• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass Small Affordable Recorder

#141
As for batteries, why not just plug the sucker in when you're recording? With my Nomad Jukebox (which has a laptop / cellphone style battery) I've recorded dozens of gigs and I've always plugged in to the AC -- if it's part of your normal setup process it doesn't take any extra time, really.

I'm tellin' ya: one of these little recorders is one of the best things you can do for yourself (after getting a teacher.)
 
#142
Invalid Link Removed a relatively new R-09 cut from which I learned much about my own thumb position intonation ****age and tendencies toward excessive tonal sharpitude when the piano player lays out. This thing is the best teacher I can even imagine right now.

About the battery thing: I could easily plug in while recording, but I like the portability of the unit with batteries...it just seems simpler that way. I may try messing around with the whole rechargable thing at some point. If so, I'll report in here.
 
#143
Yea. I've been listening to myself wondering why people hire me.:rollno:

Just goes to show you that you don't have to have talent to get the gig, just reliable transportation and a battery of good stolen jokes.
 
#144
I use rechargeable batteries in mine and recharge with an external recharger. I have recorded over 6 hours on one charge. I don't know how long I can go before it would go dead.

I record in160kpbs mp3 format. I wonder if recording using higher data rates would require more DSP power and drain the batteries quicker?
 
#146
I got an R-09 last week, seachange from the minidisk; don’t know why I waited so long.

I was wondering what others are using for editing the recordings?

I’ve been using Sound Forge then running it through T-Rex.

But the best recordings I’ve gotten are the ones from my noisy gigs. Does anyone know of a way to minimize crowd noises other than trying to EQ it down?
 
#147
Marcus Johnson said:
...might take some of the fun out of whippin' it out at a gig...
Click to expand...

I think you probably meant to post that on the EBG side. We don't tend to do things like that in jazz and classical circles. But, hey, it's all good.

I just had to record myself (MD) playing a bunch of scales, arpeggios and a few tunes for an audition of sorts. I had the same feeling as UT. "Why do people hire me? What ever made me think I could play?"

When I bought the MD, I meant to record every note I played for a year, all my lessons, gigs, practice, etc and listen and critique, but a) that's painful and b) the MD was a little more work that I bargined for. SInce I decided not to quit, I'll start over with the ease of a flash recorder.

Troy
 
#150
In public?.... man, I was counting on about two or three more decades of getting hired! :smug:

I just remembered that I was planning on checking out small recorders in Japan.... They have some incredible electronics stores over there. Probably a good thing that I brought the income home instead. My wife is much happier for it.
 
#152
I've got Audacity on my laptop but a bad inbuilt mic. Are there any USB connectable mics or recording interfaces (DI) which reproduce a reasonable quality (little or no distortiion), on the cheap?

Otherwise the Olympus WS-310M Digital Voice Recorder and Music Player, mentioned earlier looks very good.
 
#153
If you've got a decent laptop (good processor, memory and hard drive) then you've got the makings of a portable multi-track studio.

There are a great number of external, portable USB-based sound "cards" these days. They're not really "cards", they're little boxes that connect to the computer, but they do everything (and more!) that your internal sound card (or the sound circuitry on your motherboard) does. I use the M-Audio Audiophile USB on my home PC, and I have zero issues with it. It works, it's practical and it's affordable.

There are higher-end USB microphones, too (I think M-Audio makes one) but I have no idea about quality. When it comes to mics, you have to think about such things as power and pre-amps. Depending on your mic choice, you may need to take extra gear along in addition to the laptop, the sound box and the mic.

I would very much like to set up a portable, laptop-based rig, but not to replace my little recorder I use to capture live performances (for that, I think you really want to be as close as possible to "hit record, start recording, that's it." Rather, I'd like the laptop system for multi-[track projects. To be able to go to a musician's home or studio or anywhere to get their contribution to a project would be way cool. Right now they have to come to me and that's a bottleneck I wouldn't have to live with if I set up the laptop system. That's for next year, when I can do another computer loan with my employer!
 
#154
Mark Perry said:
I've got Audacity on my laptop but a bad inbuilt mic. Are there any USB connectable mics or recording interfaces (DI) which reproduce a reasonable quality (little or no distortion), on the cheap?
Click to expand...

Tons of them. Edirol has a nice range of interface boxes, the cheapest of which (Edirol UA-4FX USB Audio Capture Interface) has two mic inputs as well as line inputs and outputs for $149. I use an ealier version.

Blue has a USB microphone for $99. And if all you need is stereo line inputs, there are interfaces as cheap as $30 from Behringer and others.
 
#155
Looks like the bar has been raised and the price lowered: Shazam!.

One of the students at the U has an H4, and we did a shootout with it and the R-09. We both agreed that the R-09 sounded better, but a lot of that could have been that it's a lot easier to adjust the recording levels on the Edirol than on the H4. The H2 looks like it may have addressed that in addition to adding an extra mic in the middle. And it serves as an audio interface to boot. Looking forward to reviews of this when it actually ships!
 
#156
I was ready to buy the Erirol, but the money was hurting me. So, I've pre-ordered the Zoom H2 from Sweetwater. It's not like me to be an early adopter, but at 1/2 the price of the Edirol, it eased the pain a lot. I didn't like the looks of the H4 and consensus was the it wasn't quite what the Erirol was, but the H2 looks better and the specs are good. If it's sonically close, I'll be glad for the savings. I'm guessing the $199 is a pre-order price, so I wanted to jump rather than wait. Hopefully it will come out when it's supposed to and not disappoint.

I'll be everyone's guina pig. I guess this means I'll have to upload some playing, though. Yikes. That in itself is enough to send me into hiding.

Troy
 
#159
I actaully went and bought the olympus recorder, had it since Friday. It works really well, both my basses sound really clean, just as they do live, altough theres a lot of background noise, i supose changing the sensitivity might improve this a bit (two settings: conference and dictation), not too big a problem though.
 
#160
So...my personal service manager from Sweetwater called today to confirm my order and make sure that I knew it was a pre-order. (what a neat company!)

He said they thought mid-August and said all kinds of good things about Zoom and excitement around the product.

However, as we talked about it more, he said Zoom was out and it was not really positioned as an upgrade to the H4. The H4 would still be offered and even though the H2 had some new features, they saved money on things like mic quality and he thought that it would be a $200 product, not an introductory price.

We talked a little about the R-09 and he said that in terms of sonic quality, he thought the R-09 was a step ahead of the H4 and Zoom led him to believe that the H4 would stay a step head of the H2. But the H2 was a good device for a specific purpose.

Nice guy, I don't think he was trying to upsell me. When he said that Zoom had been out to talk to them about it that I started pumping him for info.

But, now I'm back on the fence.

****EDIT****

O.K., so I'm back off of the fence. I'm sticking to the H2 plan. Their site looks like this is intended to be a high quality unit and if the mics turn out to be an issue then there is an external mic jack and I have a decent stereo mic that I used with my MD. I need to stick to the budget on this one.

-tk
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back