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Gear / Technical Help => Recording Gear => Topic started by: KiddCabbage on June 06, 2014, 03:50:44 AM
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Hey guys,
Maybe you remember me from a few threads down. I bought a bad FR-2 that I had to return, finally got that squared away. And that means I'm in the market for a new recording unit.
I'm hoping to spend under $500 for it (used is fine), which should be doable for any of the aforementioned units. I'm not opposed to something other than what I named, either.
I'm going to be using the recorder for sound effects/sound design field recording work mostly, so having it record up to 192k is kind of important for me so that I can pitch and manipulate sounds well. I also want a unit with quiet preamps so I can record ambiences with it, too. It has to record in broadcast wav for my work. Having TC is a plus for possibilities of future work, but right now isn't really a dealbreaker, just a perk. Has to have a decent pre-record buffer, and I'm sure the ability to place markers in the recording is pretty standard, right?
Any thoughts on these or other units? Pros and cons? I wish my previous FR-2 worked, the experience left a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth. :/ I was considering an FR-2LE, but like I said, recording up to 192k is a big deal for me.
Thanks for your expertise. Hopefully my second experience is better than my first. :s
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The R-44 is a solid unit that gets a lot of respect around here but the stock preamps are not the quietest by a long shot. Sufficient for recording amplified music but probably not first choice for the type of work you describe. Maybe an Oade mod'd one tho? Like the Oade Super MOD that just recently was up on ebay?
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=168451.0
Link to the Oade R-44 upgrades/mods descriptions: http://www.oade.com/digital_recorders/hard_disc_recorders/R44_upgrades.html
There's a link someplace from a nature recording site where noise ratios are published for a ton of different recorders. I'll look for it but maybe somebody else will find it first unless you've already seen that.
Edit: Found the site, there's a good list of field recorders to take a look at in the middle of the page: http://www.avisoft.com/app_audiorecording.htm
And the input noise comparison chart I was thinking of: http://www.avisoft.com/recordertests.htm
Your 24/192 requirement eliminates a lot of recorders in the price range you are after it appears. Could you stretch for a used SD 722?
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You can get a used non-modded hd-p2 for around $300 or a modded one for around $425 or so - if your patient
Pretty solid recorder if you only need 2 channels
The last two ebay listed r-44's: 1 Oade supermodel sold for $585 and another unmodded one didn't sell at $545 (don't know if this is a fluke or that most semi pros or starting pros seem to be using SD mixers into dr-680's nowadays)
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So, from that list it looks like the HD-P2 is a pretty quiet unit. And from what you said, the R-44 is going to be kind of loud and unsuitable for my sound design work.
I wish I could stretch and buy a 722, but that's no small stretch, quadrupling what I could get an HD-P2 or similar for... :/
Any other thoughts on these guys?
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If I remember correctly, one key consideration (which makes total sense) is "quiet preamps". Unfortunately that doesn't come cheaply. In a general way the quiety you want them, the more's ya gonna pay.
I've been very impressed with the new-ish Sony PCM D100. Very quiet preamps. Also later on (if needed by you in a year or two) matches up very nicely with something like the Sound Devices MixPre-D. The Sony does not have XLR connectors, but when I've tested using XLR to 1/8 cable with dynamic mics it worked just fine. Again: nicely quiet preamps. The inbuilt mics, with provided furry filter, work very nice for many ambient situations.
It's a bit out of your price range at $800, but very solid preamps. I'd definitely say it's worth the money-stretch.
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So, from that list it looks like the HD-P2 is a pretty quiet unit. And from what you said, the R-44 is going to be kind of loud and unsuitable for my sound design work.
I wish I could stretch and buy a 722, but that's no small stretch, quadrupling what I could get an HD-P2 or similar for... :/
Any other thoughts on these guys?
you should be able to pick up a 702 under $1400 - at recession peak they sold for $1325 - now 744's sell for about $2300 so I wouldn't pay more than $1400 for a 702 and not much more for a 722
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I love my Oade ACM HD-P2...
Terry
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I'm not in the market for a two channel recorder but have been watching the prices on the 702 and 722 units from SD on ebay and they've come down a bit but yes will be 2.5 to 3 times what you're looking to pay. They are exactly made for what you're looking at tho so keep that in mind.
Seems you kind of luck out here in that the HD-P2 is (exactly?) what you need and well within the price range you want to spend. Seems like the choice is made for you :)
Let us know how you go and what the results are.
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Will the HD-P2 play nicely with a SD MixPre-D if later on I decide to go the added preamp route?
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As a kind of aside, very few microphones have any sort of response by 48 kHz, so a sampling frequency greater than 96 kHz is essentially useless (you can always upsample for processing). Unless I had one of those rare microphones, and was interested in the ultrasonic content, I would personally prioritize most other features ahead of 192 kHz sampling...
That being said, the HD-P2 does seem to fit the bill. Kind of big, though.
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I ended up going with the Tascam HD-P2 afterall. dnsacks from the forum sent me a message saying he'd sell me one, and it turned out that he only lived about an hour away so I just grabbed it!
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I ended up going with the Tascam HD-P2 afterall. dnsacks from the forum sent me a message saying he'd sell me one, and it turned out that he only lived about an hour away so I just grabbed it!
Just another example of why TS rocks!!! :guitarist:
Terry