Howdy Kevin,<br><br>You should search <a href="http://archive.org">archive.org</a>'s live music archive (either directly or by googling for terms + site:<a href="http://archive.org">archive.org</a>) for the various recorder models you are considering, to get a sense of the quality of their work when recording in the field. You'll get a nice selection of mic recordings as well as direct board mixes.<br>
<br>I use a Zoom H4 to record my band's live shows before chopping them up and doing some EQ in Audacity, posting to <a href="http://archive.org">archive.org</a>. We're probably not the best use comparison for you, as we usually end up jamming the device into a nook or in the ceiling of the club (acoustic crap-shoot), or handing it to a friend to hold (shaky recording and lots of "hey how are you?" and "another heineken please" comments over the music :) ).<br>
<br>Good luck,<br>Luke<br><br clear="all">-----<br>Luke Peterson<br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 8:38 AM, Frank Barknecht <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:fbar@footils.org">fbar@footils.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Hallo Kevin,<br>
<br>
as I have just bought myself a mobile recorder, maybe some of my research<br>
is of use to you as well. This is a very good introduction for potential<br>
buyers of mobile recorders:<br>
<a href="http://www.theatreofnoise.com/2009/11/summary-of-portable-digital-audio.html" target="_blank">http://www.theatreofnoise.com/2009/11/summary-of-portable-digital-audio.html</a><br>
<a href="http://www.theatreofnoise.com/2009/11/which-portable-digital-audio-recorder.html" target="_blank">http://www.theatreofnoise.com/2009/11/which-portable-digital-audio-recorder.html</a><br>
<br>
It lists the popular devices like this (ASCII on)<br>
<br>
POCKET DIMENSIONS VOL MASS PRICE XLR MIC EIN<br>
------------------- -------------- ---- ---- ----- --- --- ---<br>
Sony MZ-RH1 85 x 84 x 15 107 106 $ 350 - - 124<br>
Olympus LS-10 132 x 48 x 22 139 165 $ 300 - + 122<br>
Olympus LS-11 132 x 48 x 22 139 165 $ 400 - + 122<br>
Sony PCM-M10 114 x 64 x 22 161 187 $ 300 - + 122<br>
Marantz PMD620 102 x 62 x 25 164 170 $ 400 - - 112<br>
M-Audio MicroTrack II 109 x 63 x 28 174 192 $ 200 - - 106<br>
Korg MR-1 120 x 64 x 24 184 200 $ 500 - - 117<br>
Edirol R-09HR 113 x 62 x 27 186 166 $ 300 - + 118<br>
<br>
HAND DIMENSIONS VOL MASS PRICE XLR MIC EIN<br>
------------------- -------------- ---- ---- ----- --- --- ---<br>
Tascam DR-07 151 x 81 x 35 212 130 $ 170 - + 113<br>
Samson Zoom H2 109 x 64 x 33 230 172 $ 190 - + 99<br>
Tascam DR-1 135 x 70 x 27 256 208 $ 250 - + 115<br>
Sony PCM-D50 154 x 72 x 33 365 366 $ 450 - + 126<br>
Samson Zoom H4 153 x 70 x 35 375 190 $ 300 + + 114<br>
Samson Zoom H4n 156 x 70 x 35 382 280 $ 300 + + ?<br>
Tascam DR-100 151 x 81 x 35 428 290 $ 380 + + 113<br>
<br>
SHOULDER DIMENSIONS VOL MASS PRICE XLR MIC EIN<br>
------------------- -------------- ---- ---- ----- --- --- ---<br>
Marantz PMD661 165 x 93 x 36 552 410 $ 600 + + 125<br>
Marantz PMD660 184 x 113 x 47 977 700 $ 550 + + 120<br>
Sound Devices 702 209 x 125 x 45 1176 1000 $1900 + - 130<br>
Fostex FR-2LE 206 x 132 x 57 1550 907 $ 600 + - 129<br>
Marantz PMD671 264 x 185 x 55 2686 1300 $1000 + - 125<br>
Tascam HD-P2 260 x 200 x 63 3276 900 $ 700 + - 127<br>
<br>
Another good comparision is at <a href="http://wingfieldaudio.com" target="_blank">wingfieldaudio.com</a>:<br>
<a href="http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/portable-recorder-reviews.html" target="_blank">http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/portable-recorder-reviews.html</a><br>
They also check battery life, which is where the Zooms seem to suck big time.<br>
<a href="http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/portable-recorder-battery-life.html" target="_blank">http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/portable-recorder-battery-life.html</a><br>
<br>
A device not in these lists is the new Yamaha W24.<br>
<br>
All of these devices will work with Linux, as they are USB-storage devices. If<br>
you really need 4 channel recording, you don't have much choice: Zoom H4 or<br>
Tascam DR-100 or bankruptcy. :)<br>
<br>
Personally I chose the Sony PCM M10 in the end although I'm usually a SEGA guy.<br>
<br>
Alternate choices for me have been the Yamaha W24 and both Olympus devices. The<br>
Sony has very good battery life, little noise, nice mics, small size and weight<br>
and okay prize. I like portable recorders to actually be portable without power<br>
cords. I usually don't record 4 channels on the go. For Ambisonics that would<br>
be necessary, though.<br>
<br>
In situations where I'd want to use better microphones with XLR and more<br>
channels than 2, I probably also wouldn't care about battery life or weight so<br>
much and then I could just take my small laptop with a good USB card with me.<br>
<br>
Of course that was just my reasoning when doing the choice. YMMV.<br>
<br>
Ciao<br>
--<br>
<font color="#888888">Frank<br>
</font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
Kevin Cosgrove hat gesagt: // Kevin Cosgrove wrote:<br>
<br>
> I'm interested in getting a portable digital recorder, something<br>
> that can run on batteries or ac power (presumably through a<br>
> wall-wart?), that has built-in stereo mics, and something which<br>
> will take 2-4 line external inputs. I've seen a lot of such<br>
> things come on the market in recent years. Many have SD or SDHC<br>
> cards for their audio memory, which is fine with me as I have<br>
> an SDHC card reader in my computer. If I get one with a USB<br>
> interface it's my _requirement_ that it operate with Linux over<br>
> USB. The same would go for firewire, though I haven't seen any<br>
> of those. Some units record only in lossy compressed format<br>
> only, while others have uncompressed formats available. I would<br>
> prefer the uncompressed format to be available. I'd also need<br>
> at _least_ 4 hours of stereo 44.1kHz at at least 16-bit, with<br>
> something like 24-bit being more desired by me.<br>
><br>
> I'll be doing remote recordings, then bringing the audio home to<br>
> chop up with Audacity and/or Ardour, then authoring the result to<br>
> CDs.<br>
><br>
> So, what works well with Linux and works well in general?<br>
><br>
> Thanks people!<br>
><br>
> --<br>
> Kevin<br>
><br>
><br>
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