Digital Recorders

[tweeddeluxe]

Some H2 samples. No treatments.

The key to a good recording with these is LOCATION.

H2 Clips

[dconeill]

I have an Edirol R-O9. I bought it for some lawyers to record meetings but they balked at recording at all, so I didn't expense it and kept it myself. I chose it because it used AA batteries (easy to get), had long battery life, had good capacity (SD cards), and was dirt simple to operate (two buttons, pretty much). It's worked out well for me.

[bradpdx]

My MacBook with a stereo mic attached gives me any interface and format I choose, small enough to go with me to gigs and great for rehearsals. I was going to get another recorder, but the MacBook works just great.

[woodman]

Originally Posted by tweeddeluxe

The key to a good recording with these is LOCATION.

yep, that's always the rub ... if you can find a spot where the bass freqs are contained, you're over halfway there.

[Gumby]

Ended up with going with the Zoom H4n over the Tascam GT-R1 - price came out the same with the holiday discount. I'm unpacking it tonight and plan to test it out Friday evening and will report back.

[rdchapman]

Love my H4 and all the options for recording and connecting. My daughter is buying the H4n so she can enjoy the larger display and see if the 4 track at once option is useful. I have rechargeable batteries for mine and I can get 4 hours + on freshly charged ones. Great for rehearsal recording. Placement is somewhat important, but I re-EQ after I load down to my main PC's so it's really not an issue for me. Great tool for singer songwriters, like my daughter. If I want better quality, I just use my high quality external mikes. They even have phantom power! I have used it to add tracks (special sounds) for studio recordings with great results.
Easy to use once you set it up. Power on press once to get a display for record level and once more to record. easy to select quality. Mike emulation and interface selection is on menus, but very easy once you see it. Nice units. The H4n appeals to me as an older gut as it has the larger display, but my H4 is VERY useful.

[Flewis]

Originally Posted by orangeblossom

I am looking for a pocket-size digital recorder. Any one have any info on These? Thanks. OB

I bought a zoom H2 with a 16GB card - it will record a 4 hour gig non stop on batteries and sounds great

[Gumby]

Really liking the H4n. I was pleased that it was so easy to use it for recording right out of the box. The menus and buttons are well thought out and I even found that the thick instruction manual is well done and quite easy to follow. I have a basic understanding, but no prior recording experience where I was operating the equipment; so if you are not a tech - this is good news! The larger screen on the H4n was a consideration and it is easy to see everything on it.

I used it to record live for the first time yesterday and thought it sounded very good when I played it back this am. Read up on a few things today and I anticipate getting even better results next Friday evening due to placement, etc. I also tried out directly plugging in a mic and an Esquire along with headphones to monitor. Remember to lower the recording volume and test it out before using an Esquire (I usually use a telecaster) if you are plugging directly in because when I changed switch positions and could not control the guitar output...I almost blew the ear speaker (overlooked the obvious!). The 1GB card appears to hold about 2 hours (I did not use the stamina setting). Picked up a 16GB card this am at an office supply for under $35, which should provide more than enough storage. Another plus is a protective box, the wind screen, and the A/C adapter are all included, as some other units do not include these necessities, but make you buy them as accessories. So far, I am very happy with the Zoom H4n and it seems to be well built and solid. I do not anticipate any problems, but if there are any down the road, I'll remember to get back to this thread and post.

[klasaine]

I've been using a Tascam DR-07 for a couple of weeks.
Super easy. Uses SD or SDHC cards up to 32 gb. mp3, wave, etc.
Works just like tape recorder. (which is why I decided on the Tascam - it looks basically just like all their other recorders from the past 25 years.
The two mics are fine for live rehearsals and if you use another mic it over rides the built ins.
No special software for editing on your DAW.
Favorite feature : input gain wheel ... as in an actual rotary knob to adjust input level.
Sounds pretty much the same as all the other ones that my buddies have from the Erdirol to the Marantz to the Zoom. As 'I think' Woodman said, "It's all in the placement of the device in the room".

[asatfan]

Would someone mind giving me a brief explanation of the difference between MP3 and Wave files, and when/why one would use each format? Thank you....I get overloaded with trying to figure these things out with Google.

[Maddaxe111]

Check out the boss br-600
I got a used one off ebay for $200.

http://www.roland.com/products/en/BR-600/index.html

[rangercaster]

Digital recording is just a fad ... you need one of these ...

[Jahmbie]

Originally Posted by asatfan

Would someone mind giving me a brief explanation of the difference between MP3 and Wave files, and when/why one would use each format? Thank you....I get overloaded with trying to figure these things out with Google.

WAV files are an uncompressed audio file format. A standard CD uses a stereo 44.1kHz/16 bit WAV file. What this means is that for every second audio in a CD WAV file there are 44,100 samples and each sample contains 16 bits.

MP3 is a digital audio encoding format that uses a form of lossy data encryption. What this means is that an MP3 makes an uncompressed WAV file smaller by permenantly removing (lossy) audio data that is less perceptable to human hearing. And those bits that are gone are gone forever.

Basically WAV=higher sound quality/larger file size, MP3=lower sound quality/smaller file size.

[mudbean]

Originally Posted by rangercaster

Digital recording is just a fad ... you need one of these ...

Memories, light the corners of my mind ...

mud

[allen st. john]

I bought the Olympus LS-10.
It's a little more expensive than the Zooms but I thought the interface was more intuitive and the sound quality is superb (although the person at the controls is the deciding factor.)

[asatfan]

Jahmbie! Thanks very much....your explanation was just what I was looking for!

[tomfarnan]

I loved the Zoom H4 I borrowed from my father recently. Great mics in it, heaps of fun.