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Author Topic: Looking for a new recorder for stealth recording  (Read 11470 times)

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Offline Scooter123

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Re: Looking for a new recorder for stealth recording
« Reply #30 on: April 21, 2022, 03:47:28 AM »
Recorders are bit boxes, storing 1s and 0s.  That is all they do.  So, the notion that a new recorder is somehow better than the digital ones being produced ten years ago is flawed.  DR2d and Sony M10 rule the stealthy world with long battery life, replaceable batteries and solid proven performance. 

New is not necessarily better. 
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Offline voltronic

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Re: Looking for a new recorder for stealth recording
« Reply #31 on: April 21, 2022, 06:07:38 AM »
Recorders are bit boxes, storing 1s and 0s.  That is all they do.  So, the notion that a new recorder is somehow better than the digital ones being produced ten years ago is flawed.  DR2d and Sony M10 rule the stealthy world with long battery life, replaceable batteries and solid proven performance. 

New is not necessarily better.

I am confused by your statement. The two recorders you cite do not have digital inputs, so they do not qualify as "bit boxes". They have analog line / mic inputs and preamps, and the quality of those vary greatly across different devices. There have been significant upgrades over the last 10 years in ADC chips as well. I still have my M10, but I don't use it for any serious concert recording anymore even though I still think it is a great device. The new recorders are clearly far better than the older ones, unless you are looking at the cheapest tier (Zoom H1, etc.).

Case in point: Using the same mics, the quality of recording you get from an old Zoom H series recorder is not anywhere even close to what you get from the new F series. The H6 in particular had very noisy preamps, and the F series ones are dead silent, besides much more advanced ADC. Same goes for old and new Tascam: Dr100 mkIII preamps and ADC are much audibly (and measurably) superior to the DR-70D, which I used heavily.

If you use high-quality external preamps, the playing field becomes a bit more level between the old and new recorders. But if you are running mics straight into one box that does it all, the differences between the old and new recorders becomes pretty clear.

EDIT: I should add that I do not have any firsthand experience with "stealth" recording, and I acknowledge I am including much larger devices in my statements.
« Last Edit: April 21, 2022, 06:09:27 AM by voltronic »
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Offline nulldogmas

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Re: Looking for a new recorder for stealth recording
« Reply #32 on: April 21, 2022, 11:40:20 AM »
Recorders are bit boxes, storing 1s and 0s.  That is all they do.  So, the notion that a new recorder is somehow better than the digital ones being produced ten years ago is flawed.  DR2d and Sony M10 rule the stealthy world with long battery life, replaceable batteries and solid proven performance. 

Skirting the whole issue of preamps, small recorders also differ in size, bluetooth capability, internal mics, etc.

Different people will have different preferences, depending on what they're recording and how and with what additional gear. I've been very happy with both the Sony M10 and A10, I've heard plenty of great recordings with Tascams, and there are plenty of good phone options now. It's definitely worth reading through all (well most) of the discussions here about the pros and cons of various different recorders, but ultimately just pick something that you think will work for you, and it probably will.

Offline DATBoy

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Re: Looking for a new recorder for stealth recording
« Reply #33 on: April 21, 2022, 01:38:00 PM »
Recorders are bit boxes, storing 1s and 0s.  That is all they do.  So, the notion that a new recorder is somehow better than the digital ones being produced ten years ago is flawed.  DR2d and Sony M10 rule the stealthy world with long battery life, replaceable batteries and solid proven performance. 

Skirting the whole issue of preamps, small recorders also differ in size, bluetooth capability, internal mics, etc.

Different people will have different preferences, depending on what they're recording and how and with what additional gear. I've been very happy with both the Sony M10 and A10, I've heard plenty of great recordings with Tascams, and there are plenty of good phone options now. It's definitely worth reading through all (well most) of the discussions here about the pros and cons of various different recorders, but ultimately just pick something that you think will work for you, and it probably will.

I love the M10. I am very disappointed that Sony has not made something that seems to be a competitive enough update in terms of a new interface, size, other recording settings, and all the other stuff we see in Zooms and TASCAMs now. Even that idea of having a "backup" copy in lower level would be cool. I never got an A10, but I assume it was almost close to the stuff I mentioned I wish the M10's successor was. Too bad that seemed to have had a very short production life because I would have considered it over this TASCAM DR-05X I recently got.

