compact 2/2 digital recorder for samplin
em411.com forums : Hardware recording, mastering : hardware based recording and mastering thread starter wow haven't posted here in a while. loks different.
anyway, my old sony minidic kicked the bucket and looking to upgrade to modern times. i really liked the character it gave but it was a bit fiddly to get my recorded sounds off of it into the computer (non-usb version). anyone have thoughts or recommendations? i like to have it hooked up to my home theater, tv, dvd, playstation etc... and if i hear something i like, i grab it. ideally i'd be able to just drag and drop via usb onto my pc.
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just realized my tv has optical out. that'd be rad to have as an input to avoid the extra a/d conversion.
I have an M Audio MicroTrack II that works well for taking samples from balanced/unbalanced signals. There's no optical in, though, and no built in microphone.
The better flash recorders get fairly pricey (I'm not a fan of the Zooms for quality - the MicroTrack is probably better). ugghghhh i ended up ordering a zoom h2. cheap now like 130$ from amazon. the sound samples i heard online were pretty good but since i'll be using mostly for line-in, i don't think it'll be too bad. hopefully it wont fall apart.
I bought an early H4 and it was never that good. It's very useful and versatile, but the build quality is suspect and the sound quality isn't very good. That said, I used it as my sound card and portable recorder for about 3 years until it died. We had a love/hate relationship.
I tried using external and internal pres on the Zoom and MicroTrack, and I got much better results using the MicroTrack in both cases. I've been getting even better results using a Lexicon I-Onix U22 + Dell Mini with an Intel X-25M 80GB SSD. By scouring the eBay I put together that 3 piece rig for only $450! (only the I-Onix was used, I was very happy with my online shopping skills) I needed a new laptop for internetting at the time, so it was definitely worth it. If anyone is into recording and also looking for a new laptop, definitely think about putting in a SSD and using it for recording. It's a really nice set up, not as portable as a flash recorder, but very good quality (depending on your interface), you can edit as you go along, and use copious VSTs. I forgot to mention that the Dell Mini 10 with the HD screen option is the only laptop I know of that's FANLESS (essential for making very quiet recordings with a sensitive mic) and also runs at a sensible resolution (1024x600 is too small, 1366x768 works much better with Reaper/Cubase/Logic/etc). And it's cheap!
that sounds like a cool set up but i think i've given up on super hi-fidelity. right now i'm in a rut so its all about convenience and workflow. the h2 looks to be a handy do it all gadget and for what i'll end up using it for, probably the cheapest most convenient thing going. i'm a bit ashamed to own anything with 'zoom' on it heheeh, but whatever. if it sucks, my nephew just got a cool new toy for his birthday
 i'm happy with my Olympus LS-10
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dag. i got nervous about the zoom h2 and cancelled. everything i've read points to a suspect input stage on the line-in which i'd be using it for mostly. instead got a good deal on a sony pcm-m10. looks pretty good but i can't find many sound samples recorded off air with it.
Those Sony recorders look really nice. I think you'll probably be happy with your purchase since you're not relying on the mics. Could be worth a review!
I see Korg updated the MR-1 with flash instead of HD (the new MR-2). It looks amazing, but it should be for almost triple the price. Actually, one reviewer on B&H mentioned that he had some noise issues with recording low level line signals...
I think there is a general problem of poor preamps on portable recorders. I know with both my MicroTrack and H4 I had much better luck using external pres. They're fine with a strong signal, but when they need to amplify the recordings get a little noisy. I suppose you couldn't find a recorder with an optical in for a reasonable price? The cheapest I saw was the Sony PCM D50 for $500. The MicroTrack has digital in but only RCA S/PDIF. the preamps on the sonys are WAY better / less noisy than the ones on the H4 or first-generation R09. Its no comparison really.
I'd get a sony pcm-m10 nowadays. To get something better than that in terms of preamps you'd have to spend alot of money, as far as i experienced... Signup to comment
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