Topic: Stealthing a recorder into a summer festival

[Phuncz]

Hello, I'm new here. I've read some interesting topics here but I still have plenty of questions.

The reason I got here was that many years ago, when I did my first festival, I hated it I couldn't relive that experience I had back then. I wished there was some way of recording it but I didn't know how without crap sound. After thinking about this a few times, I finally got where I am now (here, LOL !) and I want to take it from the idea to the execution.

I bought a ticket for a summer festival this year (a few months away) and I'm planning on buying a recorder and getting it in. Those are also my questions: which recorder and how. Which recorder WAS simple, I decided on the Tascam DR-40 until I saw it's dimensions: it's a brick ! It's bigger than the box my phone came in. I like to think the DR-40 is a decent beginner's choice but this thing has to get INSIDE the venue. And no security mammoth is going to let me in with professional looking equipment the size of the stuff walls are made out of.

I saw the Sony PCM-M10 being mentioned, it is very compact and easily hidden in something else like a digital camera pouch and it looks that way too. But it costs almost double and I want to keep My First Recorder © about 150 €/$. Since it's a large summer festival, regular pat-downs are ensued, along with backpack checks. So I need something that I can actually hide in something else (not my but crack).

How are you thinking about the iPod Touch + Tascam iM2 addon ? Getting both inside is not a problem but I don't know what I should expect from the microphones. I don't know what I should expect from the onboard mics on the Tascam or Sony recorders mentioned above, but I'll see if youtube can help me with that.
EDIT: this was recorded with the Tascam what I presume with the standard microphones. Would small and affordable (~50 €/$) omni's be an option to improve the sound or do I need to look at 200 €/$ ?

I'm also thinking about a thermos bottle with a hidden compartment to get stuff in. Any advice is welcome, I've searched this forum but it seems I can't find most of my answers that way.

Thanks in advance for your time !

[travelinbeat]

I still have plenty of questions.

Ask one

[Phuncz]

Sorry, my message got sent by accident before it was finished, I'm updating the start post in a few minutes !

[mfrench]

Is it really necessary to discuss stealth techniques in a popular world wide forum?  Seems really foolish to me.

[toaster]

get a tascam dr-2d. Everytime i look it drops in price. Last i saw it for was around $130-150 US. There have even been sales cheaper than that.   The internal mics are listenable and once you have the money you can get some external mics to use with it. Im not sure how pat downs are where you live but the old tucked-under-the-nuts trick seems to work pretty well everywhere ive been in the world.

[mfrench]

Like this?

[Phuncz]

Is it really necessary to discuss stealth techniques in a popular world wide forum?  Seems really foolish to me.

I'm pretty new at this, so I didn't know it was that big of an issue. I always thought the security didn't want weapons inside and the rest of the illegal list is just for fluff.

get a tascam dr-2d. Everytime i look it drops in price. Last i saw it for was around $130-150 US. There have even been sales cheaper than that.   The internal mics are listenable and once you have the money you can get some external mics to use with it.

Hmm it might be a good choice yes. I'll remember that one, thanks !

Im not sure how pat downs are where you live but the old tucked-under-the-nuts trick seems to work pretty well everywhere ive been in the world.

Hmm not the idea I had in mind I'd rather have it hidden somehow not on my body. It's not that they don't pat you in your private parts but I don't want to walk around with a recorder between my legs that could fall out or get crushed.

[acidjack]

Is it really necessary to discuss stealth techniques in a popular world wide forum?  Seems really foolish to me.

I'm pretty new at this, so I didn't know it was that big of an issue. I always thought the security didn't want weapons inside and the rest of the illegal list is just for fluff.

get a tascam dr-2d. Everytime i look it drops in price. Last i saw it for was around $130-150 US. There have even been sales cheaper than that.   The internal mics are listenable and once you have the money you can get some external mics to use with it.

Hmm it might be a good choice yes. I'll remember that one, thanks !

Im not sure how pat downs are where you live [This is what you should not discuss].

While it is fine to discuss various sizes of recorders and their potential low-profile usage publicly, please refrain from discussing stealth "techniques" such as what I deleted above on this board.  Lots of folks are sensitive about it, especially the ones who stealth regularly.  The board has a "PM" function to discuss things like this privately.

[SxPxDxCx]

Like Darby Crash said "What We Do Is Secret"

[capnhook]

Where's my minus T's when I need them......?

[daspyknows]

Get a Tascam DR-2D, CA-14 mics and CA9200 preamp.  All so small that I can think of 100 ways to get it in.  Its smaller than a beta tape which we used to sneak in in addition to the 3 batteries, mics,, cables, PCM F-1 and SL2000 (see my avatar).  Anything short of the new TSA screening devices that make you "naked" couldn't stop me. 

[jagraham]

not trying to be smartass, but the answer to where to hide it is where it won't be found.

[Phuncz]

Get a Tascam DR-2D, CA-14 mics and CA9200 preamp.

It seems a solid combo but it will be difficult to get all of this for 450$ in Europe which is way above my target. I know it's very newbie of me to think that this is a cheap affair, but I don't yet want to splash that kind of dough on a new interest. So maybe I need to forget about seperate mics for a while until I'm sure this is what I want.

So maybe a better question would be, is the Sony PCM-M10 worth the extra money sound quality wise over the Tascam DR-2D ?

[TimeBandit]

How are you thinking about the iPod Touch + Tascam iM2 addon ?

rubbish

my rig in the sig did cost me 250 euros (Mics New, Preamp +  recorder used)

if you order from Chris Church it might take very long time, or watch in the yard sale to get a used set.

[Phuncz]

So the Tascam DR-05 is also a contester. As a newbie, the dual recording function of the DR-2D interests me but I don't know if it would be relevant to me (I say it again: me = newbie).

I see plenty of people running pre-amped mics, is it really needed to achieve better quality than the standard mics or are there mics that will improve the recording without a preamp ? I'm not worried about the stealthability but the total price. I'll be keeping my eye on the classifieds, but I'm not seeying much relevant products offered.


EDIT: I'm having a hard time choosing which recorder is better for me. I'm partial to the Sony for it's massive battery life and it seems to offer a better out of the box recording quality. It also resembling a photo camera from it's side helps it's stealthability. It's more expensive but it seems that is the way this is going anyway I guess...