Topic: Recommendation for recorder with XLR/P48

[yates7592]

Can anybody give me a recommendation for an XLR/P48 recorder that ticks as many of these boxes as possible:

* Easily handheld (small as possible)
* Good preamps
* Takes hot input signal
* Good battery life

Don't need 4/6 channels, not bothered about internals.

Don't want to break the bank, but thinking £500 tops.

Thanks for any help.

[cashandkerouac]

Can anybody give me a recommendation for an XLR/P48 recorder that ticks as many of these boxes as possible:

* Easily handheld (small as possible)
* Good preamps
* Takes hot input signal
* Good battery lifeDon't need 4/6 channels, not bothered about internals.

Don't want to break the bank, but thinking £500 tops.

Thanks for any help.

i too am interested in such an item, but i think you'll need to compromise on size if you absolutely need full size XLR inputs and +48v phantom.  to my knowledge there is nothing with XLR inputs and +48v phantom that is even close to the small size of a Sony M-10.

wanting to eliminate the need for an external pre-amp for my stealth rig i recently searched for an item that met your criteria above and i came up empty.  i ended up settling on a used Marantz 661 with the Oade concert mod and i love it.  the pre-amps are very quiet, the recording menu lets you select from a -6db, -12db and -18db pad (so you can tame a hot signal) and it has great battery life.  with the phantom power on i can get a solid four (4) hours from four (4) NiMh rechargable batteries, which is plenty because i don't want to play human mic stand for more than four (4) hours anyhow.  if i'm in an open taping situation the 661 will accept an external battery and will run as long as i need it to off of 5v.  the other thing that i really like about the 661 is that each file has a mazimum size of 4GB rather than 2GB. 

all in all it's a superb machine that i highly recommend.  the only variable where it falls short is the size.  it's still extremely "stealthable" as long as you don't have to worry about a patdown going into the venue.  i've been using mine for stealth and it has been rock solid.       

[yates7592]

^ Thanks for the info, I had a feeling that the 661 might be my best bet.

One question, does the -6/-12/-18 switch only work on XLR going mic-in, or on XLR going line-in, or either?

[aaronji]

The Olympus LS-100 might be another option. I have been curious about it since it came out, but haven't gotten around to trying one yet...

[chinariderstl]

The Tascam DR-100mkII is a 2-channel handheld recorder with XLR inputs.  B&H has it for $280 US.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/832911-REG/tascam_dr_100mkii_portable_2_channel.html

HTH

[F.O.Bean]

The Tascam DR-100mkII is a 2-channel handheld recorder with XLR inputs.  B&H has it for $280 US.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/832911-REG/tascam_dr_100mkii_portable_2_channel.html

HTH

Its about DOUBLE the size of the M10 tho Its pretty damn heavy too. My taping partner and great friend, tonedeaf, runs one and ive seen it in action alot. Plus, the battery life is HORRIBLE

[yltfan]

Never used one, but what about the Tascam DR-40?

It's 70 x 155 x 35mm

M10 is 64 x 114 23mm

[adrianf74]

The Tascam DR-100mkII is a 2-channel handheld recorder with XLR inputs.  B&H has it for $280 US.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/832911-REG/tascam_dr_100mkii_portable_2_channel.html

HTH

Its about DOUBLE the size of the M10 tho Its pretty damn heavy too. My taping partner and great friend, tonedeaf, runs one and ive seen it in action alot. Plus, the battery life is HORRIBLE

That's what EXTERNAL battery packs are for.     P48 drains batteries FAST.

[F.O.Bean]

The Tascam DR-100mkII is a 2-channel handheld recorder with XLR inputs.  B&H has it for $280 US.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/832911-REG/tascam_dr_100mkii_portable_2_channel.html

HTH

Its about DOUBLE the size of the M10 tho Its pretty damn heavy too. My taping partner and great friend, tonedeaf, runs one and ive seen it in action alot. Plus, the battery life is HORRIBLE

That's what EXTERNAL battery packs are for.     P48 drains batteries FAST.

Neither of my [2] LBs have external power jacks and they last just fine, and thats at +60v, not +48

[jbell]

The Tascam DR-100mkII is a 2-channel handheld recorder with XLR inputs.  B&H has it for $280 US.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/832911-REG/tascam_dr_100mkii_portable_2_channel.html

HTH

Its about DOUBLE the size of the M10 tho Its pretty damn heavy too. My taping partner and great friend, tonedeaf, runs one and ive seen it in action alot. Plus, the battery life is HORRIBLE

That's what EXTERNAL battery packs are for.     P48 drains batteries FAST.

Neither of my [2] LBs have external power jacks and they last just fine, and thats at +60v, not +48

P48 will drain the batteries faster than running the KCY with 60v!!  If you were running P48 mics you wouldn't get the long run times you get running polarization voltage with the kcy cable. 

[yates7592]

Struggling with this. I'm leaning towards the PMD 661, has great preamps and v.good battery life, but I read elsewhere the input signal it can take is not that hot, even with -18dB switch? DR100-Mkii would be my next choice because its a bit smaller, takes a hot signal, but battery life sucks.

[mccordo]

Struggling with this. I'm leaning towards the PMD 661, has great preamps and v.good battery life, but I read elsewhere the input signal it can take is not that hot, even with -18dB switch? DR100-Mkii would be my next choice because its a bit smaller, takes a hot signal, but battery life sucks.

As a DR-100Mkii owner/user, I cannot stress enough the need for an external battery if you're running P48. I use the Anker Astro Pro 14400mAh battery (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005NGLTZQ/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and find it will easily last for an entire show with P48 on. The DR-100Mkii and Anker should run you less than $400 and provide what you're looking for.

