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.

[Brian Skalinder]

I say get a recorder in your budget and start taping...see if you like it.  If you do, then you can either sell the recorder + save cash to upgrade the recorder and/or add mics later.  No point in saving a bunch of money to buy gear, only to realize you don't enjoy the hobby.

[badwizard]

What would be good to start with for $100 or $125.

[su6oxone]

What would be good to start with for $100 or $125.

There are a bunch of good suggestions in this thread.  They basically boil down to:

1. Get a cheap, used recorder (e.g. Nomad JB3, iRiver H120, etc.) and use the internal mics. 
2. Get a cheap, used recorder and use cheap external mics (Sound Pro SP-BMC-2 or similar mics from Core Sounds, etc.)
3. Wait until you have at least $300 and get some 'decent' gear

[datbrad]

What would be good to start with for $100 or $125.

Dude, I hate to have to repeat what others have said, but there is little you can get for that price range worth having. You would be far better off saving that money and putting it towards a unit at least in the $300-$500 range, which is the low end of recorder price points.

If you are planning on taping bands that currently are not usually taped, or they don't allow taping, and none of these bands are likely to be listed on LMA or torrented on bt.etree, you should look at a rig based around good budget mics like those made by Church Audio.

However, if you are planning on taping all the bands that are already being taped regularly, you will be able to download far superior recordings of these shows that you could ever make yourself using super low priced gear. Sorry.......don't give up the desire to record. I saved for over a year before buying my first recorder and mics, and it was worth the wait.

[J.Maye]

$125 best bet would be a JB3 and cables, maybe an optical converter. Just go for patches and get some reasonable mics when you have some more cash.

[deadheadcorey]

Ill sell you my used Microtrack I for $100 pm for details

[Neilyboy]

get yourself a soldering iron and some wm-61 caps from digikey (1.86 each) get a few as you will bum up your first try haha... then build a battery box from a couple caps and resistors.. under 20 bucks and you have a set of mics and batt box.. then just worry about using your money to throw at a decent recorder. I love my iriver's (h1x0, h3x0) but would love to have 24bit in the future!

neil

[heyitsmejess]

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.

get a recorder....i have a microphone that was sent to me when i started....i will pass it on to you if you PM me your addy (provided you are in teh states).

its not the best, but dosent sound bad....its a sony MS907

[deadheadcorey]

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.

get a recorder....i have a microphone that was sent to me when i started....i will pass it on to you if you PM me your addy (provided you are in teh states).

its not the best, but dosent sound bad....its a sony MS907

NOW Buy my bit bucket and you are set!

EDIT: I will even throw in the special ToddR juice box and wallyworld battery for extra recording time.

[setboy]

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.

get a recorder....i have a microphone that was sent to me when i started....i will pass it on to you if you PM me your addy (provided you are in teh states).

its not the best, but dosent sound bad....its a sony MS907

 Nice offer! I would take him up on this or do what Neilyboy said....or both.

[paulbaptiste]

I wouldn't get a JB3.  Go for the Iriver, and as said before, try it out, if you don't like it, you have a great 20 GB mp3/flac player.

You can get in the game for around 300 give or take, can't go much less than that.  Iriver will be $100-$125, and these are going alot cheaper now then they used to.

You can get a set of AT853's off of ebay for around $100 bucks a pair/or less, off of ebay if you watch and wait.  Normally terminated in Phantom adaptors, which you can simply open, unscrew the cables, and send away or solder a mini plug on.  Add 20 bucks and you are at $245 give or take.  Then sell me your adaptors

Even smarter, solder on some mini xlr's, and keep those phantom adaptors and get the terminated in minixlr leads also to connect to your mics for phantom power in the future.

So this is $225, minus getting your mics re-terminated which should be around 25-30 bucks for mini xlr's, then the same to get the phantom adaptors done also.  And then get a little box, or a CA9100 for 150-200 and you have a nice solid rig,  either scenario.  And those same Phantom adaptors, that same preamp your can run Busman Naks, or any other mics that can be run of 9-12v and minixlr connects.  Versatile.  That said, this second option is around 500, but worth it

[stevetoney]

I say get a recorder in your budget and start taping...see if you like it.  If you do, then you can either sell the recorder + save cash to upgrade the recorder and/or add mics later.  No point in saving a bunch of money to buy gear, only to realize you don't enjoy the hobby.b]

  I put the odds of this to be about .0001%, but I suppose even that means there's SOME chance of not enjoying the hobby...LOL!   

[sunjan]

1. Get a cheap, used recorder (e.g. Nomad JB3, iRiver H120, etc.) and use the internal mics.

Slight correction here. I don't think anyone endorses the internal mics of the Iriver, it's mono and distorts like hell. And the JB3 doesn't even have any!

Apart from that, I have a totally different approach to entering this hobby than most suggestions here.
There's no point waiting if you want to start now! I the meantime, you might miss shows that noone else will tape.

Don't sweat it about "wasting $100 on inferior gear that nobody else will want". When you upgrade, you can easily pass on the rig to another newbie, or ust put it on fleabay. You'll recover most of your investment, promise.

An example what you can get for almost no money:
Mics
$23 Panasonic omni pair (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110424194477)
Recorder
MZ-NH series Hi-MD (model with mic-in)
$40-$80 going rate on ebay, depending on where you live.

Total: from $65 (plus postage)

I don't see the point getting a H120 or a JB3 if you won't use the optical in. An iriver H320 would do the same job, but cheaper. Going rate on ebay is as low as $50-65 these days!

That said, the iriver doesn't have a built-in mic preamp like the Hi-MD recorders, which means you'd probably need to apply more than +24dB gain (or buy an external pre, which would bust your budget).

OTOH, the iriver is a much better upgrade path, if you decide to get a Church combo later on. Take your pick...

[attheshow]

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.

get a recorder....i have a microphone that was sent to me when i started....i will pass it on to you if you PM me your addy (provided you are in teh states).

its not the best, but dosent sound bad....its a sony MS907

Take this offer! I got back into taping using a Sony ECM-719 (similar) and a HiMD recorder or other cheap digital recorder. Don't worry about having the best recording, even if someone else is taping with more expensive equipment. If you end up being the only one taping an interesting show people will be happy to have a copy. If the other taper with $1000's of equipment makes an error, has an equipment failure or runs out of battery/memory... whatever... they'll be begging for your cheaply made recording as well.

As you gain experience and start to listen to other recordings you will be able to decide what equipment you really want to spend your money on. For now, just get taping.

I've got quite a few recordings made with inferior equipment that I still treasure.

Cheers,
AtTheShow

[Kevin T]

I'm likely gonna get flamed but Unless you do stack /loud small room rock recording I'd suggest a new or used Zoom H2 ~$75-$180. Then When ( Not IF) you get hooked you can add  a CA pre+mics package for ~200 more and use the H2 as a 24bit bucket