Author Topic: New Stealthable Recorder? (Read 12784 times)

BayTaynt3d · « **on:** December 14, 2006, 04:51:21 PM »

Saw this today:
http://reviews.digitaltrends.com/firstlook110.html

After reviewing the spec sheet, it implies it can do line-in WAV, but who knows if it really can, how good the A/D is, whether it has any gain available, etc.

beefstew · « **Reply #1 on:** December 14, 2006, 04:59:26 PM »

sweet! it plays flacs

Alchemy · « **Reply #2 on:** December 14, 2006, 11:40:38 PM »

15gb isn't bad for a device that small

rowjimmy · « **Reply #3 on:** December 15, 2006, 11:50:28 AM »

B&H has the 15gb for $259
12GB $199
8GB $169

BayTaynt3d · « **Reply #4 on:** December 15, 2006, 01:26:25 PM »

You've got to wonder about it's meters, a/d, etc. Someone's got to test drive one of these puppies and get the line-in scoop. I'm still a little suspicious about WAV recording on line-in because: (1) these devices never seem to have that functionality, and (2) I've never seen one that's listed as recording to WAV but NOT to MP3? But. who knows?

mandoman · « **Reply #5 on:** December 15, 2006, 04:29:59 PM »

Sexy! Flac support and line-in wav recording, sign me up!
Wonder if you can record off of FM when you add the FM tuner card accessory
and if the FM card gets decent reception?

Been looking for something like a rockboxed iriver h120 for FM festival recordings, but am leary
of buying a used unit off of ebay... This could fit the bill if the a/d, interface, and software
are up-to-snuf.

Mandoman

Alchemy · « **Reply #6 on:** December 15, 2006, 07:26:08 PM »

Well, according to that article, it claims to support line in but I'm wondering about the bit depth. Usually its pretty low on these recorders. Mono?

flintstone · « **Reply #7 on:** December 16, 2006, 11:35:29 AM »

The manual is online. It says on page 61 there are three levels of quality for line-in recording. Assuming this machine records in WAV format only, "Small file size" sounds like 16/8. "Medium quality" is monaural WAV, probably 16/22, good enough for the spoken word. "High quality"is stereo 16/48.

Flintstone

inoutoffocus · « **Reply #8 on:** December 16, 2006, 08:12:10 PM »

that thing looks like a remote for a tv.

wrath64 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 17, 2006, 01:20:17 AM »

Quote from: flintstone on December 16, 2006, 11:35:29 AM

The manual is online. It says on page 61 there are three levels of quality for line-in recording. Assuming this machine records in WAV format only, "Small file size" sounds like 16/8. "Medium quality" is monaural WAV, probably 16/22, good enough for the spoken word. "High quality"is stereo 16/48.

Flintstone

Is that good?

guysonic · « **Reply #10 on:** December 17, 2006, 01:41:00 AM »

This is the first "MP3 player" device that really looks like it's worth using for live good quality audio recording with miniature external audio preamplifier line input mode because:

1. it is very, very small size, low costing device

2. it has DAT 'good quality' equivalent wav recording with 90 dB S/N specification

3. at least 4 hours recording ability off internal battery,

4. easy extended external USB port powering/charging

5. internal storage of at least 8 GIG hard drive

6. easily replaceable internal battery

7. manual REC level adjustment while recording

For quick and easy recording from high quality stereo microphone using external miniature preamplifier consider these dimensions:

Trekstor Vibez: 1.9" x 4.1" x 0.7"
PA-3SX mic pre: 1.9" x 2.7" x 0.75"

Total 'pocket-size' of Trekstor Vibez + Sonic Studios PA-3SX preamp: 1.9" x 4.1" x 1.5"

So I'm thinking this is a recording deck configuration that fits in a shirt pocket, and very worth considering for very good to excellent quality recording of just about anything in any situation with headworn (DSM or similar) type stereo microphone.

tfs8271 · « **Reply #11 on:** December 17, 2006, 10:25:36 AM »

Quote from: beefstew on December 14, 2006, 04:59:26 PM

sweet! it plays flacs

Sweet.

jerryfreak · « **Reply #12 on:** January 11, 2007, 10:00:26 PM »

btw , the trekstor is the next generation of the rio technology

rio went out of business and sold their technology to sigmatel, who licenses the 'dap on a chip' out to oems.

This is the evolution of the firmware that was in teh karma, theyve been developing this since the late 90's.

(until now) the Karma was still the top audiophile dap on the market, even tho it was released in 02.

the only player that does flac, ogg, and mp3 gaplessly all teh timne, advanced crossfading, killer GUI, and audiophiel sound quality.

This is worth it as a player alone, the fact that it does audio in would make it a killer backup>listen to it on the way to the next show.

