Re: [LAU] Portable Digital Recorders

Hallo Kevin,

as I have just bought myself a mobile recorder, maybe some of my research
is of use to you as well. This is a very good introduction for potential
buyers of mobile recorders:
http://www.theatreofnoise.com/2009/11/summary-of-portable-digital-audio.html
http://www.theatreofnoise.com/2009/11/which-portable-digital-audio-recorder.html

It lists the popular devices like this (ASCII on)

POCKET DIMENSIONS VOL MASS PRICE XLR MIC EIN
------------------- -------------- ---- ---- ----- --- --- ---
Sony MZ-RH1 85 x 84 x 15 107 106 $ 350 - - 124
Olympus LS-10 132 x 48 x 22 139 165 $ 300 - + 122
Olympus LS-11 132 x 48 x 22 139 165 $ 400 - + 122
Sony PCM-M10 114 x 64 x 22 161 187 $ 300 - + 122
Marantz PMD620 102 x 62 x 25 164 170 $ 400 - - 112
M-Audio MicroTrack II 109 x 63 x 28 174 192 $ 200 - - 106
Korg MR-1 120 x 64 x 24 184 200 $ 500 - - 117
Edirol R-09HR 113 x 62 x 27 186 166 $ 300 - + 118

HAND DIMENSIONS VOL MASS PRICE XLR MIC EIN
------------------- -------------- ---- ---- ----- --- --- ---
Tascam DR-07 151 x 81 x 35 212 130 $ 170 - + 113
Samson Zoom H2 109 x 64 x 33 230 172 $ 190 - + 99
Tascam DR-1 135 x 70 x 27 256 208 $ 250 - + 115
Sony PCM-D50 154 x 72 x 33 365 366 $ 450 - + 126
Samson Zoom H4 153 x 70 x 35 375 190 $ 300 + + 114
Samson Zoom H4n 156 x 70 x 35 382 280 $ 300 + + ?
Tascam DR-100 151 x 81 x 35 428 290 $ 380 + + 113

SHOULDER DIMENSIONS VOL MASS PRICE XLR MIC EIN
------------------- -------------- ---- ---- ----- --- --- ---
Marantz PMD661 165 x 93 x 36 552 410 $ 600 + + 125
Marantz PMD660 184 x 113 x 47 977 700 $ 550 + + 120
Sound Devices 702 209 x 125 x 45 1176 1000 $1900 + - 130
Fostex FR-2LE 206 x 132 x 57 1550 907 $ 600 + - 129
Marantz PMD671 264 x 185 x 55 2686 1300 $1000 + - 125
Tascam HD-P2 260 x 200 x 63 3276 900 $ 700 + - 127

Another good comparision is at wingfieldaudio.com:
http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/portable-recorder-reviews.html
They also check battery life, which is where the Zooms seem to suck big time.
http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/portable-recorder-battery-life.html

A device not in these lists is the new Yamaha W24.

All of these devices will work with Linux, as they are USB-storage devices. If
you really need 4 channel recording, you don't have much choice: Zoom H4 or
Tascam DR-100 or bankruptcy. :)

Personally I chose the Sony PCM M10 in the end although I'm usually a SEGA guy.

Alternate choices for me have been the Yamaha W24 and both Olympus devices. The
Sony has very good battery life, little noise, nice mics, small size and weight
and okay prize. I like portable recorders to actually be portable without power
cords. I usually don't record 4 channels on the go. For Ambisonics that would
be necessary, though.

In situations where I'd want to use better microphones with XLR and more
channels than 2, I probably also wouldn't care about battery life or weight so
much and then I could just take my small laptop with a good USB card with me.

Of course that was just my reasoning when doing the choice. YMMV.

Ciao

-- 
Frank
Kevin Cosgrove hat gesagt: // Kevin Cosgrove wrote:
> I'm interested in getting a portable digital recorder, something
> that can run on batteries or ac power (presumably through a
> wall-wart?), that has built-in stereo mics, and something which
> will take 2-4 line external inputs.  I've seen a lot of such
> things come on the market in recent years.  Many have SD or SDHC
> cards for their audio memory, which is fine with me as I have
> an SDHC card reader in my computer.  If I get one with a USB
> interface it's my _requirement_ that it operate with Linux over
> USB.  The same would go for firewire, though I haven't seen any
> of those.  Some units record only in lossy compressed format
> only, while others have uncompressed formats available.  I would
> prefer the uncompressed format to be available.  I'd also need
> at _least_ 4 hours of stereo 44.1kHz at at least 16-bit, with
> something like 24-bit being more desired by me.
> 
> I'll be doing remote recordings, then bringing the audio home to
> chop up with Audacity and/or Ardour, then authoring the result to
> CDs.
> 
> So, what works well with Linux and works well in general?
> 
> Thanks people!
> 
> --
> Kevin
> 
> 
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