Digital audio recordings
 

What are folks using these days to record audio? MiniDisc, DAT or
digital audio?

Any recommendations on digital audio recorders? That's what I'd go for I
think when I begin DXing again. I've no idea what products people are using.
Rich

Digital audio recordings
 

"Richard" wrote in message
...
What are folks using these days to record audio? MiniDisc, DAT or
digital audio?

Any recommendations on digital audio recorders? That's what I'd go for I
think when I begin DXing again. I've no idea what products people are
using.
Rich

BTW, not interested in recording to my PC. Has to be standalone as it were.

Digital audio recordings
 

Richard wrote:

"Richard" wrote in message
...
What are folks using these days to record audio? MiniDisc, DAT or
digital audio?

Any recommendations on digital audio recorders? That's what I'd go for I
think when I begin DXing again. I've no idea what products people are
using.
Rich

BTW, not interested in recording to my PC. Has to be standalone as it were.



Marantz PMD670/671

Digital audio recordings
 

Richard wrote:

What are folks using these days to record audio? MiniDisc, DAT or
digital audio?

Any recommendations on digital audio recorders? That's what I'd go for I
think when I begin DXing again. I've no idea what products people are
using.


Insignia NS-DV4GC

http://tinyurl.com/2f9khq

The good:

It has 4Gb built in and is expandable through a miniSD slot.

It has a stereo line in record function.

When the USB is plugged in, the device shows up as drive on the computer
screen. Files may dragged and dropped in both directions.

The battery is user replaceable. A lot of portable MP3 players have a
built in battery. When it wears out, you throw the thing away. Sad.

Built in FM radio. Very good reception. It can record Stereo or Mono
signals.

Excellent resolution. 320 X 240
It plays AVI videos, Wav files and MP3s

Claimed twenty hour battery life.


The bad: It's discontinued, but can be found on sale at some
Best Buy stores. Be careful, some of the stuff they sell is junk.


This unit is supposedly similar to some Iriver models, but i couldn't
find any of those.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4566-6499_7-...00036_5260177_

Ipods were a disappointment. Overpriced for the features. They look
good, but that's about it.

Some good reviews he

http://ahttp://anythingbutipod.com/nythingbutipod.com/




mike

Digital audio recordings
 

m II wrote:
Richard wrote:

What are folks using these days to record audio? MiniDisc, DAT or
digital audio?

Any recommendations on digital audio recorders? That's what I'd go for I
think when I begin DXing again. I've no idea what products people are
using.


Insignia NS-DV4GC

http://tinyurl.com/2f9khq

The good:

It has 4Gb built in and is expandable through a miniSD slot.

It has a stereo line in record function.

When the USB is plugged in, the device shows up as drive on the computer
screen. Files may dragged and dropped in both directions.

The battery is user replaceable. A lot of portable MP3 players have a
built in battery. When it wears out, you throw the thing away. Sad.

Built in FM radio. Very good reception. It can record Stereo or Mono
signals.

Excellent resolution. 320 X 240
It plays AVI videos, Wav files and MP3s

Claimed twenty hour battery life.


The bad: It's discontinued, but can be found on sale at some
Best Buy stores. Be careful, some of the stuff they sell is junk.


This unit is supposedly similar to some Iriver models, but i couldn't
find any of those.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4566-6499_7-...00036_5260177_

Ipods were a disappointment. Overpriced for the features. They look
good, but that's about it.

Some good reviews he

http://ahttp://anythingbutipod.com/nythingbutipod.com/


That last link should have been:

http://anythingbutipod.com

Stupid cut and paste features anyway.....





mike

Digital audio recordings
 

On Mar 20, 12:45*pm, wrote:
On Mar 20, 8:01*pm, "Richard" wrote:

What are folks using these days to record audio? MiniDisc, DAT or
digital audio?

