Portable Digital Recorders?

[Russty]

For many years the Marantz PMD201 and the Sony TCD5 were the "Gold Standard" in Analog Audio Cassette Recording, used by field reporters and film sound technicians all throughout the industry. Is there a new standard in portable Digital recording? I know that some people had switched over to DAT. But DAT was expensive and still linear. Other people use MiniDisc, which is good, but also has certain limitations. Still others seem to use wav/mp3 recorders.

The real question is, what are people using in the real world field recording situations? What Kind of experiences have you/they had with said devices? What features do you like about the recorders? What are the drawbacks? Also, are there any features that seem to be missing that you would like to see on Portable Digital Recorders?

Its one thing to read online reviews of products, but its another to hear about real world experience from people. New recorders are a big investment.

 

[Les]

> The real question is, what are people using in the real
> world field recording situations? What Kind of experiences
> have you/they had with said devices?

Station I work with is shifting over to Marantz digital recorders,
various models, still experimenting to see which they like best
in relation to the various things for which they use them.
So far, all have exceeded expectations but the PMD-660 seems
to be the best balance of capability/price.

Stuff that's difficult: Cold weather battery life is not good.
Displays get wonky in extreme cold. They're dealing with this
by making quilted little baggies for them with pockets to hold
chemical hand-warmers. So far they're not using rechargeable
batteries because cold-weather performance favors decent quality
alkalines. Plus they often go where there is no AC for recharging,
so carrying a bunch of alaklines is essential.

If you're going far afield (as to cover some story of local
importance but some distance away), consider a backup. Under
those circumstances you (or your reporter) may already be
carrying one! I recently bought an adapter that plugs into
the common dynamic microphone used by newsies. It has a USB
connector on the other end. If your newsie is carrying a
laptop it may already be equipped with a simple recorder/editor
as part of the software package. Or you can get freebie
downloads of programs like "Audacity". In addition, a free
download of "LAME" will allow you to export files as .mp3,
ready to ship via e-mail back to the station. It's far
easier, too, to do editing on the laptop even if the original
recording were made on the digital recorder and then transferred
to the laptop editor. All I have talked with have found the
editing capabilities built into digital recorders to be somewhat
arcane and far less than user friendly.
<P ID="signature">______________
Be on they guard against the good and the just! They would curcify those who devise their own virtue.
--Friedrich Nietzsche</P>

 

[BrokeEngineer]

Sony, Sony, Sony

Here is what I tell my airstaff and the news dept. to invest in. http://www.minidisco.com/mzb-100.html
We have been running a mini-disk standard for some time and this really is one of the best units out there. Very rugged, sturdy and user friendly. It has a built in mic AND a mic input so you can use the whatever your favorite mic is plus I make them cables so they can plug into whatever the source audio is coming from at news conferences or whatnot. This particular unit also has onboard stereo speakers, not a great sound but good enough so they can edit without having to use cans. Sony makes a similar unit and slightly less the MZB-10. We have some talent that are, shall we say, technology challenged and they pick up on these very quickly.

 

[gtomas]

> The real question is, what are people using in the real
> world field recording situations? What Kind of experiences
> have you/they had with said devices? What features do you
> like about the recorders? What are the drawbacks? Also,
> are there any features that seem to be missing that you
> would like to see on Portable Digital Recorders?

You really want to stay away from any devices that have mechanical moving parts! Sooner or later these will either break or wore out and then it's PITA to keep them running... Not to mention their susceptibility to damage by dropping, shaking, etc.

IMHO, the future of field recording is in solid-state digital devices which are by design more robust and more adept to the way we edit and playback audio today. Most of these devices connect to PC easily via USB and you can transfer the audio and start editing in a very short time.

Look at the Marantz PMD-670 and PMD-660, Mayah Flashman, Nagra Ares series, AEQ DR-100, Edirol R-1...

 

[gtomas]

> The real question is, what are people using in the real
> world field recording situations? What Kind of experiences
> have you/they had with said devices? What features do you
> like about the recorders? What are the drawbacks? Also,
> are there any features that seem to be missing that you
> would like to see on Portable Digital Recorders?

You really want to stay away from any devices that have mechanical moving parts! Sooner or later these will either break or wore out and then it's PITA to keep them running... Not to mention their susceptibility to damage by dropping, shaking, etc.

IMHO, the future of field recording is in solid-state digital devices which are by design more robust and more adept to the way we edit and playback audio today. Most of these devices connect to PC easily via USB and you can transfer the audio and start editing in a very short time.

Look at the Marantz PMD-670 and PMD-660, Mayah Flashman, Nagra Ares series, AEQ DR-100, Edirol R-1...


Regards,
Goran Tomas

 

[dayone]

I have had great success with the iRiver 899: http://www.iriveramerica.com/prod/ultra/800/ifp_899.aspx

Features:
Plays MP3, WMA & OGG files
• 1GB Internal Storage
• Plays up to 34 hours of audio
• Skip-free
• Record music from any audio source (no PC required)
• FM Tuner & Recorder
• Voice Recorder
• Store or transfer any file type
• Up to 40 hours of battery life

Can be used with your Conex Flip Jack as an air monitor, use it to tape FM, you can record with an external mic or a built-in mic. The unit weighs only 40g.