I was gonna get one of these, So i'll report with the input quality.

jerryfreak · « **Reply #13 on:** January 11, 2007, 10:06:27 PM »

fyi, heres the forum if you have questions about the vibez.

there are developers that hang out there

http://www.riovolution.org/forum/3;?unb391sess=d29005ee9d330ff7aeb5011f9b86a9ce

Rennat · « **Reply #14 on:** February 01, 2007, 11:28:12 PM »

Wow-this is exactly what im looking for. Anyone try it out yet?

mmadd29 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 02, 2007, 10:42:11 AM »

A 12GB unit is on ebay as we speak:

http://cgi.ebay.com/TrekStor-Vibez-12GB-Ultra-Cool-MP3-Player-New-in-Box_W0QQitemZ290077563201QQihZ019QQcategoryZ73839QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

beefstew · « **Reply #16 on:** February 02, 2007, 08:10:30 PM »

not too expensive taboot

Teen Wolf Blitzer · « **Reply #17 on:** February 04, 2007, 03:04:03 PM »

Nice. I was gonna get a Karma real soon. Hmmm. Smaller HD but not that big a deal to me. 12 GB of flac16 is a lot.

Krispy D · « **Reply #18 on:** February 04, 2007, 03:39:31 PM »

any idea of the system requirements on this. so few COOL mp3 players are mac friendly...

Rennat · « **Reply #19 on:** February 04, 2007, 10:53:49 PM »

the trekstor website says its mac compatible. i think im gonna get one this week.

sebbydee · « **Reply #20 on:** February 07, 2007, 01:59:47 PM »

Did someone try this one ? i'm thinking of either buying one or an used iriver120 ?
very curious to hear what ppl think of this unit.

George · « **Reply #21 on:** February 08, 2007, 08:36:56 AM »

Quote from: jerryfreak on January 11, 2007, 10:00:26 PM

btw , the trekstor is the next generation of the rio technology

rio went out of business and sold their technology to sigmatel, who licenses the 'dap on a chip' out to oems.

This is the evolution of the firmware that was in teh karma, theyve been developing this since the late 90's.

(until now) the Karma was still the top audiophile dap on the market, even tho it was released in 02.

the only player that does flac, ogg, and mp3 gaplessly all teh timne, advanced crossfading, killer GUI, and audiophiel sound quality.

This is worth it as a player alone, the fact that it does audio in would make it a killer backup>listen to it on the way to the next show.

I was gonna get one of these, So i'll report with the input quality.

Yep, I was gonna mention the karma too since I own one and love it. It's a wonderful sounding player and hopefully the vibez will be close if not equal to the karma's sound quality. If the line in recording proves beneficial for us tapers...I'm sold!

EDIT: video review courtesy of dapreview: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1330791372072230176&q=trekstor+vibez

Arni99 · « **Reply #22 on:** February 10, 2007, 04:47:56 AM »

You can´t adjust input level when recording through line-in as the vibes expects perfect set input levels when recording from a connected device.
Hope you all know that

. We already discussed the trekstor vibez in our German mp3 forum =>
http://www.mp3-player-forum.de/forum/viewtopic.php?t=443

cody · « **Reply #23 on:** February 15, 2007, 12:10:23 PM »

Hi,

Long time lurker, first time caller...

I'm interested in the vibez primarily for recording band rehearsals. In the dapreview link above, can anybody tell me why the unit seems to be stuck on that hourglass icon for awhile after the reviewer tries recording a new mic file? It even looks like they skip ahead and the hourglass is still doing it's thing and it doesn't actually seem to go off until he turns the unit off and takes out the battery.

cody

dallman · « **Reply #24 on:** February 16, 2007, 05:48:58 PM »

Quote from: Arni99 on February 10, 2007, 04:47:56 AM

You can´t adjust input level when recording through line-in as the vibes expects perfect set input levels when recording from a connected device.
Hope you all know that . We already discussed the trekstor vibez in our German mp3 forum =>
http://www.mp3-player-forum.de/forum/viewtopic.php?t=443

You can adjust the line in from -11db to +11db.

sebbydee · « **Reply #25 on:** February 17, 2007, 05:25:41 PM »

You can adjust the line in from -11db to +11db.

>>> did someone try this for stealth purpose and has a sample to provide ? really curious about it !!

dallman · « **Reply #26 on:** February 18, 2007, 09:35:43 PM »

Quote from: sebbydee on February 17, 2007, 05:25:41 PM

You can adjust the line in from -11db to +11db.

>>> did someone try this for stealth purpose and has a sample to provide ? really curious about it !!

