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Mp3 Portable Recorders


abennett

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Hi!

 

I am intending to buy a MP3 portable recorder to record the organ. The two I am thinking about are the Roland R-09HR and the Zoom ZOOMH4. They both look pretty good but I was wondering if anyone had any opinions about which I should get - or if I should think about any other recorder - it would be most useful. I want to be able to attach other microphones to it as well as having excellent built-in ones. How does the acoustic of the building play into my decision?

 

With every best wish,

 

Andy

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Hi!

 

I am intending to buy a MP3 portable recorder to record the organ. The two I am thinking about are the Roland R-09HR and the Zoom ZOOMH4. They both look pretty good but I was wondering if anyone had any opinions about which I should get - or if I should think about any other recorder - it would be most useful. I want to be able to attach other microphones to it as well as having excellent built-in ones. How does the acoustic of the building play into my decision?

 

With every best wish,

 

Andy

 

Try these threads:

http://www.mander-organs.com/discussion/in...ic=2063&hl=

http://www.mander-organs.com/discussion/in...c=1796&st=0

 

I am very happy withy my Edirol R-09, but it's probably less good than the Zoom if you want to use external microphones. The built-in microphones on the Edirol are very good, but I find they can be a bit bass-heavy with organ pedals, depending on how carefully I place the machine.

 

Stephen Barber

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Try these threads:

http://www.mander-organs.com/discussion/in...ic=2063&hl=

http://www.mander-organs.com/discussion/in...c=1796&st=0

 

I am very happy withy my Edirol R-09, but it's probably less good than the Zoom if you want to use external microphones. The built-in microphones on the Edirol are very good, but I find they can be a bit bass-heavy with organ pedals, depending on how carefully I place the machine.

 

Stephen Barber

 

I have the R09 and am very happy with the results, though agree with Stephen that the built-in mics are a bit bass heavy. All I can say about acoustics is that you need to get to know the building that you are recording in. Take time to walk around the place while the organ - or whatever - is being used, and find the best place, which quite often can be in the most bizzare spot!

 

Never record in MP3 format, as that is always a compromise. Record in the highest quality wav format and use the best mic that you can possibly afford.

 

Peter

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I have the R09 and am very happy with the results, though agree with Stephen that the built-in mics are a bit bass heavy. All I can say about acoustics is that you need to get to know the building that you are recording in. Take time to walk around the place while the organ - or whatever - is being used, and find the best place, which quite often can be in the most bizzare spot!

 

Never record in MP3 format, as that is always a compromise. Record in the highest quality wav format and use the best mic that you can possibly afford.

 

Peter

 

If I wanted to buy mics for my R-09, what would I have to spend to make a worthwhile improvement and what should I buy?

 

Stephen Barber

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If I wanted to buy mics for my R-09, what would I have to spend to make a worthwhile improvement and what should I buy?

 

Stephen Barber

 

I use an Audio Technica AT825 stereo microphone, which I managed to get from Ebay for a fraction of the proper price (roughly £250). Spend as much as you possibly can afford, and check the frequency range. The Sony range of microphones, for example largely start from 100hz, so are very good for choirs, but not alot of use for organs.

 

Peter

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I have to say that, as yet, I am unimpressed with the audio quality of MP3 recorders generally. I have yet to hear one which is as good as a decent Sony Minidisc recorder.

 

Hi

 

And Minidisc (which I use regularly) isn't as good as an uncompressed WAV file or direct to CD recording - although you'd have to do an A-B comparison on good speakers to really hear the differences.

 

I would NEVER record in mp3 format unless I knew for 100% certain that I would only ever need an mp3 version of the recording. Record in the highest quality that you can, and reduce it later if you need to.

 

Every Blessing

 

Tony

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If I wanted to buy mics for my R-09, what would I have to spend to make a worthwhile improvement and what should I buy?

 

I've recommended this mic before on here: Rode NT4

 

Many colleagues in school music departments got very good results with this mic combined with either the Edirol or the Zoom. Not cheap: £250 to £300.

 

DT

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As stated before in previous posts somewhere, I am a great supporter of the Zoom H2, I have used it in Liverpool cathedral and the little parish church down the road, and with very good results, record at 44.1 and you get 3 hrs 14 mins on a 2 gig card,even 3 cathedral organists were very impressed, and thats a hard thing to do :P

peter

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Hi

 

And Minidisc (which I use regularly) isn't as good as an uncompressed WAV file or direct to CD recording ...

 

I would NEVER record in mp3 format unless I knew for 100% certain that I would only ever need an mp3 version of the recording.

 

Tony, have you tried the latest generation Sony Minidisc (MZRH1) that records in uncompressed WAV format? You can set manual control of input volume as the switch on option, too. Altogether a more user friendly version than any of the earlier incarnations, and a couple of online reviews rate its recording quality (uncompressed) higher than the current generation of solid state portable recorders.

 

Just a shame it took them so long to release a model with most of what I want. The most notable drawback for me is that drag and drop file transfer is still not possible.

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Tony, have you tried the latest generation Sony Minidisc (MZRH1) that records in uncompressed WAV format? You can set manual control of input volume as the switch on option, too. Altogether a more user friendly version than any of the earlier incarnations, and a couple of online reviews rate its recording quality (uncompressed) higher than the current generation of solid state portable recorders.

 

Just a shame it took them so long to release a model with most of what I want. The most notable drawback for me is that drag and drop file transfer is still not possible.

 

Hi

 

No - I have no reason to replace my MD at present - and most serious recording that I do these days is direct to hard drive on my laptop. When I need a new portable, I will probably go for one of the solid-state jobs - hopefully by then they will support higher bit rates.

 

Every Blessing

 

Tony

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My brother-in-law has just purchased one of these, an Olympus portable recording device which he considers superior to both the Edirol and the Zoom.

He's not a musician, but a recording fanatic who owns professional equipment running to several thousands of pounds. He particularly rates this device for it's lack of compression and extremely low noise-floor levels.

 

DT

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