Topic: HELP! Clueless chick needs help with a christmas gift!!

[jnf505]

Hi,
My boyfriend really wants a recording setup for Christmas. He's really interested in recording live gigs and probably will use it for interviews and such (he's into journalism). I'm just a listener and I'm totally clueless about all of this stuff but I really want to get him a good set-up. I think I have a few ideas about what he wants like Zoom H2 and a pair of "John  Ramsey Signature Series" microphones he found online. What I don't want to get is some crappy stuff so I NEED HALP!!!!!!

Here's a link to each of these thangs:

1. Zoom H2 - http://www.amazon.com/Zoom-H2-Portable-Stereo-Recorder/dp/B000VBH2IG
2. Audioreality.com's John  Ramsey Signature Series - http://www.audioreality.com/

[su6oxone]

What's your budget?

[jnf505]

The budget is just under 300 or so.

[yltfan]

Does it need to come in shiny new boxes, or can you buy much better used stuff?

[mosquito]

Personally, I would suggest just buying a recorder as the gift. 

Sounds like he's going to be totally new at it so he'll be doing a lot of learning.  And he'll have several purposes for his rig, so he's going to want different sets / sorts of mics to use, but only he will know what he's going to want to do with it first. 

If it helps, think of microphones as shoes:  most of us have -- or at least want -- as many mics as the proverbial woman has shoes.  They all have different qualities and prices and uses, but getting him a pair of Birkenstocks when he needs something from Jimmy Choo may wind up not being the best use of the money.

After he gets his gift tell him the best part of the gift is that you've found a website where people are more than willing to help him learn.

Oh, most importantly, thanks to you.  Most of us tapers are, well, kinda nerdy -- even though we seem really cool -- and having a SO who 'gets it' is one of the best possible things.

[chrisdavis]

^^^^^^^^^^

right on the money.  he may even be able to settle on one set of mics, but he will need to learn what hes looking for before he invests.

buy him a recorder.  you rock.

ps.  if you do want to buy him mics, i might suggest chris church (church audio).  this guy makes great small mics for the money, and hes easily accessible if theres ever a problem.  you can also get a set of CA's on the cheap from the TS yard sale.  he might be touched that you bought him a recorder, and did some mic research as well....

[J.Maye]

Maybe an Edirol R09-HR to start? He could use the internal mics for the journalism piece and you could worry about the external mics for better quality live music recording later.

It would be a fairly solid foundation on which to build on later if your boyfriend really gets into recording.   

[hoppedup]

The Tascam DR-07 bundle ($199.00) from Sound Professionals would be a good start:

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/TAS-DR-07-BUNDLE

Or get the recorder by itself for $159.00

You can probably get a discount as a taperssection member. Call and ask.

The Church-Audio mics and preamps can't be beat for the price (or much higher prices, really). But Christmas would have to come late for this gear. Chris Church has ads in the retail space of this forum. It takes a while, but it's good stuff.

[su6oxone]

The budget is just under 300 or so.

Also agree with mosquito, I would get a nice new recorder if it's going to be a gift.   Try the Sony PCM M10... You can get it for under $300 at B&H photo and it will be a nice recorder to use for various purposes.  Edirol R-09HR is a good option also.

[page]

If it helps, think of microphones as shoes:  most of us have -- or at least want -- as many mics as the proverbial woman has shoes.  They all have different qualities and prices and uses, but getting him a pair of Birkenstocks when he needs something from Jimmy Choo may wind up not being the best use of the money.

The more I think about it, the better the analogy gets. Thats slick, thanks.

to the original poster: I have nothing to add other then to reinforce the suggestions already mounted. 

[fmaderjr]

The PCM M10 would be a great choice. For a lower budget the Tascam R-07 is also great & would be way better than the Zoom. For mics, nobody here talks about the John Ramsey mics, so for a similar price I would go with Church Audio (either CA-11 or 14's) that many many people here swear by. If the Ramsey mics were comparable, I think someone here would have discovered them.

If buying Church Audio, don't use E-Bay. You get a lower price by sending him and e-mail and mentioning taperssection.

[ianstone]

Maybe an Edirol R09-HR to start? He could use the internal mics for the journalism piece and you could worry about the external mics for better quality live music recording later.

It would be a fairly solid foundation on which to build on later if your boyfriend really gets into recording.

i would agree with Jmaye.

Get him an edirol r09

its easy to use
small - size of a pack of cigarettes
GREAT quality
internal mics to make voice recording easy & painless
(they can even be used for music, until he gets some external mics)

[rastasean]

If it helps, think of microphones as shoes:  most of us have -- or at least want -- as many mics as the proverbial woman has shoes.  They all have different qualities and prices and uses, but getting him a pair of Birkenstocks when he needs something from Jimmy Choo may wind up not being the best use of the money.

The more I think about it, the better the analogy gets. Thats slick, thanks.

to the original poster: I have nothing to add other then to reinforce the suggestions already mounted. 

You can also compare it to purses. 

I think you should get him a recorder and link him to this website for all the priceless information available.

[fmaderjr]

The Tascam DR-07 bundle ($199.00) from Sound Professionals would be a good start:

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/TAS-DR-07-BUNDLE

Or get the recorder by itself for $159.00

You can probably get a discount as a taperssection member. Call and ask.

10% discount. Online, look for the box that appears after the choice of shipping methods marked "Coupon/Gift Certificate Code" and fill in "taperssection". Does not apply to sales, however.

[notlance]

"I'm just a listener and I'm totally clueless about all of this stuff but I really want to get him a good set-up."

Since you found this site and you are willing to ask questions indicates that you do, actually, have a clue.  Your BF is a lucky guy.