Topic: Portable Recorder with best internal mics?

[NewTaper]

Is there a portable battery operated recorder that is considered to have the best internal mics?

Thanks,
NT

[heathen]

Some potentially helpful threads: https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=185690.0 and https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=182792.0 (you'll have to sort the wheat from the chaff in this thread)

[dogmusic]

Is there a portable battery operated recorder that is considered to have the best internal mics?

Thanks,
NT

The Sony PCM-D100.

[MakersMarc]

Is there a portable battery operated recorder that is considered to have the best internal mics?

Thanks,
NT

None that sound good recording live music. Get mics.👍

[TheMetalist]

Is there a portable battery operated recorder that is considered to have the best internal mics?

Thanks,
NT

None that sound good recording live music. Get mics.👍

I might be wrong but I think NT is running Schoeps MK5s?

[heathen]

Is there a portable battery operated recorder that is considered to have the best internal mics?

Thanks,
NT

None that sound good recording live music. Get mics.👍

OP isn't asking whether internals are better than externals, nor asking whether to get externals.  Your response is off topic at best.  It's like if someone on a car forum asked what's the best four cylinder car and then someone else comes along and says "get a V6."

[MakersMarc]

Is there a portable battery operated recorder that is considered to have the best internal mics?

Thanks,
NT

None that sound good recording live music. Get mics.👍

OP isn't asking whether internals are better than externals, nor asking whether to get externals.  Your response is off topic at best.  It's like if someone on a car forum asked what's the best four cylinder car and then someone else comes along and says "get a V6."

That’s pretty much my intent. Because every other source seems to be internal. Pissing in the gene pool.🤮

[Dan33185]

Whatever you get, it surely will never be up to some people standards. Get something you're comfortable with, and if other people don't appreciate your recordings, that's their problem, not yours.

[Ozpeter]

I guess budget must come into it.  Is the OP really asking what's best regardless of price, or what's best at a certain price point?  Also, defining "best" is likely to be pretty subjective.  Most accurate frequency response?  Lowest noise?  Best stereo image?  And so forth.  So not only budget but anticipated use comes into it.

[heathen]

Whatever you get, it surely will never be up to some people standards. Get something you're comfortable with, and if other people don't appreciate your recordings, that's their problem, not yours.

Absolutely positively agree here!   

[NewTaper]

Some potentially helpful threads: https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=185690.0 and https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=182792.0 (you'll have to sort the wheat from the chaff in this thread)

Thanks. Will check them.

NT

[NewTaper]

Is there a portable battery operated recorder that is considered to have the best internal mics?

Thanks,
NT

None that sound good recording live music. Get mics.👍

I have Schoeps Mics and love them. Looking for a a recorder with internals for on stage recording for another reason.

[NewTaper]

I guess budget must come into it.  Is the OP really asking what's best regardless of price, or what's best at a certain price point?  Also, defining "best" is likely to be pretty subjective.  Most accurate frequency response?  Lowest noise?  Best stereo image?  And so forth.  So not only budget but anticipated use comes into it.

I was just asking if there was an overall portable that was accepted as best overall internal mics.

My friend who runs video places a ZoomH6 on stage to help beef up lacking house mixes and I was floored at how well it captured the overall band minus the vocals. My only experience with internals mics are from the Tascam DR-2d and they are not good imho. So again I was just wondering if there was a "this" recorder for internal mics. $$ Not an issue.

Thanks,
NT

[heathen]

I have no first-hand experience with it, but I think this seems very intriguing for the use you have in mind: https://www.zoom-na.com/products/field-video-recording/field-recording/zoom-h3-vr-handy-recorder

[aaronji]

My only experience with internals mics are from the Tascam DR-2d and they are not good imho.

Seriously?!? Nah, I have it on good authority that the DR-2d internals beat out anything the silly stand tapers use. German mics don't hold a candle... 

On the topic, I have a friend who swears by the internals on his Olympus LS100. I have no personal experience using one, but he has shared some nice recordings with me. I am not sure if they are still in production, though. Probably some new old stock somewhere.

