Hello Philipp! I have a Zoom h4n now and it is very good. It's not the tiniest of implements, but certainly easyenough to carry around. It takes a minute to start up, but then recording is instantaneous. It has two built-in microphones and you can change the angle between those two from 90 to 120 degrees. The self-noise is present, but OK. You can go to my website and check outmy field recordings to get your own impressions of its recording quality. A friend recently bought a Zoom H2n. It's much smaller, doesn't have as many fancy recording options. I don't know, how fast this can boot up and I don't know the difference in sound. I can ask myfriend, what he thinks. He knows the Zoom H4n in comparison, since it was his. :-) As to their own noise levels, you assume correctly. Since they write on SD cards, they are silent.

I finally want to buy a small field recording device, a zoom H* or similar, and I hope that some of you have experience with some of those devices and can give me some advice. I want to use this device to record interesting sounds wherever I am, so it should be relatively small and and fast to start recording. I also intend to record lots of quiet or relatively far away sources, I want to record bird songs rather than guitars. As far as I've seen those devices use SSDs or similar storage media, so I assume they don't make any noise on their own, right? I guess the microphone should also have a low self-noise.

If mic self-noise is truly a concern for you, then look beyond Zoom. This page provides a good comparison: http://www.avisoft.com/recordertests.htm I have the Sony PCM-M10 and a Tascam DR-680 for different purposes, and both are solid units for there price. Keep in mind that most portable recorders will not give pleasing results for "far away sources" unless you mean general ambient recording. For distant sources you would need a specialized microphone. For most versatility, I personally would recommend choosing a recorder with XLR inputs such that you can buy additional mics in the future. The Olympus LS-100 seems to be a favorite among recordists on a budget for this reason. If you want the advice of people far more experienced with these recorders and techniques than myself, I'd also suggest signing up the for the nature recordists mailing list. It's a very useful resource in general. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/naturerecordists/

Hi there, I finally want to buy a small field recording device, a zoom H* or similar, and I hope that some of you have experience with some of those devices and can give me some advice. I want to use this device to record interesting sounds wherever I am, so it should be relatively small and and fast to start recording. I also intend to record lots of quiet or relatively far away sources, I want to record bird songs rather than guitars. As far as I've seen those devices use SSDs or similar storage media, so I assume they don't make any noise on their own, right? I guess the microphone should also have a low self-noise. Any recommendations? Regards, Philipp _______________________________________________ Linux-audio-user mailing list Linux-audio-user(a)lists.linuxaudio.org http://lists.linuxaudio.org/listinfo/linux-audio-user

Hello, You might want to check also the "pocketrak" line from Yamaha, they are very very lightweight (I have the 2g and it's only 49 grams). The recordings are very good and the price fair. I'm really satisfied with mine. The small form factor of course limits the options for connecting external microphones (no phantom, no XLR) but as a self contained unit, it'great value. Hope this helps

I want to use this device to record interesting sounds wherever I am, so it should be relatively small and and fast to start recording. I also intend to record lots of quiet or relatively far away sources, I want to record bird songs rather than guitars. As far as I've seen those devices use SSDs or similar storage media, so I assume they don't make any noise on their own, right? I guess the microphone should also have a low self-noise.

Those two things have kept me Sony-free ever since, except for a stereo mic that I got with the MD (an ECM-MS907) that consistently surprises me with excellent live recordings.

On Mon, 29 Jul 2013 18:50:56 +0100 "Barney Holmes" <djbarney(a)djbarney.org> wrote: I had a Sony MD for a while and it made some good recordings, but I really got tired of the restrictions that meant I could not pull the recordings off the disk in anything but realtime. As far as I know, there's no way around that restriction. My understanding is that the unit lacks the ability to make an outward digital connection completely. Sony could have ruled the market, but they were so paranoid about cutting into their music division's sales that they crippled all but the most expensive "pro" MD decks because HOME TAPING IS KILLING MUSIC! (Remember that blast from the past?) Sony's remained paranoid about hardware that can make exact digital copies of media for a long time; their rootkit is another example of it. Those two things have kept me Sony-free ever since, except for a stereo mic that I got with the MD (an ECM-MS907) that consistently surprises me with excellent live recordings. After I got tired of the MD I got an MAudio Microtrack 2496, which is nice for really portable recording, though my older model uses a CF+ Microdrive for storage and it is showing its age. -- ====================================================================== Joe Hartley - UNIX/network Consultant - jh(a)brainiac.com Without deviation from the norm, "progress" is not possible. - FZappa _______________________________________________ Linux-audio-user mailing list Linux-audio-user(a)lists.linuxaudio.org http://lists.linuxaudio.org/listinfo/linux-audio-user

Philipp ??berbacher wrote on Fri, Jul 26, 2013 at 03:26:21PM +0200: You can't use the Zoom H4n then. I really like mine but it has some weaknesses that will matter more to you, specially: - long boot time - deep and plain menu system, takes a while to start anything. Crappy UI hardware doesn't help because it gets in the way of muscle memory which usually helps with bad UIs - the maximum gain with the built in microphones is very low. You'll only get decent levels for things that are normal volume to you standing there. Everything that sound quiet to you will not be able to level out. No way to go after birds with it without using external microphones - automatic gain is overly dumb. Any loud impulse will set the gain lower, permanently. E.g. you record something and bump into the thing. Now your gain has been permanently lowered and won't go back up Of course I have no idea whether the alternatives are any better but I'm sure the boot times and menu issue are better in e.g. the Tascams. The Tascams have their own problems, reviews on Amazon are enlightning and they have no top end unit with all their features (top unit is one refresh cycle behind). For me the Zoom is very good. It works and I even use it as a USB soundcard in Linux and FreeBSD. Good sound quality, reliable, lots of options, correct input impedance for passive guitar/bass. Martin

On 07/29/2013 09:28 AM, Fons Adriaensen wrote: The only part of Sony making money is its insurance division. The equipment and media divisions are both running losses.

Sony, the Monsanto of the media world?