Topic: Inexpensive gear for a newbie

[badwizard]

What good used inexpensive gear should i use to begin.Mini disc, hdd,could i make it with about 100$ of gear to begin.Thank you.

[Brian Skalinder]

What type of music?
What sort of venues?
For what type of recording...open?  ...with mics, or just soundboard?  ...stealth?
Is your budget for the recorder only, or all-in for everything?
Are you willing / able to go the DIY route for mics and battery box / preamp?  (I ask because with your budget it may be difficult to put together mic/battery box/preamp if purchased new/used.)

[badwizard]

For the moment recorder only  open,i will go from there.

[J.Maye]

$100 total? Only option I can think of at that price point would be a minidisc and maybe some used Giant Squid omnis?

[nathan_g]

Used JB3 and some low end soundpro's mics.

JB3 looks like $60ish
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,125846.0.html

SP-BMC-2 about $50 plus shipping
http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-2

[rastasean]

save your money until you can at least double it.
Expensive gear is not necessary but its at least a good idea to put a little money into it to get decent results.

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

I second the save option. Or at the very least pick up a cheap JB3 now.

Put the $100 in your piggy bank, and then save another few hundred.

The Church Audio CA-14 (card and omni) package > Church 9100 Preamp > Used JB3 will rival equipment costing 3x as much.

After you get a 16 bit rig, I'd start saving for a 24 bit recorder which is very handy in stealthy situations where you can't check your levels often. With 24 bit you can set your levels conservatively and increase the levels in post with much better results that with a 16 bit recorder.

Good luck. I can assure you this won't be the last $100 you spend on equipment. Plan on spending at least $1000 in the future! 

[stevetoney]

^^ Another to chime in and agree with the 'save until you can afford it', mainly because for $100 you'll end up dissatisfied and end up with $100 worth of stuff that you won't like, nor might you be able to easily sell it.  In this day and age, $250 -$300 or so isn't all that hard to come up with for a hobby that REALLY gives way more than $250 worth of gratification.  $60 for a JB3 ($100 for a MT2496 if you wanna go 24bit...and I think I just read somewhere that new MTII's are now in the $130 range), $100 for some used CA-14 cards, and about that much again for the 9100 preamp.  Go a little more and support Chris directly and buy new from him for about $119 each, excluding shipping which is free this month.  You can't go wrong with Church Audio gear as either entry level or the long haul because it gives GREAT sound.

[heyitsmejess]

Used JB3 and some low end soundpro's mics.

JB3 looks like $60ish
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,125846.0.html

SP-BMC-2 about $50 plus shipping
http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-2

dont discount those sound pro mics....ive pulled some damn fine recordings with them.

http://www.archive.org/details/rumpkemb2008-05-27

[rhinowing]

Used JB3 and some low end soundpro's mics.

JB3 looks like $60ish
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,125846.0.html

SP-BMC-2 about $50 plus shipping
http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-2

dont discount those sound pro mics....ive pulled some damn fine recordings with them.

http://www.archive.org/details/rumpkemb2008-05-27

seconded, I've gotten some gorgeous pulls with those. I think they're just WM-61A caps?

[fmaderjr]

I second the save option. Or at the very least pick up a cheap JB3 now.

Put the $100 in your piggy bank, and then save another few hundred.

The Church Audio CA-14 (card and omni) package > Church 9100 Preamp > Used JB3 will rival equipment costing 3x as much.

I agree with everything except the JB3 recommendation. The JB3 is best used as a bit bucket. A Rockboxed iHP-120 is a much more convenient to use recorder when going analog line in and often can be had for around $100. Well worth the price differential. Many more people here use the IHP-120 for line in recordings than use the JB3 because of its features and convenience of use.

[Belexes]

$100 doesn't give us much to play with on this board when many folks have thousands of dollars wrapped up in their rigs.  I'd have to say save your money and make a solid purchase in the future.

When I got serious about this hobby I used a credit card and didn't have the cash to pay off the statement right away. Not the best decision I have ever made.

[heyitsmejess]

Used JB3 and some low end soundpro's mics.

JB3 looks like $60ish
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,125846.0.html

SP-BMC-2 about $50 plus shipping
http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-2

dont discount those sound pro mics....ive pulled some damn fine recordings with them.

http://www.archive.org/details/rumpkemb2008-05-27

seconded, I've gotten some gorgeous pulls with those. I think they're just WM-61A caps?

im pretty sure they are....i use these mics alot at stage lip, on stage, and ive actually placed them behind the band and used the recording to mix with the sbd feed, with great results...gives the sbd more of a "live" feel, as well as getting a enough crowd noise in a way thats not distracting from the recording.

http://www.archive.org/details/rumpkemb2008-11-14

[jbell]

Get a microtrack 2 recently there was a link posted on TS for brand new MTII for $129.  $29 more than a used Iriver H120 and you get 24 bit recording!  Not sure which thread I will try to find it and post it later.

[nathan_g]

This is the link:

http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php3?sid=p3b6f8f004n594h&id=1011225&utm_medium=refer

Says it's $169. Looks like the deal's over. Still a good deal...I paid $230.