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Recording Devices


MitfordRI

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I've recently sold an R-1 and bought an R-9. The R-1 did have the half speed button, but the display was difficult to read, as a result of which I botched a couple of important (to me) recordings. The R-9's display is very clear and I find it a joy to use. I get about 6 hours recording time from 2 x 2000 mAh NiMH rechargeable batteries. I've got a 2 Gb card in mine, but a recent software revsion means that it can go beyond that.

 

Chris

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I am really grateful to everyone who has responded so far. And tickled. But I think I will not have a recording device in time for this Saturday's class. Am a little cowed by the offerings on Ebay. Even with everyone's kind suggestions.

 

I do not ordinarily think of myself as a techno-phobic female. I am the IT go-to person at my office. Even the physicists (both male) come to me for help. I can network 20 devices in under half an hour. I know the fixed IP address of every employee, terminal and printer in the building. I'm the only one who know how to talk to the firewall. (Slowly. No sudden movements.)

 

But all of a sudden, a simple thing like a recording device ... isn't simple.

 

I don't want to sound like a total girl ... but holy cow! My husband, who couldn't find the power button to his laptop if I didn't label it, can talk about stereos, accoustics and ... uh ... sound stuff ... for four hours, would be transfixed by this thread.

 

Come to think of it ... maybe he could translate it for me.

 

Example:

Sampling Rate: 44.1/48 kHz , Bit Rates: 64/96/128/160/192/256/320 kbps "Building on the success of the R-1, the R-09 takes many of the most desired features 24-bit uncompressed recording and a built-in stereo mic and shrinks it all down into a more streamlined, stylish, and affordable package."

 

Geepers. Do I get a massage and pedicure with that?

 

I bow before any woman not intimidated by an Edirol. And, this, I think must explain my sudden and profound infatuation with the concertina (leaving aside the music). 30 buttons. Analog technology. Gotta love it.

 

 

Lucy

HiFi-weenie / Aspiring Ludite

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My wife, for whom I got an R9, is a founding member of the Ludite caucus in her English department. My daughter out-law the opera singer loves my son the technogeek, but didn't want to be intimidated by a recorder. The R01 would be overkill for either; the R9 isn't, though its specifications might be!

 

Use 44.1 Hz at 192 kbps (set it once). It'll record at near CD quality for hours. Easy to operate.

24 bit uncompressed mode will give a much larger file, hence less time, without a noticable gain in audio quality (though maybe that's just my aged ears).

 

I agree about the concertina, though mine have 48 buttons: analog technology-- just press and squeeze and lovely sound comes out.

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I think I will not have a recording device in time for this Saturday's class.... a simple thing like a recording device ... isn't simple.
It can be simple if you don't care much about the quality of sound recorded. It appears that your priorities are that it be inexpensive, easily portable and record sounds sufficient to determine the tune played. Most people in this thread are pointing at devices which cost hundreds of dollars, record fantastic quality (CD, in stereo), and have a battery life measured in several hours. Pretty much any digital voice recorder would be suitable for your use. They tend to be smaller, mono, and have a battery life that's measured in months. The audio quality of DVR's are vastly lower than the other guys, but they're perfectly adequate to record every note and tittle a concertina produces. The big plus is that you can get one for under $30. A quick search on eBay brought up 900 hits just now with many units going for only $10 (most of that is shipping)! Lots of "buy it now" with prices starting at $15. Egads - check out a mess of refurbished Sony 37-hour ones like this one.

 

I suggest that for this weekend you borrow a DVR from one of your office buddies (or rent one from an office supply store), and get a DVR from an eBay auction in a few days so that you'll be ready next time.

 

-- Oh, and my concertina is a 46-button analog device. Great stuff!

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I said yes, thinking he was asking about dictaphones (for transcription). What he meant was small digital recorders that we could use to practice (mangle) assigned tunes.

 

 

Take the dictaphone .... you should at least be able to get the gist of the tunes to remind you later.

 

Chris

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I have a 1GB I River that I bought for listening to music about 3 years ago. After I bought it I discovered it made "voice recordings" too. After some experimentation, I decided that the recording function was cooler than the music playing! It takes 1 AA battery, and (when no music is in storage) I can record for up to 8 hours. In fact the 8 hour limit was imposed by the single battery, not the memory. I hook it up to USB on my PC, offload everything, then I used the provided software to convert the files into MP3 format on my computer. Later I bought an external mic for it, compared it with the built-in mic, and decided it was better, so I don't even use the external mic. The coolest thing about these is that you don't have to bother with stopping (or pausing) and starting again. Just record the whole dang thing, then weed out what you don't want later. Way better than cassettes...

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Henrik, Peter,

 

How does the Edirol R-09 perform as a learning device in the field?

Does it have a slow down and pich adjustment feature?

Can it play loops of designated segments?

Practical battery life?

 

Your comments appreciated.

 

Greg

I was on my way commenting that, but I was in a hurry.

 

IMHO, the R-09 should swap the processing power used for reverb

(3-4 different settings, added to listening only) for a pitch/speed-shift

feature (for those grrrr- Bb/F sessions :D ).

 

It has a In-point/Out-point feature (called A & B ).

When B has been set, it loops between the two.

 

Personally, I don't use it - I prefer to do all close

listening/audio masssage in the computer afterwards.

 

But the quality is top - with the highest setting (48kHz/24 bit),

the noise floor is far away.

 

Battey life? Can't remember - a few hours? I got used to carrying extras.

Changing batteries is not for the impatient types, something which Roland/Edirol has

realised, since there is an extra, separate paper describing how to do it. Again, I don't mind,

the end result is incredible.

