When changing discs, the unit MUST be stopped, not paused, in order to write the TOC....this mean on all units, but the new RH1 (and the old sharps), the manual settings must be set again...in addition to waiting for the TOC to write, and changing disc time, this means any SERIOUS taper, must have two units. Now I say serious because amongst the trading community, having a 30 second gap isn't usually acceptable, and if your recording lossy so you don't have to flip, it surely isnt acceptable. Now if your just recording for yourself, and your not trading, then thats one thing, but for serious tapers that actually want to share their recordings, two units is the only way to do it. Now if your thinking optimum setup for hi-md, its would be two rh1's, so you don't have to worry about the default settings, and no gap to worry about (just some minor cut and paste in post). Two Rh1's will run you $640. And that's 16 bit remember. Even a lesser setup with an Rh1 and first gen-unit (cause you have time setting up for the gap, so why worry about default settings on your patch unit) will run you around $420. The only way to do it cheap and serious is to get two first gen units for $200 and say screw the defaults.
So what was the questions...best md recorder?
Best HiMD with no money in mind = 2 X Rh1 = ~$640
best value HiMD = 2 x first gen units ~$200
best recorder for the money without all the headaches with patches and uploads (and how are the defaults?) and 24 bit= R09 ~$350
umm............ the only way to do it seriously is to run 2 himd's because serious traders/tapers find a thirty second missing audience chatter unacceptable?? are you fucking kidding me?
i can probably give 500 names of people that have gotten shows from me over the years,but they too must not be too serious about anything.,seeing as how i only run one of my decks at a time,and there is always(at least with shows over 1.5 hours) a 20-30 gap of missing audience B.S. while the discs are flipped.
anyone else want to address these remarks??
i'm now wondering if you have any of my non-acceptable recordings in your collection of serious tapes.
Ok, I'm not saying it's impossible to get a serious recording with one unit. What I'm saying is it's not practical to rely on one unit to get a glitch free recording EVERYTIME. If you can make your flip happen during pure audience chatter, then more power to you. It cross-fades great, and some dropped audience is always acceptable. But if your missing even ONE musical note, then you ARE making a compromise due to the limits of your technology. It might be fine if there are other tapers there, and you can download a patch later. But what happens when your the sole taper, and you gotta make that flip... and dam that jam has just been going on forever...I shoulda filpped at 60 min. But hey, if your one of the guys that stands there for a half hour and waits for that perfect moment between songs that might never come, go for it. It does add more sport to the hobby. Hell I did it for years, till I realized I could get a used patch unit dirt cheap, and save myself TONS of worrying that takes away from the show. When I say serious taper, I mean one who is going out there intent on getting the best recording they are capable of, and then trading it with the public. And believe it or not, most of the people I would call serious tapers believe "set it and forget it". This seems to be antithesis to minidisc. Now I'm also willing to accept that were coming from different places. There are plenty of bands out there that play songs, and then they stop and then they play another song. These also tend to be stealth jobs that minidisc is particularly well suited for. If this is the case then flipping is less of a concern (accept getting busted maybe). Then there are the bands which I KNOW will cause problems for a one unit, disc-flipper everytime. For instance, I just taped WSP recently and watched as the second set started stretching toward 90. There was only one flipper there, but he had to compromise his recording to do it. I always ask MDers what they do when they have to flip. I always get interesting answers. "oh, i'll flip during drums" "oh, can I record a patch?", "oh, I just run it on SP"... whatever the answer... if it's not "i got two", it's a compromise. I'm sorry but I can't remember EVER possessing a show that had music missing on it. Except for me back in the single md days. I realize the crux of your argument is that having a gap of audience chatter is fine. I agree. But I don't agree having any music missing is fine, when there is a dirt cheap alternative...to me, it just seems if you're flying solo you're not taking the hobby seriously. And in fact the number one reason I find when I ask an MDer what they do when they gotta flip, "Oh, I'll do it quick at a good spot, I've gotten pretty good at it.... besides, it's just for me".
since you are apparently not aware... there are 3 crucial things that make or break a "good/serious" tape.
these three things are equally important,none more than the other.
1.the sound your recording itself.(this encompasses,the bands sound itself,the venue and its acoustics,and additional noise ie. drunken hillbliies next to you screaming,crowd chatter,whatever....)
2.your position in the venue.you're only going to pick up what you are able to.ie. if your in the back of a 20,000 seat arena its going to sound somewhat like it.)
3.your rig.i really dont think we need to go into this anymore.
WITHOUT ALL THREE OF THESE FACTORS IN THE BEST POSSIBLE ARRANGEMENT YOU WILL NOT GET A PERFECT RECORDING.PERIOD.
so to put the emphasis solely on what rig your are running,really, is very,very wookie-ish.you could be recording with a 128 channel digital recording console,but if your in the nosebleeds with a bunch of asshole screaming,its not going to do a whole hell of a lot of good.
like i said before, to go into a situation not knowing what the fuck you are recording is also very wookie-ish. a little research and its not hard to find out (pre-show) where you need to flip(its worked for me every time)
and i cant think of off hand,any band that doesnt take at least a 30 second break somewhere prior to 1.5 hours into the show.i am sure they are out there, but i havent run across one yet.
your comments about earlier about anyone who doesnt run 2 himds or a r-9 obviously isnt serious,makes me think of this.
mike milliard,circa 1977.taping zeppelin at the forum(L.A.) uses a wheel chair as a prop to import his analog cassette deck and mics into the arena,along with his helpers,yes,he had them.and then proceeds to record some of the best live stuff ever done.period. on a fuckin cassette recorder.if you dont know what i am talking about,listen to his 6/21/77 source.tits.
its surprising,coming from someone who really wasnt a serious taper.
