setup). Not the highest fidelity, but tiny in size and USB transfer to computer. A used mini-disc recorder will give you highest fidelity for the cost (can be had for about $50 plus $20 for a mic on eBay) but the old ones do not have a fast way to transfer to computer. There are any number of low cost MP3 players with a record feature that are under $100. If you can find a unit with a mic jack, that usually helps the quality. Amazon has been advertising flash based IRiver units at a very competitive price.

Further up the money scale, a lot of Chiffers like the IRiver series with hard drives. Many are eyeing the brand new Edirol (spelling?), but these are about $300 and $400 respectively. Depends on what a person calls cheap.
+ Bill

[soprani]

Cheap is a plus, but not the only consideration, in truth. I don't want the recording version of a Pakistani flute.

Do any of these play back half speed?

Thanks!

[BillChin]

Cheap is a plus, but not the only consideration, in truth. I don't want the recording version of a Pakistani flute.

Do any of these play back half speed?

Thanks!

The Sony voice recorder has a built in slow downer. It is fine for recording practice and learning tunes. I approximate the quality to AM radio without a mic and FM radio, the regular kind, not a fancy receiver setup, with a mic. If you are an audiophile it may not be enough fidelity. The always on, tiny size, and USB transfer, are worth the lower fidelity trade off to me.

A Sony mini-disc will give you CD quality recordings with a mic, and can be had for about $70 used. The main trade off is the lack of an easy transfer to computer via USB. The new Sony HiFiMD allows USB transfer but is more like $200 USD to start.

There isn't much first hand information about the low cost MP3 recorders. Several Chiffers have the hard disk based IRivers and rave about them. Retail is about $300 USD. For any device that records to MP3 format, the freeware program Audacity has the ability to slow it down.

The Edirol is designed for musicians and uses compact flash cards. The $400+ price tag is the primary downside.
+ Bill

[SteveShaw]

I've been using a Hi-MD Sony minidisc recorder for a few months now. I have a stereo lapel mic that makes excellent recordings. Check carefully that any MD recorder you buy has a mic input socket (red), otherwise it's useless in sessions. They don't come with built-in mics. The Hi-MD recorders come with Sony's Sonic Stage software which you must have to be able to take full advantage of the technology - second-hand buyers beware. The Hi-MD format can use standard minidiscs, but its great advantage is that it can also use 1GB Hi-MD discs. You can leave these recording for around 8 hours non-stop at a very good quality setting. You can use standard discs in Hi-MD format too, giving twice their normal recording time. Mic recordings made in Hi-MD format can be uploaded quickly to your hard-drive using Sonic Stage. I'm used to using Audio Cleaning Lab to do my editing (getting rid of the in-between-tunes chat, swearing, incriminating references to spouses etc.), so I use a program that I got from Sony's website (free) to convert the minidisc ATRAC files to WAV files, then import them into ACL, where I do my editing then burn the results on to CD. It has to be said that the software involved is not without its little foibles, but it works quite well and it's pretty fast - much better than copying in real time.

Steve

[Bretton]

Does anyone have an Edirol R-1 yet? I keep checking online retailers but they keep having them on backorder...and pushing back the arrival date (March, April, May...).

As soon as they're in stock I'm ordering one.

-Brett