Unfortunately I had time to charge it up and press a few buttons, but no tests. Now I am traveling and will not get a chance for at least 2 more weeks.

nihilistic0 · « **Reply #27 on:** February 21, 2007, 10:54:07 AM »

Hell, 8GB is plenty of space for 16/48

If this is at least comparable to a JB3 as far as sound quality goes, I think I'd be interested

sebbydee · « **Reply #28 on:** February 21, 2007, 12:28:45 PM »

Quote from: nihilistic0 on February 21, 2007, 10:54:07 AM

Hell, 8GB is plenty of space for 16/48

If this is at least comparable to a JB3 as far as sound quality goes, I think I'd be interested

i'd be interested too depending on preamp's and A/D...

Len Moskowitz (Core Sound) · « **Reply #29 on:** March 01, 2007, 08:34:36 PM »

It doesn't have any mic pre-amps, no digital I/O, and its fixed storage.

By the time you add a decent mic pre-amp, it costs more than the competition with an 8 GB Compact Flash or SD card.

And it's not a 24-bit device. Good enough for most but IMO not worth the bucks they're asking for it.

Looks nice though.

Len Moskowitz
Core Sound
www.core-sound.com

cody · « **Reply #30 on:** March 16, 2007, 10:43:41 AM »

Got my vibez a few weeks ago, few notes:

no, you can not adjust the line-in record level from -11 to 11, that's the mic level.

also quickly found out that record settings for both mic and line in are simply "low, medium, high" at 16k/mono/wav-ima-adpcm, 16K/mono/wav-pcm, 44.1k/stereo/wav-pcm... a little different than the sample rates of 8-48k listed on the trekstor website. I emailed to ask about this or see what I was doing wrong. They replied:

"Dear Cody,

thank you for requesting information from your TrekStor Service Team.

We are aware of the problem with the sample rate but the software of the vibez isn´t able to support the sample rate of 48 Khz yet.

We are working on that problem and trying to solve it with a new firmware.

We know that you as customer have the choice and we thank you for having decided for TrekStor.

Kind regards,

Horst Jackemann
TrekStor Service Team"

cody

dallman · « **Reply #31 on:** March 26, 2007, 02:07:19 PM »

I got a chance to finally get out and test this thing on Friday. I recorded a great local band here in MN, The Transfusers http://www.transfusers.com/.

Aside from having my main rig, I set up the Trek Stor Vibez as follows: Church Audio Mics>SP-SPSB-1(Battery Box)>Vibez. Since it was a wide open affair, I also used external power, so I cannot comment on battery time.

My observations:
I used the voice option and recorded at -2db. I liked the meters they were pretty easy to read, and seemed to let me know when I was going to clip. The recording has no audible distortion even if I clipped here and there.
I could not get a signal using line in. Not sure why and was not comfortable enough to delve into it on the spot without the manual.
I used the "Lock Buttons" feature, as it seemed pretty easy to hit a button by mistake. There is a firmware glitch in that that shuts off the backlight in this mode, even if it is set to stay on. If it is unlocked, the light did stay on as set. If you touched any button while it was locked, it would light up briefly, but you still could not see the meters as they were behind the locked message.
The screen was great, easy to see and read, and the recorder looks more like a phone than a recorder which is nice when needed. I'd like to find some mics that would work well with out a battery box if possible.

The recording was clean and clear, and this was a noisy bar. I had the mics up high, and I was really pleased with the results. I am not sure where or when I'd use the device, but it was super easy to handle. If I can find a way to run good quality mics without the battery box or with a much smaller one, this device is really portable and easy to use.

I tried the file split just as an experiment, but I have not listened to see it it is seamless. It appeared to be. I also don't know what would happen by itself it it hit 2gb, but I am pretty sure it would start another file.

I had an issue at the first set, where the recorder shut off by itself. I think it was my power management settings, but I am not sure. I changed the power management settings for power to to stay on always, and that solved the problem, but there may be another firmware glitch there as it should not shut off while running if it is set on some kind of auto power off. That type of auto shut off should be if nothing is happening.

Bottom line is I liked the machine. It is easy to use. I do hope they will upgrade the firmware and improve some of the handling issues that are minor but still need to be fixed. I also need to find out more about the line in issues.

For 12gb and the tiny nano like size, it has potential, but there is more testing and experimenting that needs to be done.

cody · « **Reply #32 on:** March 29, 2007, 04:49:20 PM »

Thanks for the report,

I've been pretty happy with the results of mine so far.

Just to be clear - what did you mean by "I could not get a signal using line in"?

I only ask because you go on to mention the clean and clear recording you got with the mics up high. Were they not connected through the line in?

Thanks
Cody

dallman · « **Reply #33 on:** April 02, 2007, 08:09:15 PM »

Quote from: cody on March 29, 2007, 04:49:20 PM

Thanks for the report,

I've been pretty happy with the results of mine so far.

