From: Nicholas Hamlyn (email suppressed)
Date: Wed Oct 17 2007 - 00:17:54 PDT
For people of the Nagra generation, the Edirol is a truly extraordinary
cigarette packet-size tool, with an amazingly good stereo mike built
in. It will record up to two hours of very high quality sound (48hz?).
They cost about $500 US here in the UK.
Nicky Hamlyn.
On 16 Oct 2007, at 20:35, Marcy Saude wrote:
> I have been saving my pennies for the Edirol R-09 (records 24 bit WAV
> or MP3, real small, (well-reviewed, USB 2 and all that- but with
> stereo mini mic inputs) but I may have to consider this Zoom H-4 dealy
> now!
>
> If you want tape and don't care about sync, why not pick up a used
> Sony TCD-5 or early Marantz PMD cassete recorder? They're dirt cheap
> at this point, and were the standard for high-quality music bootlegs
> for quite awhile. Don't call it tape hiss, call it "analog warmth."
>
> I'd be leery of trusting the archival dependibility of a format just
> because it's "tape" (learned my lesson the hard way with mini dv
> tapes- luckily the original footage was on film). Whether digital
> files or tapes, make multiple copies placed in more than one location,
> and resign yourself to semi-regular file/ format migration for as long
> as you'd like your stuff to last.
>
> Good
> luck!
>
> -Marcy
>
>
> ************************************************************
>
> I use a Sony Hi-MD Walkman MZ-RH1. It is small, lightweight and
> inexpensive. It can record 16-bit uncompressed audio for an hour (per
> disc) and hooks directly up to my computer via USB. I use a Mac, so
> the files appear on my desktop in WAV format, making them easy to use
> with Final Cut Pro or Protools. If you use a PC, I believe they are
> imported in a different format.
>
> If you are concerned about having your media in more than just a file
> format, you can use the disks once and store them, although I do not
> know their shelf life; however, I doubt it is much worse than magnetic
> tape. If money is an issue, you can simply treat the disk as though it
> were a flash card, downloading to your computer and then deleting the
> files off the disk. This is what I do. To the best of my knowledge,
> minidisc is not like mini-DV and multiple uses are
> acceptable, though
> I do not know the lifespan on a hi-md disc used in this fashion.
>
> Problems: the MZ-RH1 doesn't supply phantom power. It's recording
> options, such as recording level, are accessed through a menu (this
> will probably be the case for anything small and cheap). 16-bit
> uncompressed is great, but it ain't 24-bit uncompressed, which some
> flash/hard-drive recorders are capable of. On-site file management
> (naming, categorizing, etc.) isn't really an option.
>
> 4-tracks are great, but the ones I'm familiar with don't really meet
> your qualifications of "light weight and easy to transport." Mine
> needs to be plugged into the wall, rendering it pretty useless as a
> field recorder.
>
> Madison
> Los Angeles
>
> On 10/15/07, Ryan Marino <email suppressed> wrote:
> > Thanks for all of
> the links and suggestions, I really appreciate the
> help.
> >
> > What I am ideally looking for is something that I can bring with me
> while I
> > am out shooting with my bolex. Ultimately everything will end up on
> my
> > computer so I am looking for something that is somewhat easy to hook
> up to a
> > computer and import. I mentioned having a preference to tape because
> the
> > thought of only having material on a disc or hard drive makes me
> nervous.
> >
> > Some one mentioned using primitive 4 tracks which I have used in the
> past
> > and have gotten good results from. The lofi aesthetic is something
> that does
> > interest me, but I just don't want to feel limited when I feel like
> having
> > crisp sound and only being able to have sound with tape hiss in the
> > background. I was considering buying a reporters tape recorder, a
> sort of
> > high end cassette deck that is easy to carry
> around.
> >
> > A Nagra is pretty much out of the question.
> >
> >
> >
> > thanks
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -Ryan Marino
> >
> > Michael Wechsler <email suppressed> wrote:
> > I know it's not tape based, but you may want to check out the Zoom
> H4
> > recorder. Haven't used it personally, but from what I hear it's a
> > pretty cool little gadget. Records lossless as WAV or compressed in
> > MP3 to removable SD card up to 2GB (WAV records at up to 96kHz/24 bit
> > and everything in between). Though it doesn't have AIFF recording
> > support, that shouldn't really matter because both WAV and AIFF are
> > lossless formats and a Mac can read both. The sound should be
> > exactly the same aside from a few bits of data in the file header.
> > Other cool
> features of the H4 are its two built in microphones in an
> > X/Y crossed pattern to give you stereo recording, a USB interface and
> > its ability to phantom power mics and serve as a USB audio interface
> > on your computer. It's got two hybrid XLR-1/4" jacks and runs off
> > two AA batteries. The product page http://www.samsontech.com/
> > products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1901 might give you some
> > more info.
> > Like I said, I haven't personally used this one, but an in-the-know
> > acquaintance has tested it out and raved about the sound quality.
> >
> > On Oct 14, 2007, at 7:39 PM, Kristine Diekman wrote:
> >
> > > Hello:
> > > I use the Marantz recorders with the flash drive. They work well,
> > > but you can only set them to wav or mp3, no aiff. The other draw
> > > back is that they only have xlr inputs, so if you are using a
> >
> > stereo mic with dual phone jacks or a stereo mini, you need to
> > > adapt. I also use a marantz which records to a CD. This is really
> > > my favorite tool, but it is not portable even when it is a field
> > > recorder. Takes both xlr and phone jacks. I take it into the field,
> > > but I would not travel with it. Finally, I also have the smallest
> > > and best tape based sony DAT recorder which I have had forever. It
> > > sounds great, is very easy to use.
> > > kd
> > >
> > > Kristine Diekman
> > > Professor, Video
> > > Art and Technology
> > > CSUSM
> > > http://www.csusm.edu/vpa
> > > http://www.csusm.edu/diekman
> > > 760-750-4188
> > >
>
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> __________________________________________________________________ For
> info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.