Topic: Solid State Stealth Setups? -or- Doggin' Da DAT...

[tubehead]

hey y'all, i'm trying to get out of the DAT format, and was wondering who stealths with which solid state recorders?? i've been using my M1 do to stealth tapes for a while and love the sound of the a/d, but want to get rid of the (tell-tale) mechanics and associated noise...do hard-drive based recorders make any noticable noise?? which ones are small enough to pocket?? i'm considering a microtrack, but am worried about the (assumed poorer) quality of the a/d, being a m-audio product...the sony has asahi-kasei (AKM) a/d's which are my fave, i'm guessing the microtrack has a codec?? comments, observations welcome l8r...Nick

[setboy]

what mics/pre are you using?

[anodyne33]

There are several people who use the JB3 for stealthing. I did it once with no problems, fit inside a pocket on my cargo pants just fine, and it's (other than the hdd noise on your recording if you crank the gain ) basically completely silent... unless you have the hearing of a canine.

[dmaster]

microtrack is great for stealthing.  (as for codec, it's an uncompressed WAV recording so no there is no codec involved.).

if you're picky about the preamp, I suppose you can stick with 16-bit DAT for a while longer until someone mods the MT's preamp.  (personally I don't have any issues, but i'm not very picky about things I can't really hear). 

[udovdh]

The MT has an AKM EK5365.
ADC is OK for good 16-bit. Gain setup is different from M1.
Check this review.
No remote. Under 3 hours per WAV, no seamless autosplit. No replacable battery.

[guysonic]

The MT has an AKM EK5365.
ADC is OK for good 16-bit. Gain setup is different from M1.
Check this review.
No remote. Under 3 hours per WAV, no seamless autosplit. No replacable battery.

I agree that microtrack is at least practical and should do fine using internal preamplifier for 16 bit 44.1K wav recording. 

Also agree with post that M1 has most refined sounding A/D process over most existing flash decks so far. 

Using a solid AKM converter system is ONLY AS GOOD as the supporting system of external components and PCB board layout, which is where newer flash decks need most improvement for what I can determine.

[udovdh]

If the MT had a line in like the M1 and a level button like the M1 all would be OK, even with the 2GB bugs....

[WiFiJeff]

Also agree with post that M1 has most refined sounding A/D process over most existing flash decks so far. 

Okay, I'm going out on a limb on this, after only a week of testing and four concerts stealthed.  I too made fun of the Sony D1 when it came out (looks like a robot dog's head).  I have never even tried to use the expensive but useless (to me) internal mics.  But it does do 24/96 with seamless opening of a new file (at least to the ear, haven't checked if it drops a sample or two) at 2 GB, has SBM if you use 16 bits, and sounds great feeding it line-in from a DPA MMA6000 preamp.  It's bigger and heavier than an R1 or R9 or MT2496, but it fits easily into a jacket inner pocket, runs 6 hours on Maha 2700 mAh NiMH (4 AAs) and 9-10 hours on a lithium Tekkeon external battery.  It won't roll automatically from the internal 4GB to whatever you have on a memory stick pro (I've been using a 4GB memory stick), so I'm waiting impatiently for the 8GB memory sticks promised for later this summer.  Meanwhile, it has retired my R1 and pretty much killed any interest in an R9.  I have ordered a smaller lithium battery from BatteryGeek (I don't really need 10 hours).  There is also zero information on the web about this machine, beyond the Sony spec sheet.  That may be because Doug Oade says the Sony rep told him they had made 150 of the machines so far (can this be right?).  Very simple to use (not too many bells and whistles) once you get an idea of the gain structure (usual Sony oddities).  I LOVE THIS MACHINE!!!

Jeff

[Rick]

I vote for the iRiver 120/140. Cheap, Small, Great Levels, Awsome remote, and Good battery life.

[udovdh]

I vote for the iRiver 120/140. Cheap, Small, Great Levels, Awsome remote, and Good battery life.

If it had the A/D performance of the MT it would be great!
Now the A/D (and stories about noise, caused by remote?) makes me wonder.
Still have to test the device out.

[Rick]

I vote for the iRiver 120/140. Cheap, Small, Great Levels, Awsome remote, and Good battery life.

If it had the A/D performance of the MT it would be great!
Now the A/D (and stories about noise, caused by remote?) makes me wonder.
Still have to test the device out.

For 16bit I think its best out there right now. the M1/D100 are certainly better sounding wise, but I think its just as good as JB3/D7/D8

As for the noise issue, I need to look into that more too... It hasn't been an issue on loud stuff where you don't have to crank up the pre-amp though