Topic: SP Gigatracker?

[Ziggz]

Any feedback on this? I'm after a replacement for my Sharp MD and was thinking of getting an M-Audio, but spotted this on SP's site. It's more or less an Archos Gmini 400, which I noted in the FAQ has Uknown ANA rec reliability. By the time I add a decent sized flash card to the M-Audio, I'd be close to, or over, NZ$1,000, so the Giga would suit my budget more.

I have a SP battery module w/bass roll off, and CMC-22 & BMC-9 mics.

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-GIGATRACKER

Description:

Why settle for a flash recorder with a 1 Gigabyte compact flash card when you can have 20 Gigabytes of recording time for the same price? The new Gigatracker gives you 32 hours of recording time at CD quality (44.1khz .WAV files) on it's built-in hard drive! Or, you can record up to 283 hours at 160kbps high quality MP3!

We have combined the Archos Gmini 400 digital recorder with our high quality microphone preamp to create a high quality digital recorder that surpasses the performance and capacity of other digital recorders in the same price range. You can record a little over 2 gigabytes on one file (about 3:22 per file at 44.1 CD quality WAV file) and our tests show that the recorder will record about 9 hours on one battery charge! You can't do that with the Edirol R-1 or the M-Audio microtrack.

Of course, when you are ready to listen to your tunes, you can remove the recorder from the Preamp cradle (if you want to) and it becomes a full featured, iPod sized player with enough capacity to store hundreds of hours of music.

[willndmb]

something to think about too
if i am reading this right
the gigtracker has the mic power/level adjust, mayhbe bass roll in there too
so if you can sell your other bass box you would have a little money to go to the gigtracker, but with the maudio you would need the box still to power the mics

[Sanjay]

something to think about too
if i am reading this right
the gigtracker has the mic power/level adjust, mayhbe bass roll in there too
so if you can sell your other bass box you would have a little money to go to the gigtracker, but with the maudio you would need the box still to power the mics

nope it has 5v plug in power as well as phantom power

[Ziggz]

I'd stick with the m-audio if i were you, it's made to replace a dat and it's main function is recording so imho it will probably be a better device.  surely it'll have some issues at first, but i think it's a safer bet.  you can get them for $400 or so and you can currently get a 4gig flash card for $200, so that's $600 us dollars, the gigatracker is 500 i think.  and flash will keep coming down in price, so you can add more later.  4gig should be fine for 16bit recording and depending on the length of shows you record it should suffice for 24/48 too. 

not really answering your question i know, but just something for you to chew on. 

+T and welcome aboard too, probably the only taper from NZ on our board.  looks like a beautiful country, and i've heard it's got great trout fishing too

Thanks

I might wait and see how others get on with the M-audio. That's not a bad price for flash cards, I thought they were double that. One thing though, would the sp battery box be classed as phantom power in that it limits the M battery to around 3hrs?

I'm not exactly the most prolific taper, maybe 3 shows a year (and most of those are tribute bands - good for testing out gear I'll be testing my CMC-22s at a Queen tribute show next week) I just want to do away with the dreaded MD disc change!

[willndmb]

something to think about too
if i am reading this right
the gigtracker has the mic power/level adjust, mayhbe bass roll in there too
so if you can sell your other bass box you would have a little money to go to the gigtracker, but with the maudio you would need the box still to power the mics

nope it has 5v plug in power as well as phantom power

wouldn;t he need 9v?
or would phantom cover that

[corsair]

I'm abit skeptical about the Gigatracker. I own an Archos Gmini 400 myself.
I've heard recordings done with its line-in, they sound pretty good,
can't hear any difference from those done line-in to my old D7.

But it has one limitation. If you're recording acoustic or anything
softer,you will need a preamp definitely. The line-in to the Gmini
has no gain.. The levels U adjust on it, is just simply digital attenuation
handled by the software. Preamp wise, I would prefer the Reactive
Sounds "boost box", where the gain is not fixed to just 3 options,
and it has a clipping led, very useful for stealthers.

Speaking of stealthing, if you're looking at the gigatracker, you're
looking for a stealth rig. True, the gigatracker is a nice package plus
its custom line-in plug is far better than the one provided by Archos.
However, if U wish to adjust levels, you have to open the box
and press a button on the 400 to take the screen off screen saver mode.
*Unless of course U wish to tape with the screen turned on permanently, this will
drain battery life* Also, I dun like the way on the preamp where
U have to adjust both the left and right channels, its too troublesome.

Finally, I dun quite get how U can tape continously on 32 hrs with the Gigatrackers.
At best, the 400 can only record 7-9 hrs straight with a single battery charge.

[Tenn Man]

Finally, I dun quite get how U can tape continously on 32 hrs with the Gigatrackers.
At best, the 400 can only record 7-9 hrs straight with a single battery charge.

They must mean that you can get 32 hrs of recording on the 20gb hard drive.

[corsair]

Finally, I dun quite get how U can tape continously on 32 hrs with the Gigatrackers.
At best, the 400 can only record 7-9 hrs straight with a single battery charge.

They must mean that you can get 32 hrs of recording on the 20gb hard drive.

Ohhhh.....ya..

You are so right.....