Topic: Cheap, basic Line in wav recorders

[RichT]

Anyone got any recommendations of cheap (as in below Zoom H2 etc prices) consumer mp3 players/dictaphones as line-in .wav recorders?

They're for kids to use with external mics for an education project.  They need a stereo line in; wav recording capability; around 2hrs recording time and be as simple to use as possible (as few additional features as possible)

I've had a bit of a poke around and it's actually quite hard to see whether recorders actually have a line in or not (don't want to use internal mics)

We'll also need to buy new (so can't go with iRivers, which we've used before and are starting to break now)

[rjp]

Some quick Googling shows that the Tascam DR-07 can be had in that general price range. I'm not sure you could get much cheaper than that without getting an inferior product.

[earmonger]

You probably know this, but line in will need a battery box or preamp to be used with mics. Specs on any unit will tell you whether there's mic-in, line-in or both.

Good comparison chart here:

http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/compare-full-view.html

Also cheap, but noisy, at least in last year's versions: Yamaha Pocketrak, which has mic-in but not line-in.

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=131124.0

[RichT]

I am interested in the 'inferior quality products'- I'm potentially looking at getting 30 or so of them on minimal budget, and also potentially doing some things where they could be broken. 

I was wondering whether there was something more along the lines of a flash based iRiver without SP/DIF in production (quite a lot say they'll record WAV but can't see if it's on a mic or line in)

we're using audio technica ATR25's which are battery powered (AA in mic)

[unclelouie]

Below the cost of the DR-07? Maybe you could use those little digital recorders they sell at your local Staples. I don't know if they'll record PCM, or even if they'll accept external mics, so they may not even be an option, but it's a [cheap] place to start. Have you thought about having the students work collaboratively, thus reducing the need to buy 30 recorders?

Oh, and regarding line-in v. mic-in: despite being self-powered, the ATR-25 still may not have enough output for line-in.

[rowjimmytour]

 

[refrain]

You could always have MT-II, they're cheap now... no mics only line in, mini-jack and TRS jack with 48v phantom power... they're very small... better than the H2...

[ghellquist]

we're using audio technica ATR25's which are battery powered (AA in mic)

My guess is that you would need to record really loud things in order to get line level of those mics. Sort of like starting jet planes less than a hundred yards away. So, as always, do try things out before committing.

// Gunnar

[earmonger]

So it sounds like you need a mic jack.

I'm also wondering...why .wav? It takes a lot of storage space and raises the price of your recorder, and you don't seem concerned with pristine sound quality. 

Wouldn't high-bitrate mp3 be good enough? That would give you many more affordable options.  Even some iRiver IFP or T30 units on eBay.

[RichT]

Thanks for the feedback- I'll be trying one of whatever it is first.  Thanks for the advice on line/mic in- thought we were using the line in on the H120s.

The reason behind going for .wav is because they're using audacity for editing, which requires adding the LAME codec separately- it's just an extra stage of setting up for each machine.  Might be worth going for it if there's a big difference in price.

Saw the iRiver E100 which looked up to it, a couple of places still seem to have them in the UK, I'm not sure if it's still being made though.  Ebay/2nd hand stuff's not really feasible as we're going to be buying quite a few of them

[flintstone]

The Sony ICD-PX720 costs about $50, records in decent quality to its built-in 1GB flash memory, has a USB port to transfer files to a PC, and runs for 35 hours on two AA cells.

The bad news is that you have to use the included Sony Digital Voice Editor software to translate the Sony-proprietary format to MP3.  It won't translate directly to WAV format.

The Olympus DS-40 costs about $95, records in WMA format to 512MB of built-in flash memory, has a USB port, works with PC or Mac, and runs for 30 hours on two AA cells.  You'd have to convert WMA to WAV in a separate step.

The Tascam DR-07 costs about $140, records in WAV format to SD card (2GB card included), and has a decent preamp (much better than the Sony or Olympus models listed above) and built-in stereo mic.  You can transfer files to PC or Mac via USB, or by removing the SD card.  There's a $20 rebate offered by Tascam on this model.

You could get a good deal from one of Tascam's resellers because the DR-07 has been replaced in Tascam's line by a newer model, the DR-08.  The DR-08 is considerably more expensive because it was just introduced.

Flintstone

[earmonger]

Installing lame_enc.dll in Audacity really takes just a minute or two, with links and instructions right there on the website. Worth saving nearly $100 per recorder.

It looks like the Iriver E100 only records in .wma, which would require conversion. That's free and easy too (Media Coder), but also means an installation.

Personally I wouldn't use a recorder that requires a conversion, because you'd lose some of what little quality you're getting when you transcode. I'd get a recorder that goes direct to mp3. Unfortunately, there are a bewildering number of them out there.

[sunjan]

Thanks for the advice on line/mic in- thought we were using the line in on the H120s.

The reason behind going for .wav is because they're using audacity for editing.

The explanation why you could go line-in on the irivers is that it still provides 48dB of gain (although only 24db analog gain, the rest digital, which adds noise).
So if you're shopping around for another recorder, you can't take for granted that it has a gain stage if it's only line-in.

My idea when reading the first post was to go for this:
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=transcend+630&hl=en&cid=13460396205279149914&sa=title#scoring=p

The Transcend T.sonic 630 records to WAV (but using the lossy ADPCM algorithm), and has a line-in jack. Retailing at $33, it's so cheap you could probably sign a deal with Chris Church for 30 preamps (ST-9000 or so) and still afford it (provided you're willing to  wait  ).

For an all-in-one device, the cheapest 16/44 device with proper mic-in on the market is actually Sanyo ICR-PS400M:
http://en.item.rakuten.com/firstprize/kav20098/
Street price in Japan is $80, but depending on where you live, you have to calculate shipping and customs on top of that.

Maybe the new Ikey M3 could work out as less costly, selling for $96 in the US:
http://www.fadfusion.com/selection.php?product_item_number=20026700672

For WAV recorders with mic-in, you can't really go any cheaper than that. This is the real bottom end of the market as of today...