Offline nulldogmas

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Re: Looking for a new recorder for stealth recording
« Reply #34 on: April 21, 2022, 07:47:03 PM »
Too bad that seemed to have had a very short production life because I would have considered it over this TASCAM DR-05X I recently got.

My understanding is that Sony didn't discontinue the A10, it's just way backordered because of COVID-related chip shortages.

Offline DATBoy

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Re: Looking for a new recorder for stealth recording
« Reply #35 on: April 23, 2022, 02:30:30 PM »
Too bad that seemed to have had a very short production life because I would have considered it over this TASCAM DR-05X I recently got.

My understanding is that Sony didn't discontinue the A10, it's just way backordered because of COVID-related chip shortages.

Thanks for the information. I seem to remember that Sony said on their website that it wasn't available. I now checked B+H and said back ordered. I would like to get one, so this is a good choice. Sony makes some of the best ones. I must say, however, there's something to be said about that single mic/line input there and I'm a little concerned about that because the TASCAM DR-05X is the same way and it feels like a learning curve since it's not like what I am used to on the PCM-M10 with a dedicated port to each. I mentioned all that on my own thread about my issue with the TASCAM just recently here.
« Last Edit: April 23, 2022, 02:33:17 PM by DATBoy »

Offline surf1div1

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Re: Looking for a new recorder for stealth recording
« Reply #36 on: January 18, 2023, 03:26:22 AM »
I have the R-07 and  stealth it through all three checks (KIA Forum) bag, walk through, and wand only to setup in my seat and discover that after prince alberting it in while seating pulling it out of my pants (with the minds eye you would be cracking up by now) the SD card had popped out while 'whipping it out'....the lycra of these shorts likely caught on the tab. Went to the men's room and emptied everything and couldn't find it in the shorts, fanny pack, or the floor. If I stay with this I will now carry spare cards which isn't an issue,  but the tab on the SD door tab busted (it's CHEAP plastic) and have it 'taped' shut. Mickey mouse for sure. Add to that the challenges of trying to seat another SD card and you have a recipe for disaster. So while it's a very stealth products with the rest of my gear I now know that I can easily get into most any show after this experience.
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Offline Dan33185

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Re: Looking for a new recorder for stealth recording
« Reply #37 on: January 18, 2023, 03:07:27 PM »
I have the R-07 and  stealth it through all three checks (KIA Forum) bag, walk through, and wand only to setup in my seat and discover that after prince alberting it in while seating pulling it out of my pants (with the minds eye you would be cracking up by now) the SD card had popped out while 'whipping it out'....the lycra of these shorts likely caught on the tab. Went to the men's room and emptied everything and couldn't find it in the shorts, fanny pack, or the floor. If I stay with this I will now carry spare cards which isn't an issue,  but the tab on the SD door tab busted (it's CHEAP plastic) and have it 'taped' shut. Mickey mouse for sure. Add to that the challenges of trying to seat another SD card and you have a recipe for disaster. So while it's a very stealth products with the rest of my gear I now know that I can easily get into most any show after this experience.

Any time I have to sneak it in, my first stop inside is always the bathroom, just less chance of losing something that way.
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Offline loughney

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Re: Looking for a new recorder for stealth recording
« Reply #38 on: January 20, 2023, 10:38:56 AM »
I had been using the Tascam DR-07X.  It was pretty easy to stealth, I usually just had a neoprin phone sleve that I put both my iPhone & the deck and didn't have any problem.  For the microSD card cover (and a loose battery cover), I just secured it with painter's tape.

I have (had) two DR-07x that both have some diginoise when using the onboard mics in a Y pattern, if they are not fully extended (they don't click into place).  Quality has been OK, but have gone the external mic route, as placing them in my hat seems to help with eliminating some crowd noise.  I also played around with using the Tascam DR-05x using both the on-board mics and external mics - and the results were pretty interesting, but too much trouble - and recording in 4 channel eats batteries quicker than my cat eats her food.

I'm using the Sony A10 now, mostly because I like the BT control from my phone, so I don't have to futz with the recorder during the show. 

DR-07x internal mic sample shows:
https://archive.org/details/bmanning2021-11-20
https://archive.org/details/Fishbone2021-12-16

 

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