Advice on mobile recording devices,please

ChrisWerner · Post by **ChrisWerner** » Wed May 07, 2003 4:05 pm

Hi, I have to invest some money into a mobile recording device.
I want to go out and record noises, ambients, interviews and so on.
Can anybody suggest me some devices?
I want some in ear microphones and a mobile recorder, DAT maybe.
Thank you for any suggestions.

[ This Message was edited by: ChrisWerner on 2003-05-07 17:06 ]

marcuspocus · Post by **marcuspocus** » Wed May 07, 2003 4:26 pm

Maybe a Sony MD devices with a nice condenser microphone?

Nestor · Post by **Nestor** » Wed May 07, 2003 5:14 pm

Hey Chris!

The best advice I can give you is to contact personally Spirit, cos not long ago he made a complete research of all this items in the market, for about a month or so, so he knows very well what should suit your needs. Please, send him a mail… Good luck.

The Z Station · Post by **The Z Station** » Wed May 07, 2003 6:29 pm

Hey there!

I'm using a Sony MZ-R90 MiniDISC recorder with a Sony MS-907 and 957 stereo electret digital mics. At first, I was skeptical of its recording quality as it records compressed audio but I was rather pleasantly surprised when I first recorded my first on-location (enviro) sounds! When I played it back through my system - it sounded like I was actually there!

Of course, I rather go with a portable DAT recorder like the TASCAM DAP1 but for the price performance, MiniDISC walkmans do the job well. I would not mix down on MiniDisc but for sampling sounds, environments, voices and such, it is more than adequate!

If you'd like to hear some of the R90's sound recordings, let me know and I'll e-mail you a couple of my samples so you can hear them for yourself.

Best Regards!

ChrisWerner · Post by **ChrisWerner** » Thu May 08, 2003 4:45 am

Yes I remember that Spirit asked that in the past, I will sent him an e-mail,thx Nestor.
I want to buy in ear microphones and no "normal" mic.

Z Station, thank you for your advice on the Sony and Tascam DAP1, I will have a look on that. Please sent me some samples to my e-mail, I can receive max.4MB.

I looked for the price of the DAP1 1700$

[ This Message was edited by: ChrisWerner on 2003-05-08 06:19 ]

petal · Post by **petal** » Thu May 08, 2003 5:34 am

I have a MD-recorder too, but I didn't do my research properly

It does compress the audio to what I think is equivalent to MP3 256 Kbps. It sounds ok, but it does squeeze the highfrequencies enough so you can hear it!

The other thing I did wrong - oh my - I didn't know it was supposed to have a dedicated "mic-in"! I thought it just needed the capability to record and a "line-in" - DOH!

Now I have a nice walkman, which I can't use with my microphone.

Damn!
Thomas

ChrisWerner · Post by **ChrisWerner** » Thu May 08, 2003 7:23 am

Thomas Thomas, sorry but I must laugh.
A recorder without a mic in? Awesome.

I´ve found my in ear binaural mic´s.
You can read the specification and see some pictures here:

<a href="http://www.dacs-audio.com/OKM_main.htm"> My new mics </a>

When you want to record enviromental sounds, gigs or a practice room session,I can absolutly recommand you to that.

Immanuel · Post by **Immanuel** » Thu May 08, 2003 8:12 am

They sure do exell in bad marketing. After 1/4 of an hour searching thru the site and going to other places, wich was linked to, I still didn't find any prices. How much are they Oh Chriss who knows more than mere mortals

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Thu May 08, 2003 10:04 am

The MD is old Technology. Get an Olympus Voice recorder. Although they are called voice recorders I know at least one of their models is high quality. The advantage over MD would be that it would be smaller, the battery would last much longer and it would probably be more durable. I own a Sony MD recorder. I would not buy one today.

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Thu May 08, 2003 10:07 am

A line in is actually better than a mic in. It just requires a little mic preamp which you can buy from soundprofessionals.com

On 2003-05-08 06:34, Petal wrote:
I have a MD-recorder too, but I didn't do my research properly

It does compress the audio to what I think is equivalent to MP3 256 Kbps. It sounds ok, but it does squeeze the highfrequencies enough so you can hear it!

The other thing I did wrong - oh my - I didn't know it was supposed to have a dedicated "mic-in"! I thought it just needed the capability to record and a "line-in" - DOH!

Now I have a nice walkman, which I can't use with my microphone.

Damn!
Thomas

ChrisWerner · Post by **ChrisWerner** » Thu May 08, 2003 10:23 am

Hello Immanuel,
it´s a funny thing about that OKMs.
Today I´ve made many telephone calls to get those mics. My local dealer called me back and said that OKM/Soundman is collapsed. Then I called JoeKa in Munich and he asked his local dealer. They said that everything is okay with OKM or Soundman.
Finally I will get my OKM II Studio mics with the A3 adapter for 220€ wich is a very good price I think.
I read a test in the german Keyboards journal 11/2000 they were priced at 499 Deutsch Mark aprox 250 €.
A good deal or?