Just to be clear - what did you mean by "I could not get a signal using line in"?

I only ask because you go on to mention the clean and clear recording you got with the mics up high. Were they not connected through the line in?

Thanks
Cody

As you know, there is only one jack, so yes, to be clear, I has the mics into the battery box into the jack on the vibez, but I had the recorder set to "mic in" on the menu options, not "line in". With the "line in" settings activated on the menu, I got no signal, it was recording, but nothing happened soundwise. Also I could find no way to adjust anything while in the "line in" menu function. You do have the + or - db settings when using the "mic in", but I'd love to figure out what I am doing wrong. I have only played with it while in a live recording situation, so I have not done too much fussing around. $:-\$

How have you been recording? Can you give me any insiight on how to do it differently?

cody · « **Reply #34 on:** April 03, 2007, 02:32:01 PM »

It doesn't sound like you are doing anything wrong - I've seen this mentioned elsewhere but...

I think the assumption over at Trekstor is that if you are recording via the line-in then the level will be set from the source at some 'ideal' level (or, at least, adjustable at the source) I wish it was adjustable like the mic-in level but not yet... maybe in some future firmware update??

If you weren't getting signal with the Vibez set to line-in maybe something was up with the battery box or a cable? Maybe the signal wasn't hot enough (though that defeats the purpose)? I've used a line out from a computer, a mixer and a stereo and all have worked fine so far. I haven't used a mic yet.

I guess the really good news in your situation is that if you were getting a clean and clear recording with the Vibez set to mic-in then that was all from the Vibez internal microphone. I personally have found there to be a LOT of drive noise when recording with the internal mic - so far it's a pretty minor problem for me depending on how loud the source I'm recording is.

I don't have my Vibez in front of me but any of the mic record settings are just coming in from the internal microphone - the line in record settings are whatever is coming in through that one jack you mentioned.

Hope that clears some things up.
Cody

travelinbeat · « **Reply #35 on:** April 04, 2007, 01:55:01 PM »

This looks like an awesome device, I'm looking forward to the kind folks at Rockbox picking up on it and hopefully making a Rockbox firmware for it... THAT would probably sell the unit for me.

Thanks for the updates, I'm interested to keep following up on the thread!!!

dallman · « **Reply #36 on:** April 05, 2007, 12:00:53 AM »

Quote from: cody on April 03, 2007, 02:32:01 PM

It doesn't sound like you are doing anything wrong - I've seen this mentioned elsewhere but...

I think the assumption over at Trekstor is that if you are recording via the line-in then the level will be set from the source at some 'ideal' level (or, at least, adjustable at the source) I wish it was adjustable like the mic-in level but not yet... maybe in some future firmware update??

If you weren't getting signal with the Vibez set to line-in maybe something was up with the battery box or a cable? Maybe the signal wasn't hot enough (though that defeats the purpose)? I've used a line out from a computer, a mixer and a stereo and all have worked fine so far. I haven't used a mic yet.

I guess the really good news in your situation is that if you were getting a clean and clear recording with the Vibez set to mic-in then that was all from the Vibez internal microphone. I personally have found there to be a LOT of drive noise when recording with the internal mic - so far it's a pretty minor problem for me depending on how loud the source I'm recording is.

I don't have my Vibez in front of me but any of the mic record settings are just coming in from the internal microphone - the line in record settings are whatever is coming in through that one jack you mentioned.

Hope that clears some things up.
Cody

It clears it up a bit, but I have not used the internal mic at all. I have used
1. Church Audio mini mics(in Croakie)> SP-SPSB-1(Battery Box)>Vibez and also
2. AT 853>SP-SPSB-1(Battery Box)>Vibez.

Both of these were with the "mic in" setting. There is no possibilty that it went through the internal mic. The Vibez was in a case, down on the floor in a bag and the mics were up on a mic stand. I don't think the internal mic is designed for any type of quality recording, and I assume it is just a solo mic and therefore mono intake.

As for the line in, I guess I'll have to try a line source and see what happens. Does not really make sense that it would not like the signal from mic to battery box, but more testing will tell.

Thanks!
Cliff

taper420 · « **Reply #37 on:** April 07, 2007, 10:17:39 AM »

If you guys didn't already see my review:
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,82524.0.html

I am very interested to see if my unit is defective....if it is, there seems to be allot of them out there. If you guys could do a similar test that I did, and comment on or post the results, please do. I'd really like to get to the bottom of this, cause this seems like a pretty cool little device with potential, but if this noise is unavoidable I'm returning it pronto.

Author Topic: New Stealthable Recorder? (Read 12784 times)

Alchemy

Alchemy