Author Topic: Extreme budget recorder wanted - advice? (Read 7319 times)

theSeekerr · « **on:** July 21, 2007, 02:39:14 AM »

Hi all,
I'm 17, and thus a little lacking in cash, but I've done a lot of audio work (underpaid, I might add) and would like to get into live recording for those rare occasions when I'm infront of the sound board rather than behind it.

At any rate: I have microphones, I have preamps, battery boxes, etc, etc, etc. All I need is something portable to record to. Preferably, I would like a flash based MP3 player that has a decent line in recording ability (flash based is important, becos my last two have been lost to HDD failure), simply because I need a new MP3 player too, and getting the cash for both would be far easier if they were one and the same. And preferably it would be reasonably cheap. And available in Australia. Other alternatives I would accept include MD or Hi-MD, but only at a cost <$150 (US, for the sake of international comparison, or up to about $200 AUD). Anything good, like the Microtrack 24/96, or the Zoom's, or the popular Edirol and Marantz products are out, because I don't have that kind of money.

Any such product exist?

Thanks everyone.

Nick's Picks · « **Reply #1 on:** July 21, 2007, 07:34:49 AM »

what about the zoom H2 ? that is barely 200usd

NOLAfishwater · « **Reply #2 on:** July 24, 2007, 09:56:04 AM »

Wish I would have gotten into taping when I was 17. Good luck with your new hobby/addiction.

Kindguy · « **Reply #3 on:** July 25, 2007, 02:09:41 AM »

For your budget. I'd pick up a used JB3 in the yard sale. It can also be your 20 gig mp3 player. With no media to buy.

beefstew · « **Reply #4 on:** July 27, 2007, 04:08:58 PM »

Quote from: NOLAfishwater on July 24, 2007, 09:56:04 AM

Wish I would have gotten into taping when I was 17. Good luck with your new hobby/addiction.

i put my first rig together on my 17th birthday [just the sound pros mics and hi-md]

and tommrow is my 18th birthday - one year anniversary of taping - and i have a [paid] gig to record tommorow

Nick's Picks · « **Reply #5 on:** July 27, 2007, 05:28:09 PM »

wow.
well done.

When *I* was 17...
it was a VERY good year.
It was a very good year with Jerry, and the rest of "the boys"
though I had no taping toys.
and I licked the vials clean...
... when I was 17.

Simp-Dawg · « **Reply #6 on:** July 27, 2007, 06:14:10 PM »

Quote from: Nick's Picks on July 27, 2007, 05:28:09 PM

wow.
well done.

When *I* was 17...
it was a VERY good year.
It was a very good year with Jerry, and the rest of "the boys"
though I had no taping toys.
and I licked the vials clean...
... when I was 17.

knoxmallette · « **Reply #7 on:** August 03, 2007, 03:16:19 PM »

Nick, you read my mind. When I was 17 I was deep into the Dead. Speaking of which, Sirius is previewing their Grateful Dead Radio which will roll out later this summer. I heard a great interview with Phil over lunch yesterday. Heard a great show from Oakland '82 on the ride home after work.
Off-topic- sorry, but hard to pass up some good dead-talk.

theSeekerr · « **Reply #8 on:** August 04, 2007, 07:56:30 AM »

Thanks for the advice...I'm still poking around. Unfortunately, $150 USD was the generous side of things. If I could find a local JB3 I'd buy it and adapt in a CF card in place of the harddrive (very much doable, as IDE and CompactFlash are pin-compatible....just trust me on that, I'm that kinda nerd), but barring that happening (unlikely) I need something flash-based, since I've lost my previous 2 mp3 players to hard drive failure and I can't afford to risk that again. Which leaves a secondhand Microtrack, minidisc or DAT if I get lucky somewhere. Or maybe I can convince my boss to buy something like the iKey Plus (a stage lighting and audio supply and operation company).

Any other suggestions that should cross the collective mind are still welcome.

Nick's Picks · « **Reply #9 on:** August 04, 2007, 08:02:21 AM »

well, if you plan on gutting a small HDD based recorder, the iRiver is the one to get. Better features, better sound.

JackoRoses · « **Reply #10 on:** August 04, 2007, 08:19:19 AM »

Quote from: theSeekerr on August 04, 2007, 07:56:30 AM

Thanks for the advice...I'm still poking around. Unfortunately, $150 USD was the generous side of things. If I could find a local JB3 I'd buy it and adapt in a CF card in place of the harddrive (very much doable, as IDE and CompactFlash are pin-compatible....just trust me on that, I'm that kinda nerd), but barring that happening (unlikely) I need something flash-based, since I've lost my previous 2 mp3 players to hard drive failure and I can't afford to risk that again. Which leaves a secondhand Microtrack, minidisc or DAT if I get lucky somewhere. Or maybe I can convince my boss to buy something like the iKey Plus (a stage lighting and audio supply and operation company).

