Hi Will,
just came across your question. Here is what I posted in an earlier thread on equipment for recording:
"I used to record with Sony MD, now I use the iRiver iFP 590 MP3 recorder/player. Advantages:
- output is mp3 format (I do some equalizing afterwards with Nero wave editor)
- recording volume level can be adjusted at all times
- you can choose bitrate: with 320 kbps about 1h45m, lower bitrates much longer (still sounds good)
- no hassle with headphone output, just plug in USB cable and transfer file to computer hard disk ==> no loss of quality! (this always bothered me with MD)
- you can make separate directories on MP3 player (I play in different bands and also put original versions of songs on it that we can listen to on the PA if we need to during rehearsal), this keeps everything organized
- very easy navigation through menus, you can find files very quickly
- size of a matchbox and very sturdy
- very long (internal rechargeable) battery life, about 25 hours!
- if you want to take it along on a leisure trip you can put about 16 hours of music on it in very reasonable quality
- repeat A->B function for listening to a certain fragment repeatedly (also handy when studying difficult bass parts)
and I could go on and on, I love this little monster. I use a dirt cheap "clip-on" microphone (no battery) and even then it sounds great, bass and drums sound really good. Usually I have to cut the low frequencies afterwards, and mic is nearest to the keyboard player when recording."
Last Saturday I recorded a live performance of my band in a small venue. I first recorded our sound check, listened back to determine the best recording level, and then let it run during the gig. At 128 kbps the quality is still very good.
If you decide to start using a mp3 recorder please share your experiences on this forum.
Grtz, steven
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