Any recommendations on digital audio recorders? That's what I'd go for I
think when I begin DXing again. I've no idea what products people are using.
Rich

I have an Edirol R-09 - a superb digital recorder with an excellent
well lit display and easy downloading of recordings to a PC so that
recordings can be sent to others. With a 2 Gbyte SD card records 70
hours in mp3. The controls are supremely easy to manipulate with old
thumbs and you cannot lose recordings unless you specifically delete
them consciously. Easily worked in a hurry on DXpeditions in poor
light - gives foolproof high quality recordings. *Marvellous PC
interface. Quite a pricey item but I am supremely happy with mine.

Upgraded from a Sony MiniDisc which I didn't like:
* can loose recordings
* can't see the display in poor light like on DXpeditions
* poor controls can lead you to pushing the wrong control.
* only 70 minutes of recording.
* difficult to navigate between recordings
* extraordinarily cumbersome to download recordings to a PC.
* superb sound quality

John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D, GE SRIII, Redsun RP2100
BW XCR 30, Sangean 803A.
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro Mk II, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop, PAORDT Roelof mini-whip
http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

Richard,

As John Plimmer points out one of the Key Features
of any stand-a-lone Digital Audio Device for Recording
your Radio Listening is the Transfer Media between your
Device and your PC; so that you can Store it long term;
and Share it with others.

The very common and relatively low cost SD Memory Cards
are an excellent Transfer Media to accomplish that task.

ABOUT - Secure Digital (SD) "Flash" Memory Card
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital_card

Here is a Google Search for : Voice Audio Recorders SD Card
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&r...orders+SD+Card

Look around and find a Device that is in your Price Range
and meets your needs; including as John Plimmer points
out a Form / Fit that you find easy to use plus Operations /
Functions that make sense to you as a user.

Stand-a-Lone Voice Audio Recorders are Hand-On Devices
and before you 'buy' one : You should get your Hands-On
a few to "Feel" and "See" what is Right-for-You.

this is all just common sense advise -but- often it pays
to be reminded of the simple things that matter ~ RHF

Digital audio recordings
 

On 20 Mar, 19:01, "Richard" wrote:
What are folks using these days to record audio? MiniDisc, DAT or
digital audio?

Any recommendations on digital audio recorders? That's what I'd go for I
think when I begin DXing again. I've no idea what products people are using.
Rich

iriver HDD recorders. See http://www.kongsfjord.no/bm/iRiver%2...0rev%20 1.pdf

I've had mine running 24/7 in recording or standby mode since October.
No problems.

BM

Digital audio recordings
 

On Mar 20, 11:01 am, "Richard" wrote:
What are folks using these days to record audio? MiniDisc, DAT or
digital audio?

Any recommendations on digital audio recorders? That's what I'd go for I
think when I begin DXing again. I've no idea what products people are using.
Rich

Zoom H2 recorder
$32 8 GByte SDHC card at Frys
$175 for H2 recorder on amazon (DJ Tools)

I believe you need to be able to record in PCM. If you record in a
compressed format, you are screwed regarding post processing. That is,
if you record in mp3, then want to enhance the recording (filtering,
etc), you need to convert to PCM, but the recording will be full of
mp3 artifacts. Then if you want to put the file on the net, the audio
quality will suffer when you compress it to mp3 again. Thus you need
large capacity and the ability to record in PCM.

The unit has a line input.

Caveats:
1) No vox. It sounds like it has one, but it doesn't. You can remove
the gaps via software, but the dead air does take up space on the SDHC
card.
2) Microphone input very noise. Not a big deal, but if you plan to
record with external microphone, you will need to use an external
microphone amp. Note the amps for the 4 internal microphones are low
noise.
3) Due to limits of fat32, files are limited to 2GBytes. If you try to
record 8Gbytes in one setting, it will break the file up into 4 2Gbyte
blocks.
4) Recording in mono does not save space on the card. It is just
stereo in two mono channels.
5) Line output is noisy. Not a big deal since it is the digital data
that is of concern.

Advantages:
1) AA powered
2) PCM
3) Line input recording is very clean.
4) Mac/PC compatible. Even works on Windows X64
5) For fun, the unit acts like a USB microphone. I've done SKYPE with
it.
6) Large user base with cool hacks like make your own surround sound
files.

http://www.samsontech.com/products/p...fm?prodID=1916
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2007...-recorder.html

Digital audio recordings
 

So there you have it, anything from a $50 unheard of Chinese brand to
a $2000 top of the line Marantz professional recorder.