Any other suggestions that should cross the collective mind are still welcome.

there was a jb3 in the YS for 100$ or BO.
You are quite right you could make that into a CF player rather easy too.
I'm not sure how much more you would need to spend though to get it to where you want it.
I don't follow Ipod's at all but they are flash based right and I belive ppl have begun using them to record with as well. Just another thought. But I think they will be higher in price than you want to spend...

bonzo71 · « **Reply #11 on:** August 04, 2007, 04:48:36 PM »

If your on a REALLY small budget, you can pick up a nomad jukebox(not jb3) for about $35 on ebay. An update to the firmware will give you recording level meters. I have one and have installed a cf card. The nomad jukebox runs on 4 AA's. With the CF mod and some good rechargeable AA's, you can easily get 6+ hours of wav recording. The jukebox has line-in only (no mic/digi-in), so you'll need a preamp or battery box. Also, it records in 15 minute chunks so you'll need to have some software to compile the wav files into one large file. The files splits are clean..no missing samples.
Make sure you don't buy the Jukebox 2, which does not have the line-in.

willndmb · « **Reply #12 on:** August 05, 2007, 10:51:19 PM »

why would you want to convert a jb3 from hd to cf?

bonzo71 · « **Reply #13 on:** August 06, 2007, 12:09:58 PM »

Quote from: willndmb on August 05, 2007, 10:51:19 PM

why would you want to convert a jb3 from hd to cf?

In the case of the nomad jukebox(not jb3), battery life. With the HD and normal aa's, you'll get about 1 hour recording time..with good batteries 2.25 hours. With the flash drive and rechargeable aa's, it can record for 6+ hours.

willndmb · « **Reply #14 on:** August 06, 2007, 01:00:46 PM »

ahhh
thanks

theSeekerr · « **Reply #15 on:** August 07, 2007, 02:18:06 AM »

So can anyone comment on the sound quality of these original Nomad Jukebox's? Sounds like it could be a good option given my budget.

Oh, and in my case, I'd want to do the conversion from HDD to flash because I've had two HDD's fail on me just outside the warranty period on new players, and I don't trust my luck to not kill the HDD in an old one. Compactflash is cheap, anyhows.

Nick's Picks · « **Reply #16 on:** August 07, 2007, 07:01:19 AM »

the sound quality running analog in is "eh" ... at best.
if you can use some sort of external preamp and not use the decks gain structure, you'll be ok.

the iRiver sounds better. Same price for the most part...why would you go JB3 over that?

theSeekerr · « **Reply #17 on:** August 07, 2007, 07:51:18 AM »

I'd love to go for the iRiver, but they're as rare as hens teeth here in Australia, and quite expensive by the time they've been shipped from the USA....and they go for about $180-$220 AUD, which is right on the outside of my budget. And they're HDD based, which I've mentioned a few times now is a definite downside. The Nomads at least can have the harddrives swapped quite easily.

Nick's Picks · « **Reply #18 on:** August 07, 2007, 10:06:42 AM »

Aaaahhh..., down under. I can understand.
well, go w/whats available. worst case, sell it back to ts.com

or, just wait for an iriver to pop up for sale here.

sunjan · « **Reply #19 on:** August 09, 2007, 12:29:15 PM »

Quote from: theSeekerr on July 21, 2007, 02:39:14 AM

At any rate: I have microphones, I have preamps, battery boxes, etc, etc, etc. All I need is something portable to record to. Preferably, I would like a flash based MP3 player that has a decent line in recording ability (flash based is important, becos my last two have been lost to HDD failure), simply because I need a new MP3 player too, and getting the cash for both would be far easier if they were one and the same. And preferably it would be reasonably cheap. And available in Australia. Other alternatives I would accept include MD or Hi-MD, but only at a cost <$150

I don't think you can get anything flash based out of the box (that can record lossless) for less than $150.

But since you mentioned HI-MD, you can find units on Ebay, selling for less than US$80, in Australia:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320143227145

Read more about different models here:
http://www.minidisc.org/part_Hi-MD_Sony.html

Perhaps that's the best for your budget, if you're dead set against HD-based.
But personally I'd get a JB3, or save some money and get a H120. Frequent backups after each gig is the key.

BTW, JB3s can be had for around US$110 incl shipping to Australia too, if you look around! A better deal than going Hi-MD, unless you're concerned about stealthing:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120147842867

Good luck!

/Jan

theSeekerr · « **Reply #20 on:** August 14, 2007, 05:19:21 PM »

A big thanks to junonato, who sold me a Net-MD (yes, I know, no digital transfers, no PCM, shorter recordings...doesn't worry me in a first half-decent recorder) for $25 USD. Hi-MD still woulda been over twice the cost after shipping - this way, I can spend the rest of my money on other bits and pieces (like a decent sound card to drive my rig back here....at the moment, that's a decided weak link.)

Actually, to hijack my own thread - are there any decent budget USB/Firewire sound cards for <~$100 USD?

junonato · « **Reply #21 on:** August 14, 2007, 05:43:24 PM »

in the mail today, by the way, customs declaration says a gift worth ten bucks!

JackoRoses · « **Reply #22 on:** August 14, 2007, 06:23:55 PM »

Quote from: theSeekerr on August 14, 2007, 05:19:21 PM

this way, I can spend the rest of my money on other bits and pieces (like a decent sound card to drive my rig back here....at the moment, that's a decided weak link.)

Actually, to hijack my own thread - are there any decent budget USB/Firewire sound cards for <~$100 USD?

m-audio comes to mind right off.
m-audio audiophile, while last I heard it was a MSRP of 250$ I have heard of them being bought for 140~ I found a few places that is selling it around 130 actually but they are in the states..
Why does the sound card need to be USB? for a laptop?

theSeekerr · « **Reply #23 on:** August 15, 2007, 02:57:25 AM »

Hmm. That's a little high.

Doesn't really need to be external, just that I like the idea of having everything analogue away from the EM in the case.

I don't need anything flash - no need for surround outputs, no need for any processing gizmo's....just a nice clean line in and a nice clean line out.

Chris