Like Bean said, the DR-100Mkii is larger than an M10 (I own and use one of these too), but it's definitely not huge or unwieldy.  It also has decent onboard preamps that I used with no complaints for over a year until I got a V2 from the Yard Sale.

[cashandkerouac]

^ Thanks for the info, I had a feeling that the 661 might be my best bet.

One question, does the -6/-12/-18 switch only work on XLR going mic-in, or on XLR going line-in, or either?

not sure.  the pad is definitely an option with "mic in".  i don't see why it wouldn't also be an option with "line in".  i'll investigate the menu and will get back to you with an answer.

[aaronji]

^ Thanks for the info, I had a feeling that the 661 might be my best bet.

One question, does the -6/-12/-18 switch only work on XLR going mic-in, or on XLR going line-in, or either?

not sure.  the pad is definitely an option with "mic in".  i don't see why it wouldn't also be an option with "line in".  i'll investigate the menu and will get back to you with an answer.

Pretty sure that it is mic in only...

Might also be worth asking John Willet about the LS-100. No personal experience, but, on paper, it seems like it might do the trick.

[willndmb]

Bigger then a lot of recorders but check out the fr2le in the yard sale
Sounds good
Good meters
Trim if need be
Multi battery options
Xlr or trs in

[yates7592]

^ Thanks for the tip, but does seem too large for stress-free stealthing, shame....

[yates7592]

Coming to the conclusion that what I am looking for doesn't exist:

R-26 - too big for stealth to my mind
DR-100mkii - v.poor battery life
LS-100 - only 2-3 hrs internal battery
DR-40 - not great preamps (?)
PMD661 - doesn't seem to take a hot signal + prob too big for me

So I'm going to hold on to my cash until Sony or Roland come up with a P48 recorder that's in between the M10 and the R26 in size, but with all the quality of both recorders in terms of battery life, line input level and preamps (not holding my breath).

[jbell]

Tinybox > M10 is a great stealth or open rig, if it were me I'd stick with it.

Coming to the conclusion that what I am looking for doesn't exist:

R-26 - too big for stealth to my mind
DR-100mkii - v.poor battery life
LS-100 - only 2-3 hrs internal battery
DR-40 - not great preamps (?)
PMD661 - doesn't seem to take a hot signal + prob too big for me

So I'm going to hold on to my cash until Sony or Roland come up with a P48 recorder that's in between the M10 and the R26 in size, but with all the quality of both recorders in terms of battery life, line input level and preamps (not holding my breath).

[adrianf74]

What jbell just said.

There really is nothing comparable to the TinyBox / M10 solution.  That's why I went that route.

[pohaku]

I sure wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Sony and Roland.  The Taper community isn't a significant enough market to drive their product development.  The Tiny Box/M10 rig works just fine for P48 for most gigs - certainly    able if that's what you need.

[ninjadave]

I run the pmd661 with my milabs. They are not super hot but I owned the Beyer ck930s before that which are super hot and when I bought the pmd661 from Doug oade - which u must get the mod from him for sure or don't bother with the pmd661 as the stock preamp is not that great and his mod helps handle the signal, he actually modded my mic in -18 db setting and made it -30db so I could handle the signal and be able to run the pmd661 at loud gigs at about 5 on the level anything around or under 4 on the pmd661 has very good chance of brickwalling that is ur only risk right? Doug can mod ur mic input settings to whatever u want. I pulled some great tapes with the Beyers at super loud shows....The milabs are better mics IMO and less sensitive and the -30db setting with them allows me to run the pmd661 at 6 on the level at the loudest show imaginable and no risk of blowing the levels or brickwalling the signal. Check my shows on dime search my username I have shows with both mics up. The funny part of all this is I'm actually thinking of trying to go to a tinybox> m-10 and ditch my pmd661 since I use barrels and interconnects and it's a lot to steath. Doug is great u can ask him anything he will totally put ur mind at ease and will make sure whatever ur trying to do can be done. He won't just sell u the gear if it doesn't fit.

Didn't I sell u my beyers? Duh! I just realized that...

[yates7592]

^ Yep, i was the one that bought your Beyers. Only used them twice since with the R-26 and only problem was levels too LOW, not too hot! I've eliminated the PMD661 for the very reasons you stated.

[ninjadave]

i'm pretty sure, you can run those beyers with a tiny box and your M-10, jon at naiant has already built the box to do that.....i'm pretty sure others are doing that and without a PFA cable and the beyer bodies.  just a mini xlr to the 5 or 6 pin on the tiny box.

i think that is going to be the best option,  you'll have to check with jon though. i'm thinking of doing the same with the milabs. however, i'm worried its gonna change the sound alot by ditching the bodies. won't know til we get some comps. he still has to build it also. but he said its doable. good luck.

 

[yates7592]

Well Ive run round in circles looking at recorders, P48 power sources and preamps for stealthy operation of my CK930's.

All the preamps Ive looked at are either too big, wrong sound, too many knobs and dials for stealth or suffer interference. The P48 power packs are just an extra box but with poor run times..

I've found what I think is the (almost) perdect solution. An all in one recorder with really good preamps and like 7-8 hours battery life on P48, flexibility to run 4 channels, takes up to +24dBu input level, has balanced XLR inputs for interference free taping - the R26 - yes the very same recorder I sold because I felt it was too big. Actually I didnt have any trouble stealthing the R26 in and out of venues, just checking levels etc was a PITA. I actually think my jacket pockets were too small rather than the recorder too big for my needs.  Larger pockets would let me do everything I need to without removing the R26. So its now time to look for another R26, and a new jacket with big inside pockets!