If you Google around a bit there are literally hundreds of digital mp3
recorders new and used available, so you have to choose carefully
based on some important criteria you must develop.

In my case I chose the $400 Edirol R-09 becasue:
1.] it is about the only one I could find that had replaceable
batteries (AA's), whereas the bulk of them have rechargeables which
doesn't suit me at my Seefontein powerless DXpedition site.
2.] It is totally solid state with no moving parts at all, important
in the very dusty African environment.
3.] Excellent well lit display with lots of info in the poor light of
a DXpedition site. So many of the others have tiny unlit displays that
are difficult to read in poor light conditions.
4.] Lovely easy to use controls - many of the offerings have tiny
unuseable buttons.
5.] Outstanding PC interface - you just plug it into your PC USB port
and can drag and drop your audio files as you wish. A great advantage.
6.] Come standard with a nifty little mains power supply (110/220v
AC).

Of course the Edirol R-09 is a bit of an overkill for most as it will
do high CD quality recordings of musical concerts etc. in WAV, so it
is important that you set yourself some criteria and then google
around to see the vast number of reviews and products available.

John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D, GE SRIII, Redsun RP2100
BW XCR 30, Sangean 803A.
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro Mk II, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop, PAORDT Roelof mini-whip
http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

On Mar 21, 7:25*am, bm wrote:
On 20 Mar, 19:01, "Richard" wrote:

What are folks using these days to record audio? MiniDisc, DAT or
digital audio?

Any recommendations on digital audio recorders? That's what I'd go for I
think when I begin DXing again. I've no idea what products people are using.
Rich

iriver HDD recorders. Seehttp://www.kongsfjord.no/bm/iRiver%20HDD%20DAPs%20as%20DX%20Recorders...

I've had mine running 24/7 in recording or standby mode since October.
No problems.

BM

Digital audio recordings
 

On Mar 22, 10:50 am, wrote:
So there you have it, anything from a $50 unheard of Chinese brand to
a $2000 top of the line Marantz professional recorder.

If you Google around a bit there are literally hundreds of digital mp3
recorders new and used available, so you have to choose carefully
based on some important criteria you must develop.

In my case I chose the $400 Edirol R-09 becasue:
1.] it is about the only one I could find that had replaceable
batteries (AA's), whereas the bulk of them have rechargeables which
doesn't suit me at my Seefontein powerless DXpedition site.
2.] It is totally solid state with no moving parts at all, important
in the very dusty African environment.
3.] Excellent well lit display with lots of info in the poor light of
a DXpedition site. So many of the others have tiny unlit displays that
are difficult to read in poor light conditions.
4.] Lovely easy to use controls - many of the offerings have tiny
unuseable buttons.
5.] Outstanding PC interface - you just plug it into your PC USB port
and can drag and drop your audio files as you wish. A great advantage.
6.] Come standard with a nifty little mains power supply (110/220v
AC).

Of course the Edirol R-09 is a bit of an overkill for most as it will
do high CD quality recordings of musical concerts etc. in WAV, so it
is important that you set yourself some criteria and then google
around to see the vast number of reviews and products available.

John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D, GE SRIII, Redsun RP2100
BW XCR 30, Sangean 803A.
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro Mk II, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop, PAORDT Roelof mini-whiphttp://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

On Mar 21, 7:25 am, bm wrote:

On 20 Mar, 19:01, "Richard" wrote:

What are folks using these days to record audio? MiniDisc, DAT or
digital audio?

Any recommendations on digital audio recorders? That's what I'd go for I
think when I begin DXing again. I've no idea what products people are using.
Rich

iriver HDD recorders. Seehttp://www.kongsfjord.no/bm/iRiver%20HDD%20DAPs%20as%20DX%20Recorders...

I've had mine running 24/7 in recording or standby mode since October.
No problems.

BM

Zoom H2 does all that.