[dogmusic]

$$ Not an issue.

Sony PCM-D100

[ThePiedPiper]

Is there a portable battery operated recorder that is considered to have the best internal mics?

Thanks,
NT

None that sound good recording live music. Get mics.👍

OP isn't asking whether internals are better than externals, nor asking whether to get externals.  Your response is off topic at best.  It's like if someone on a car forum asked what's the best four cylinder car and then someone else comes along and says "get a V6."

That’s pretty much my intent. Because every other source seems to be internal. Pissing in the gene pool.🤮

There is no "gene pool" when you're the only one taping a show. I would love to have all AKG or Schoep sourced shows, but the reality is that isn't going to happen. I'll take an internal mic show over nothing in a heartbeat. Plain and simple.
Personally, I don't like internals but I don't chastise (or judge) those that do use them. Like anything else, I've heard both great and shit sounding shows using internals as well as externals. Each experience is different.

[MakersMarc]

um, sorry OP and other thread posters. I let a bad week turn me into a dick. Temporarily. 

[Ozpeter]

$$ Not an issue.

Sony PCM-D100

I have to say that after many (many!) years of reading here, I don't recall anyone saying that the mics of any given recorder were better than the PCM-D100.  I do suspect that's your answer.

[Joop]

Always very difficult to answer such a question. I don't own handhelds and certainly no recorder without XLR. I do have the Tascam DR-701D. First I thought it was a joke those two holes in the, what they call, front.  I switched them on, just testing what noise I would hear and I was surprised, some older mics I have do worse. So in the end the question will be what are you going to do with it. Handhelds with on top the mics are very visible. The holes in the front of the Tascam could also be venting holes for cool air. If your looking at the basic mic elements, they are almost the same with respect of omni, cardioid  etc. The thing which is more important is the noise floor and how much the output is. So with build in mics it will be the noise floor and if they are omni or more cardioid. I suspect that the output of the build in mics are compensated with appropriate amplifier in the recorder.

[jb63]

Did anyone ever compare the Sony D100 built-in mics to the ones in the D1? I always wondered if the D1 was the same mics.

[adrianb]

I have to say that having owned the D1, D50, M10, D100, D10 together with a variety of Olympus, Zoom and Roland handhelds, then the best internal mics I have ever used were those on the D1 and D100 with the latter being the best recorder overall. For me it's not even something I think about now, the D100 is simply the recorder is use in most situations. It's expensive for a reason.

(I would also say avoid the D10, I thought it was very disappointing and will probably be selling)

As for the question above about the D1 and D100 mics being the same, I wouldn't be surprised because they look identical. Unfortunately I sold my D1 when I bought the D100 so can't examine closely.

One word of warning about the D100 mics though, they might be the best lowest noise mics available on a recorder but they cannot handle loud noise. The D100 is perfect for what I use it for, capturing quiet ambient sounds, and will be great for most music but not very loud rock shows.

[jb63]

As for the question above about the D1 and D100 mics being the same, I wouldn't be surprised because they look identical. Unfortunately I sold my D1 when I bought the D100 so can't examine closely.

One word of warning about the D100 mics though, they might be the best lowest noise mics available on a recorder but they cannot handle loud noise. The D100 is perfect for what I use it for, capturing quiet ambient sounds, and will be great for most music but not very loud rock shows.

Thanks!
You know I constantly drool over those D1 meters, but look down on the D1 for having memory card issues and, well, just being outdated compared to what has happened since.
When the D100 came out I thought about replacing all my Korg MR1 units with D100 units because I understood that all of the good stuff from the D1 was there and that I would probably never need another deck, + on board back up mics for acoustic shows or possibly louder ones with the limiter.

Then I moved to a city where most of the shows were louder and I rarely got the intimate 100-seat venues I loved to tape in and before you know it I realized that I haven't used internal mics ever. No, Like EVER. So now I mostly just drool over the D1 Meters, but I'll bet I'm so used to digital metering that it wouldn't matter.

Thanks for the mic info, sorry I accidentally sabotaged this into a sony thread!