The Z Station · Post by **The Z Station** » Thu May 08, 2003 6:26 pm

I agree Braincell, MD's aren't the latest technology. But they're still very reliable and does the job very well. I bought my R90 more than two years ago, the only gripe I have is its motor's noise. Newer models are very quiet, able to record LP (up to four hours of recording), and able to transfer audio at 32x via USB. Too bad there ins't any program that can back up or transfer files to MDs - yet.
Battery life isn't its strong point either that's why I carry a few spare.
I would get another MD recorder as they are getting cheaper! My R90 cost me $199 (originally $299). I've seen them on Ebay for less than $100 now...

[ This Message was edited by: The Z Station on 2003-05-08 19:34 ]

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Thu May 08, 2003 7:03 pm

The Olympus models aren't much more and offer the advantage of no moving parts.

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Fri May 09, 2003 7:54 am

This area of technology is in a real slump and ready in the next year to take off IMHO.

I know some people like MD, but for me I already have too many formats. I hate having so many. I currently use: DVD, CD, wav, MP3, cassette tape, vinyl, DAT, VHS, VHS-C, CF1 cards and SD cards.

And even with this list I've tried hard to keep the number of media under control !

So no MD for me.

I have a quite recent Ipaq PocketPC which is capable of recording at 44KHz, but it is not the sort of device you take into the bush for a thunderstorm, or display on a seedy corner at 3am as your fumble with a mic.

As for the Olympus models, I wasn't able to find anything which would record above 11KHz. Usually these devices are called "note takers" or "memo takers" and are designed for corporate types to murmur their latest brilliant ideas for staff cuts. Audio quality is not their thing.

Someone did give me a link for an obscure company (in the US I think) which did make a good quality memo-style device, but they looked like a small outfit and I can't trust them to send something around the world ? But it did look like the shape of things to come

But is this area part of the "addicted to the new" problem ? Isn't it true that a good quality cassette and a good mic will give an excellent result - long recording time, cheap, good quality, robust etc ?

The Z Station · Post by **The Z Station** » Fri May 09, 2003 11:57 am

On 2003-05-09 08:54, Spirit wrote:
As for the Olympus models, I wasn't able to find anything which would record above 11KHz. Usually these devices are called "note takers" or "memo takers" and are designed for corporate types to murmur their latest brilliant ideas for staff cuts. Audio quality is not their thing.

That's what I thought...
I was very skeptical about MD's performance, I thought I was going to return mine after a week of use, but when I finally heard the result - I was sold. Yeah, there's too many media formats out there, but I think MDs are pretty good investment considering their cost effectivness, durablity and recording quality.
If I only have the $$$$, I'd definitley go with a Tascam DAP1 recorder but for that money, I'd get a SCOPE SRB instead.

[ This Message was edited by: The Z Station on 2003-05-09 12:58 ]

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Fri May 09, 2003 1:15 pm

According to reviews I have seen the Olympus DS3000 saves audio in "High quality DSS format". I'm not sure exactly how it compares to the ancient ATRAC codec used in the MD recorders but as MD sounds pretty good I would imagine the DSS quality is similar. If anyone actually has experience with DSS I would love to read your comments here.

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Fri May 09, 2003 4:18 pm

I can also recommend minidisc - my old MZR91 is still going strong, god knows how many times I've dropped that thing. I recently loaned it to a friend so he could record some of his DJ sets (killer scratches), and he wanted to buy it but when I thought about it I really didn't want to sell it.

IMHO the minidisc does a very nice job at compression - it doesn't sound as bad as MP3 to my ears. As someone said above, I wouldn't use it for mastering but for location recording its great.

Personally I would like to see something like the ipod/zen but with proper recording... I refuse to buy a HD-walkman until this kind of technology is standard (yes I know the older creative jukeboxes do it but they are HUUUUUGEE!!)

peace

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Mon May 12, 2003 8:52 pm

I think the older sony md recorders are better because they are made of metal. My friend has a newer plastic one which he complains heats up and then stops working. I never had that problem.

The Z Station · Post by **The Z Station** » Tue May 13, 2003 12:46 am

That's what I've been noticing; they feel a little bit light. My R-37 and R-90 are pretty tough sturdy! Very heavy for their size. The new ones are supposed to be made of magnesium chassis....

Chris: I hope you got the seven samples I sent you. Let me know what you think.

Skoal!

The Z Station · Post by **The Z Station** » Tue May 13, 2003 12:46 am

Whoa! What happened there?!

Quadrupled my post...

[ This Message was edited by: The Z Station on 2003-05-13 02:48 ]