Current, portable, useful recording devices

[levin4now]

Hi,

i've been watching some threads on the minidisc situation and I've tried to do some reading online at minidisc.org etc... to figure out the technology and I am amazed at how many different models that even just sony has out, let alone other brands, and formats.

The other night I jammed with some guys from a bluegrass band that were really good. #I wish I could have recorded to learn some of the songs. #(it's hard to remember melodies of 25 songs, most of which you just heard for the 1st time!)

I am also going to Steve Kaufman's mandolin camp this summer and want to be able to record some of the sessions and concerts! #

I am curious about what you might consider valid options for recording things like this.

I'd like for :
~the 'system' to be relatively inexpensive (so probably not latest and greatest I guess)
~the 'system' to be compact, portable.
~the system to be easy to use and setup.
~the media to be readily obtainable and affordable (inexpensive)
~it would be nice if i could UPload it to PC.

What is out there right now?

There's minidisc.
What about iPOD-type units (.mp3 recorders?)
What about portable CD recording units?

How long can you record? #I understand that minidisc has 74' and 80' discs. #Some of these mandolin instructional session could be 90-120 minutes in length. #The jam I was at was 3.5 hrs all told.



I will truly appreciate any help offered.

Thanks,

Alan

[levin4now]

..and I just discovered how expensive iPOD minis are, let alone, their non-mini counterparts that have microphones!
Yikes.

[mrbook]

Last Friday I used my Marantz PD221 cassette recorder that I had stopped using in favor of minidiscs. I ended up with a fine recording off the PA, six guys around one AT4033. Marantz recorders seem fairly cheap on ebay (compared to the $300+ I paid), mine has has only one repair in ten years of rugged use, and the results can still be good. The minidiscs are a lot easier to edit, though.

[Kelly_guy]

Not the best sound quality, but the MPIO digital recorders are tiny, and the 128 MB version is about $120:

http://www.amazon.com/exec....5451108 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008V6NI/104-5275380-5451108)

I guess that can record several hours of MP3 data with a built in condenser microphone. I doubt the sound quality is very good, but for recording songs at a jam session, it might be good enough. Just another option to consider. I'd use my old Marantz myself.

[John Flynn]

I was at a jam recently and a guy there was recording it with his PDA (a "palm pilot" type device). I think his was a Toshiba. He gave me a "tour" and it seemed like he could store a lot of tunes, it was really easy to use and the sound quality was excellent. He said it was completely downloadable to his PC. The limit to how long he could record depended on his available storage and it had removable storage capability. The only downside is that the way he was talking, it seemed pretty expensive.

[levin4now]

mando johnny!

I actually have a PDA (a Dell Axim) but I didn't realize it could do much as far as nice recordings. It only has a pinhole for a microphone, and no recording software with it other than that which comes with the NOTES function. The recordings I've made with it aren't that great, but it may be an option I need to look into...

Alan

[Dave Reiner]

Skip the minidisc (hard to transfer to a computer, or play elsewhere), and get an MP3 recorder. #We use a Creative Nomad Jukebox 3, with an external Sony condensor mic, for music camps, live recording, and as a portable repository of a *lot* of songs. #Recording quality is excellent! #Works well with PCs. #iRiver is another option; iPod isn't good for recording yet.

Dave

[mcmando]

I think you should consider a minidisk. Most of the digital recorders that record in MP3 and the like are either very expensive or will not record much until you need to download to a computer (so you'll nede to carry your laptop if you have one).

I recently bought a Sony device called an MZ-B10 for use at a mando camp. They refer to it as a business
recorder because it has a built in mic and speakers. Most of the portable
minidisk devices are of the Walkman sort, and do not come with these
features. I paid about $150 (from PC Connection).

One thing to watch out for when buying: manufacturers may call a device a
minidisk recorder even though it has no microphone or even an input for a
sperate mic. I saw a number of units called recorders that had only a line
in, which would require a seperate preamp and mic in order to do live
recording. I saw only a few of the Walkman type units that had a mic jack,
and none that came with a mic.

