Topic: A great recorder on a budget

[Karl]

Hello all, my first post here but I've been lurking for a few months.  Tons of great info.  I have a question about recorders, but let me first give a little bit of my background info--

Currently, I've been doing taping with an MD recorder.  While getting decent results, I've become rather unhappy with the noise that ATRAC compression introduces.  So I naturally want to move on to something that records to 16/44 wave files.  The catch is, I'm on a budget.  Currently, I'm running AT853>batt box>Sharp DR-7.  I am looking for a recorder in the $200-$300 range.  It needs to have a clean line in jack.  I record everything from choir music to rock shows to drumline (see www.drumlineparkinglot.net ).  It also needs to be handheld and very portable.

I thought that the JB3 would work out well--but I purchased it this weekend, and am unhappy with the results I am getting with line in (you can hear it in the recording every time the hard drive does it's thing).  I am still at a point where I can return the unit, and use the cash for something else. Eventually, I will be able to afford an SBM-1 or the like to complement, but I will be stuck using the analog line-in for a year or so, so I would like something with decent quality.

So, in a nutshell, here's what I'm looking for:
16/44 wave recording
A clean analog line input
Level meters and adjustable record levels
Optical or Coax input (to use down the road)

Any help would be greatly appreciated--thanks in advance!!

[John R]

a used d8 purchased from here

[zhianosatch]

i second the d8 idea.

[jpschust]

yah if you werent happy with the jb3 a d7 or d8 would be a good purchase.  i would go ahead and see if you can get a package with a 7 pin just because it is usually a touch cheaper to do it that way and eventually you are gonna wanna add an a/d convertor to that deck.  Also, it will allow you to do some patching for when you don't feel like taping.

[Karl]

John R--did you mean to put a link up?

[jpschust]

i think he meant from someone on  taperssection.com

[Ed.]

using the line in on the jb3 you can hear the hdd, hmm, i've never had that problem.  yours be a lot louder than mine.  good luck in your searches.

ed

[Nick in Edinboro]

you can hear it in the recording every time the hard drive does it's thing

How are you listening to your recordings?  Playing back directly on the JB3 or transferring to your computer and listening?

I'm thinking that it's not so much an artifact left on the recording but rather that you need to use a ferrite core on your headphone cords to eliminate the RF interference that your hearing.

Are you certain that the artifacts are on the recordings and not a variable of your method of play back?

[Karl]

you can hear it in the recording every time the hard drive does it's thing

How are you listening to your recordings?  Playing back directly on the JB3 or transferring to your computer and listening?

I'm thinking that it's not so much an artifact left on the recording but rather that you need to use a ferrite core on your headphone cords to eliminate the RF interference that your hearing.

Are you certain that the artifacts are on the recordings and not a variable of your method of play back?

Positive--that was my first thought, so I transferred it to to my computer, and the noise was still there.  The same noise, in the same spot(s).  Hopefully tonight I can post a sample so that you guys can hear.

Hopefully, it's a problem with my unit alone that can get corrected, because I really like the idea of using the jb3 to record.

BTW--I am using the latest firmware--the one that came out last month (ver 14 something).  I really doubt that would be causing my problems--but I can't rule it out either.

Are there lots of people using the jb3 line-in with no problems?  If you are, please post and let me know--it'll help me know what direction to go in.

Thanks for the comments, keep them coming!!!

[Tim]

get yourself a used D8, it will be perfect for you.

[cpclark]

the d8 would be the best option, some of the experience ive read on the jb3 is that its a/d converter going line in isnt for good, go d8 and will love the results

[Karl]

If possible, I would like to stay away from DAT--I really like the concept of something like the jb3--no tapes to deal with, among other small inconveniences (and I will never be in a situation to do patching, so that won't matter).  I understand that the DAT has better A/D, but one way or the other the jb3 should be a step up from MD, and when I get an outboard A/D then those issues will disappear.

[jerryfreak]

it depends what you want:

reliability-go dat
convienience, and you can stand lower quality sound or occasional glitches/lost recordings- go jb3

[George]

Or you can wait for HiMD recorders to hit the market in a few months and go with one of those.  If you can wait that is.

[Ed.]

it depends what you want:

reliability-go dat
convienience, and you can stand lower quality sound or occasional glitches/lost recordings- go jb3

no offense, i'm a supporter of both formats, but there are just as many things that can go wrong with a DAT, tape misloads, etc

both have their ups and downs.  DAT, however was made for taping shows, the njb3 wasn't.

ed