Topic: Best budget internal mics?

[LikeASong]

Here's a thread on the Teac VR-10. Apparently the OP got one for $26 brand new. There are links in the thread to recordings that are pretty good for such a cheap recorder.

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=159584.0

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Give those samples a try and tell me if you can get something of that quality for less than 50 bucks all in all.

You probably can't get better quality for less than 50 bucks - because you can't get anything else at that price.  I have one of these and it is a toy.  I use it for recording meetings, and it is great for that, but not much else (in my opinion, YMMV, my 2 cents, etc.).

I agree on the "it's a toy" statement if you mean the building quality, but I think its sound quality is more than decent for its price, size and ease of use. Properly located, I KNOW it can make killer recordings that are actually comparable to recordings made with much more expensive gear.

[LikeASong]

Also, it would be great if the topic opener detailed what he/she wants the recorder for!

"looking for a portable recorder for wandering around and grabbing samples."

Samples of what, ManaTau? Music? Nature? Street sounds? Depending on that, and the volume that your source sounds will likely reach, your recorder's mics should have different mic patterns and  specs. Tell us

[aaronji]

I agree on the "it's a toy" statement if you mean the building quality, but I think its sound quality is more than decent for its price, size and ease of use. Properly located, I KNOW it can make killer recordings that are actually comparable to recordings made with much more expensive gear.

The build definitely is not high quality, but I don' think the audio is great either.  Kind of noisy.  I am pretty sure that an affordable rig (lavs > battery box > decent recorder), in the same location, would produce consistently better results, especially if there is a lot of dynamic range in the music.  To be honest, I think the H2 makes better recordings with the internals (but it is much more bulky and of equally crappy build).

[LikeASong]

I think I might be able to share some samples of a concert where I taped with its internals and a pair of CA14s placed at the very same spot, and the recordings are close to identical. You can only tell which is which in the quieter spots or when there's no music at all (the Teac/Tascam recording feels a little bit more compressed then, "less wide", if that makes any sense). I will dig in for that recording and post the samples if I can.