Also, I found no Walkman type units that had speakers-- headphones are the
only way to listen. That said, while the small speakers on the unit I
bought do work, sound quality is pretty low, so headphones are preferred if
you want good fidelity.

The recorded sound quality is pretty good-- I'd say nearly CD quality. With
the interenal mic, there is an occasional background whir and click created
by the minidisk drive motor. You can get around this, and get better
quality recordings overall, if you use an external mic. I borrowed a mono
mic from a friend (the kind that clips to a lapel or something). The MZ-B10
has a mic jack that does not require a seperate preamp.

Ease of use is good and media is pretty cheap. I bought 10 disks for
$12.99. Recording in mono mode allowed me to get 160 minutes on a disk.

To me, the only drawback is that the format is ATRAC, and is proprietary to Sony.
Even though it's a digital recording, you can't download or do a file
transfer easily to a PC. I think you can buy a cable to hook up to a PC and
then record in real time to a wav file or something, but I haven't spent any
time to figure it out yet.

On balance, I'm glad I bought it. It worked well for the live recording
that I did at the camp and was a lot better and more convenient than
cassette.

Sorry this got so long, and best of luck.

[taboot]

I'm extremely happy with my Sharp MD recorder: on the fly record-level adjustment, mic input, digital in, and analog in. It cannot be uploaded to computer, but at $175-ish, it's a fabulous deal. Record in mono, and you can fit 160 minutes on a single disc, more than enough for most jams, practices, etc. Plus, if you just need a reference copy of music for practice and learning, there's no need for stereo, and to get a recording good enough for anything else, you're going to want a microphone that costs as much as your car. The sound quality on my mini-disc is excellent, far better than mp3's, and virtually indistinguishable from cds to my ears. Minidisc.org was the way to go for me (no financial interest.)

Christian

[John Flynn]

I use mini-disk also, I have a Sony. I think they are fine for recording, playback and storage. The thing that I hate about them is the lack of capability for transferring files to MP3 or WAV so they can be shared. I understand the copyright issues for pre-recorded music, but the system does recognize the difference between a pre-recorded track and a microphone recorded track. I think it is ridiculous that they don't allow easy digital transfers for the latter. It really makes the device less useful for me. I like to do field recordings of jams and lessons, make MP3's from them and share them over email with my band. I also like to use Transkriber to slow down those recordings for learning. Mini-disc makes that difficult or impossible, depending on your computer configuration. The only reason for it seems to be paranoia on the part of the "suits" at Sony. I will be migrating off mini-disc as soon as I find the right solution and can afford to do so.

[fangsdaddy]

i have a 4 year old sony mzr50 mini disc. it has an analog output which i run into the input on my soundcard & use the recorder software on my 'puter to create wav files to burn to cdr . the digial to analog conversion really doesn't hurt the sound quality very much to my ears.
i really like #the md format. it's small, easy to do stealth recordings & with the core-sound binaural mics i have (they're the size of pencil erasers---yes, i paid more for the mics than the machine) i get really nice recordings. it's an older machine w/a mic input, lin-in, analog out & a mic sensitivity switch. a lot of these features have been removed as the sony music group has an issue #"field" recordings. #also if there's a sony factory outlet near you check it out for signifigant savings on a "referbished" machine. #i've had zero problems w/my referb. #my biggest beef w/the machine is that you can't adjust the recording level on the fly. the machine must be in pause.
& now for my question. for the symposium, i intend to take my md vs. my old cassette machine. does anyone have any recommendations for a T-mic? i see sound professionals, sony & audio technica make them. my core sound mics would be overkill for reference recordings.
thanks sam

[mandofiddle]

We use a Creative Nomad Jukebox 3, with an external Sony condensor mic, for music camps, live recording, and as a portable repository of a *lot* of songs. #
Depending on what you plan on doing in the future, I'd go with the Jukebox. One nice thing about it is that you can also record to WAV format on it, which means NO loss in audio quality. I have a friend with one, and we've used it to record our band off the soundboard at shows. Transfer it to a PC, split up the tracks, and then burn it to a CD.