 

But as a "tune scratch pad" only, you may not need the quality.

 

/Henrik

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I am going to chime in as a proponent of voice recorders. While I have a minidisc HD that is absolutely fabulous as a recorder, it is not the most convenient device. Most of the ones I have encountered need an independent microphone to record and you need speakers or earphones for playback. Great for recording concerts or that really kick ass session that you want to listen to later. For purposes of learning though, the voice recorders are great. Pretty much by definition they contain built in microphones, and speakers. This makes them great for workshops where you often record and listen in very short intervals. It also is nice for me because I hate hear phones :). Best part there will almost always be a dozen or more to select from at the local Radio Shack. I am personally partial to the Olympus DS-2/DS-22 model which I think has somewhat better sound than some of the others I have tried. All of them though would be fine for a work shop or your local session.

 

--

Bill

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I've been using a 4 yr old i-river 20gig. The quality is surprisingly good. It might even be better if I knew how to set it up properly.

I'm getting to the point where I'll want to upgrade. I'm inclined to stay with a commercial mp3 player, either i-river or creative. The advantages are that they are not too hard to use, have decent recording quality, and are multi-use. My i-river has an fm tuner, handy for watching tv at the health club, recording capacity, and all mp3 features (music, pod casts etc.)

As for recording quality in classes, it's fine. I'm not expecting studio quality sound in a classroom.

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Personally the sound quality is important to me as I like to turn my recordings into CDs, and you can use an R-09 as an mp3 player too if you want to. However, horses for courses, if something less expensive suits your needs then go for it (I sound like a Jeffries player ...).

 

Chris

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Thinking also of upgrading my Sony Mini-disc, which I've used over and over.

 

So, Chris. What's the price of an R09 in your neck of the woods?

 

Chas

Edited by fidjit
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Guest Peter Laban

If you search around on the web you'll find them the cheapest via e-bay stores or US vendors. Do check what memory card you get with it and it's effect on the price. A bit of searching can save you money.

 

I bought one from the UK which came in (I think) for around €300 with a 64 MB SD card, two days in the post. I picked up a 2GB memory card at the ALDI supermarket in Ennis for around €25 later. To put things in perspective that is cheaper than the top of the range Sony small cassette machine I started using during the mid 80s.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A few months ago there was a CNET discussion about digital recorders, and I'm pleased to see that several others have come to appreciate Edirol. For the Edirols and perhaps other small digital recorders, better-than-CD sound quality can be assured by using good external microphones.

Edited by Brian Humphrey
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I know this is slightly off the original point of this thread, but I thought a few people at least might be interested in this.

 

As one or two of you may already know, my main machine for home recording has been an analogue 8-track. In its day it was a reasonably sophisticated machine, but ten years later an 8-track that uses standard chrome cassettes as its recording media doesn't really cut the mustard. Tape hiss just isn't acceptable any more, no matter how hard you try and disguise it :lol:

 

So I've been wondering what to do for a while, and was recommended one of these:

 

01f3dbf7f258908c12d5835451b2056b.jpg

 

For the want of any better ideas, I've taken the plunge. It's a Fostex digital hard-drive based 8-track called the MR8-HD. In some ways it's pretty basic compared with what I'm used to, but is amazingly easy to use, to the extent that I hardly needed to consult the manual at all. And the best thing is that you can connect it to your PC and copy off either the mixed down files or the individual raw tracks as .wav files via USB.

 

Initial experiments last night seem really promising, although I've yet to record a concertina with it :)

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  • 6 months later...

I have just purchased a Zoom H4 (a birthday present for myself) it was slightly cheaper than the

Edirol 9 ,my first impressions on sound reproduction is that it is fantastic.I am taking it to The George tonight to give it a real try.I am not too clever with these little devises ,or computers for that matter, so I will give you a progress report and even possibly an MP3 if I can work it all out.

Al

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Hi Alan

I found mine very easy to operate (at its most basic level) repro with concertinas is very good. I have not got round to trying to use the 4 track facility yet-but I will. The only thing to bear in mind with the H4 is that you need at least a couple of Gig of memory to record any amount of music. The quality on the mp3 setting is pretty good and not so memory hungry. Carry a couple of spare batteries as well. Once they say 'low' they mean it :angry:

best wishes and happy recording

chris

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I have just purchased a Zoom H4 (a birthday present for myself) it was slightly cheaper than the

Edirol 9 ,my first impressions on sound reproduction is that it is fantastic.I am taking it to The George tonight to give it a real try.I am not too clever with these little devises ,or computers for that matter, so I will give you a progress report and even possibly an MP3 if I can work it all out.

Al

 

 

Nice to see you at The George, Al. A good session, wasn't it? So, that's what your cunning piece of modern recording technology that you brought with you is, a Zoom H4. And there was me thinking it was an electronic swannee whistle! Yes, love to have a progress report. Let us know how your recordings turned out. I just hope I was playing the right notes on my tina at the times you were recording stuff. ;)

 

Chris

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  • 2 weeks later...

Santa brought me a Zoom H4 last Christmas and they really are excellent. I have used mine mostly for bootlegging concerts :ph34r: but it's very useful for scratch recording practice sessions too. I have also used the line-in facility for recording old vinyl records and transferring them to CD.

 

The 128Mb SD card that comes with it isn't really much use if you want to record in CD quality wav format though; I have a couple of 2Gb cards that I picked up from the internet at around £15 each which gives me hours of recording time.

 

I haven't explored the 4 track recording facility or sound effects at all because I have a Roland digital 8 track that took me long enough to get to grips with!

 

Here's a pic for those who are wondering what we are talking about:

 

zoom_h4_large.jpg

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