HI guys. I'm new to the forums, but have been very impressed by the thoughtful discussions I've seen here.
I have a problem which I'm hoping someone can help me out with.
I'm looking for a recorder with really good internal mics, low noise and is quick to boot up. Budget isn't an issue, but something with a nice sound and good stereo image is a must.
I should explain that I'm totally blind which will become more relevant down the post, so I've very sensitive ears and really hate the sound of hiss
I've laid out a number of recorders and options and the issues I have with them below, this might give people an idea before responding. I should say I've done a lot of research into this and so far, zip.
So:
Zoom h4n: Have this, love the sound it produces. Hiss noise is a bit nasty, but you don't notice it outside for the most part. Main issue with this is boot up time, horribly horribly slow. Have been told could increase cluster size on memory card, may fix but not tried yet. In any case, one of the mics on mine is now intermittent and I can't quite justify buying another one when it is so slow.
ls-100: have this also, love the noise flaw, not so fond of the internal mics, I like something that captures ambience as well as what it's pointed at and the ls is quite directional. Also, really dislike the non-locking input knob, but can get around this issue I guess.
A device with an external mic: Not bad as an idea, but usually a lot bigger and has cables trailing, plus, haven't found a decent stereo mic I like. Bp4025 has a hole in the image, AT822 or 825 are ok but not great off axis and nasty bass peeks, nt4 quite dull sounding, senheiser pairs are getting a little ridiculous, £1800 for mics seems a bit farfetched to me.
As an FYI on this point, I'm happy with the ls as the recorder for an external mic. I'm trying the pearl msc2 mic so we'll see what that's like.
zoom h1 and h2n: had both, quite cheap, nice little recorders in their own right, but dislike the sound. mics are too small and tinny.
zoom h6: did a full length review of this if anyone's interested with samples, Not overly fond of the ZY internals on here, MS and XY are both very hissy, unit is very big and don't need all the features. Plus, very easily moveable knobs.
tascam recorders with internals: All the ones I've heard have tiny internal mics with really poor imaging, happy to take another point of view on these but not heard good things about them.
Small Nagra SD recorders with internal mics: This is the one I was most surprised at, the amount of background hiss on these things even with the low noise modular stereo mic is astounding. I really resent the ~~~~£1000 price tag for such a horribly bad quality product. NO offence to anyone who may have one of these, but the mic hiss is out of this world.
Roland r-26: Very curious about this recorder, not heard it or tried it. The only major issue with this one I can see is that it needs a touch screen which for me as a blind person is going to be very difficult to use. I am curious to know if you can set it all up and then just use the stop, record, play and skip buttons like you would another recorder, also whether you can trigger the screen by accident or whether you have to hit a menu key first. If the latter, it might be an option as I've heard good things about it./ Then again, I wonder how you transfer files to the computer with it? do you have to use the touch screen?
Sonys with internal mics: Not used any of these, however, have heard stereo imaging is bad, plus, very difficult to control wind buffeting and no easy way to fit a rycote on them. Also not a fan of Sony stuff in general, tends to break, but happy to take another viewpoint on these recorders.
Marants: I hate the noise flaw on these, plus, they're so big. Quite useful as broadcast kit I guess but personally I don't like all the background hiss and size.
So, there we go. a very long rundown of all the stuff I've researched, apologies for anyone that read all of that.
My options right now as I see them are, get a stereo external mic that I like and use with the ls100,or, buy a new h4n and just accept the horrible boot time, or, try an r-26 with the proviso that I won't be able to use a lot of it and may mess a setting up without meaning to.
I should say if it's not already clear, that the reason I want good internals is to have a very small form factor without all the cables. I like the idea of pulling a device out that already has a wind jammer on it, unruffling the wind jammer a bit and then hitting power on and record.
Any suggestions or thoughts to this post welcome.
Many thanks.
Ed.