[Ban Shee]

hi guys -
I"m a singer for a small acoustic quartet, and im wanting to buy a small
hand-held Digital Audio recorder, for recording practice sessions live, so
I can sing back against vocals & work on harmonies, etc.

im not looking for "studio sound" here, but just a good approximation of
live music. any other bells and whistles would be nice but not neccessary,
like xlr/quarter inch ins and outs, USB computer hookup, MP3-making ability,
etc.

whatever it is should have decent built-in mikes and possibly common storage
card (ie flash card) compatibility.

thanks for any review or advice from experienced users !!??

banshee

[[email protected]]

On May 30, 9:37 pm, "Ban Shee" wrote:
hi guys -
I"m a singer for a small acoustic quartet, and im wanting to buy a small
hand-held Digital Audio recorder, for recording practice sessions live, so
I can sing back against vocals & work on harmonies, etc.

I've read many nice things about the Zoom products, specifically the
H4 and now the H2. Have a look at:

http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-ZOO-H4.html
http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-ZOO-H2.html

Apparently very good performance specs for the money.

EJ

[Arny Krueger]

"Ban Shee" wrote in message
news:uxq7i.62269$V75.5193@edtnps89
hi guys -
I"m a singer for a small acoustic quartet, and im wanting
to buy a small hand-held Digital Audio recorder, for
recording practice sessions live, so I can sing back
against vocals & work on harmonies, etc.

im not looking for "studio sound" here, but just a good
approximation of live music. any other bells and
whistles would be nice but not neccessary, like
xlr/quarter inch ins and outs, USB computer hookup,
MP3-making ability, etc.

whatever it is should have decent built-in mikes and
possibly common storage card (ie flash card)
compatibility.

thanks for any review or advice from experienced users
!!??

My M-Audio MT 2496s seems to get the job done. I have a couple of friends
with them, and we're all pretty happy. They come with a pretty fair stereo
mic, and use standard CF cards. They also have TRS input jacks for both line
level and mic use. My last portable digital recorder had only a 3.5 mm line
level input jack which got intermittant after a few years, so a mic/line
input on TRS jacks is a big plus to me.

Caveat 1: There seem to be a lot of MT2496s for sale with downlevel
firmware. Just lately the MT firmware was updated to make MT2496s far more
tolerant of different brands of CF cards. I had to update my MT, and one
belonging to a friend.

Caveat 2: It is not uncommon for portable digital recorders to provide less
than standard 48 volt phantom power. The MT puts out something like 30 volts
which works with just about any mic, but it ain't perfect.

Caveat 3: The MT's range of gain adjustement is less than what you'd see on
a good mic preamp. The gain can be less than optimal for some mics in some
situations. I've encountered line-level sources that ended up causing
clipping. The usual work-around is to simply make up any too-low recorded
levels in post. Usually some adjustments elsewhere will get excessive input
levels down, or add a passive attenuator.

Caveat 4: Battery life isn't a strong point on the MT. It can run on battery
power for like 2 hours, but you need an external power source for longer
gigs. Using phantom power and enabling the display's backlight hurts battery
life, as you can well imagine.

[[email protected]]

"DAT"... that's so ancient! Tape is dead. You want a flash drive
recorder like an Alesis Microtrack 24/96.


Dr. Evil "I'm going to ask for a ransom of One....*million* dollars!"

Uh...prices have gone up since you've been frozen....

"O.K. One hundred *billion* dollars!"

[Ban Shee]

hi folks, thanks for your input on the mini audio recorders.

the Zoom H4 and Boss Micro BR look quite decent. The Boss Micro seems to
include FX + drum machine; whereas the H4 boasts 4x 24x96 recording at-once,
with Cubase LE and pro-style inputs (XLR + 1/4").

Does anyone haveany comments on the quality of the on-board FX or mic's in
these units ..?

thanks




"Ban Shee" wrote in message
news:uxq7i.62269$V75.5193@edtnps89...
hi guys -
I"m a singer for a small acoustic quartet, and im wanting to buy a small
hand-held Digital Audio recorder, for recording practice sessions live,
so
I can sing back against vocals & work on harmonies, etc.

im not looking for "studio sound" here, but just a good approximation of
live music. any other bells and whistles would be nice but not
neccessary,
like xlr/quarter inch ins and outs, USB computer hookup, MP3-making
ability,
etc.

whatever it is should have decent built-in mikes and possibly common
storage
card (ie flash card) compatibility.

thanks for any review or advice from experienced users !!??

banshee

[philicorda[_3_]]

On Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:08:06 +0000, Ban Shee wrote:

hi folks, thanks for your input on the mini audio recorders.

the Zoom H4 and Boss Micro BR look quite decent. The Boss Micro seems to
include FX + drum machine; whereas the H4 boasts 4x 24x96 recording at-once,
with Cubase LE and pro-style inputs (XLR + 1/4").

Does anyone haveany comments on the quality of the on-board FX or mic's in
these units ..?

I was looking for a little recorder for a while too.
After trying the Edirol R1, Zoom H4 and the Micro BR I went for the Micro
BR and am very pleased with it. It's easy to use, the display is big and
bright and it does what I need. The internal mic is only good enough for
quick ideas really, but it is at least good enough. A little sony stereo
mic sounds fine if I need more quality.

It will do 16 bit 44.1khz recording. I don't think any of these
budget recorders really benefit from greater resolution, considering their
internal preamps and AD converters.

Like it's peers has a weird gain structure and metering that lies.
Beginners would be better off with something simpler and more
predictable like a Sound Devices 722. A bit of experimentation with test
tones and I got the hang of it.

There is one effects unit that can be used in various places. As an
input effect (monitor only: dry to track), input effect (wet to track),
insert on any track or stereo pair, effects send, or across the master
bus. The effects unit can be a chain of a few different processors, all of
which can be edited.
The effects sound pretty good, as does the drum box. The amp simulators
are a bit cheesy, though they all outclass the Zoom H4.

The four track is quite astonishing for something so small. Eight virtual
tracks per track, non linear editing (between takes on the same track too),
bounce forward, effects sends and insert etc. You could record an album on
it. I found myself getting annoyed there was no automation.

In the 4 track mode, either the data compression or the "Adaptive Focus"
a/d does something to the recording. There is a halo of noise that follows
decaying notes on an acoustic guitar. It's not particularly annoying as an
artifact.

For straight forward recording the other ones may be better, for a
musician the Micro BR is the most fun.