Topic: I want to find some semi to great quality recording gear on a budget....

[TheCatDownThere]

say...$350 or less.

what should i do? *shy*

[TheCatDownThere]

i just want something small, that i could fit in my purse or something like that. i don't really know much about taping gear at all. a friend of mine has an MD deck, and his recordings turn out pretty damn good. so maybe something like that?

[mirth]

CSC/CSB > Batt box > MD?

C1000s > transformers > MD?

[TheCatDownThere]

mirth -  CSC/CSB > Batt box > MD...something like that sounds appealing...how much would something like that cost?

moke- i'd be recording music from a PA, im sure. and yeah, i'd be going stealth.

[King Crimson]

SoundPro AT 853's > batt box > MD (your going to want a JB3 soon after)

you may even be able to find a JB3 on ebay fairly cheap, say only $50-75 more than a MD and its deffinetly worth it!

[TheCatDownThere]

uhm, heh...what's a JB3?

[Brian Skalinder]

uhm, heh...what's a JB3?

Ahem. 

[1] If you haven't done so already, check out Newbie Central pinned to the top of the Archival Info forum.
[2] Check the Archival Info forum for two NJB3 FAQs.   In the first page or two you'll find two a taper's FAQ and an operating FAQ.  Check out the Taper's FAQ first.

[mirth]

The CSC/CSB are Core Sounds Cardioids or Core Sound Binaurals, which can be obtained from Core Sounds:
http://www.core-sound.com/

Alternatively, there are other places that sell the mini stealth-type mics... SoundProfessionals comes to mind.

I'm not a stealth taper, so I can't really help you out but there are plenty on here who are.

So whose got his/her heady stealth rig, brah?

[TheCatDownThere]

uhm, heh...what's a JB3?

Ahem. 

[1] If you haven't done so already, check out Newbie Central pinned to the top of the Archival Info forum.
[2] Check the Archival Info forum for two NJB3 FAQs.   In the first page or two you'll find two a taper's FAQ and an operating FAQ.  Check out the Taper's FAQ first.

i was checking that out as you were typing this message  .
i'm still not too sure what it is, but i got a good idea. so yeah...thank you.

[TheCatDownThere]

The CSC/CSB are Core Sounds Cardioids or Core Sound Binaurals, which can be obtained from Core Sounds:
http://www.core-sound.com/

Alternatively, there are other places that sell the mini stealth-type mics... SoundProfessionals comes to mind.

I'm not a stealth taper, so I can't really help you out but there are plenty on here who are.

So whose got his/her heady stealth rig, brah?

thank you!

[mirth]

The JB3 is shorthand for the Creative Nomad Jukebox 3, which was discontinued about a year ago or so. You can still find them refurb'ed direct from Creative on eBay, or they pop up here from time to time. They're great because not only have they proven themselves as a stable recording platform, they're also a discman-sized portable mp3/wav player!

[twatts (pants are so over-rated...)]

uhm, heh...what's a JB3?

Ahem. 

[1] If you haven't done so already, check out Newbie Central pinned to the top of the Archival Info forum.
[2] Check the Archival Info forum for two NJB3 FAQs.   In the first page or two you'll find two a taper's FAQ and an operating FAQ.  Check out the Taper's FAQ first.

i was checking that out as you were typing this message  .
i'm still not too sure what it is, but i got a good idea. so yeah...thank you.

Google is a wonderful thing...

You can get a minidisc player cheap and a pair of Giant Squid mics.  That's probably as cheap as you can get...

T

[Brian Skalinder]

i was checking that out as you were typing this message  .
i'm still not too sure what it is, but i got a good idea. so yeah...thank you.

Ah...timing is everything.  Glad to see you found the FAQs.  The NJB3 is just a (hard drive) recorder, similar to MD or DAT but doesn't require removable media.  Transfers to your PC for ultimately burning to CDR are very easy, more so than MD or DAT.  There's also a thread in the Archival Info forum titled something like "stealth gear references".  Check it out, too.  Read through the FAQs and scan through the stealth posts and if you still have questions (likely!), fire away. 

[TheCatDownThere]

thank you everyone! god...this place is awesome.

...anyways, i really want to get to buying my gear...the csb/csc mics are a bit pricey for me...but the SoundPro AT 853's  seem reasonable. my problem is...they don't give a lot of info about them on the website. do they COME with a batt box? does anyone know? heh. *feels dumb*

[TheCatDownThere]

hehe, nevermind about my last question. i found out what i needed to know in the mic forum. thanks.

[taperkat]

Just to back up:

I've used the AT 853 Soundpro lookalikes (SP-BMC-1) for 4+ years, and used MD for right at about 4 before switching to DAT a month or 2 ago. These mics are amazing and I won't ever be without a pair. (I use the SPSB-2 BrBox that I modded.)

[TheCatDownThere]

ooooh, thanks.

[barthatronic]

i'm still not too sure what it is, but i got a good idea.

On the brilliant advice of the tapers here over the last month and a half (just amazing... people here truly rock), I just put together an affordable rig myself. I use a 20GB NOMAD Jukebox 3 (JB3) that I bought on eBay directly from Creative Labs ($170... but I've seen it go for far less). It's officially an MP3 player like the iPod (it looks like a CD player), but it's made so it can record. This is the current recorder preferred by many low end tapers -- it can record 3 hour chunks at a time of CD quality .WAV, in either analog or digital (I don't have an analog to digital converter box... yet). Lots of info is available out on the web (even a YahooGroup dedicated to JB3 tapers... see the JB3 FAQ). The 20GB drive in the JB3 gives me potentially 33 hours of record time (roughly 11 GbV shows ). I also bought a secondary battery on eBay ($30) so I have 6 hours of total recording time. I was pointed to a web store called Sound Professionals to get my stealth cardioid stereo mics (SP-CMC-2, $139) and a battery box with bass roll-off (SP-SPSB-6, $69). These mics are incredible for their size and price... I simply can't believe what I get back from them. I've provided additional helpful links below.

So here's the breakdown for my gear:
SP-CMC-2  >  SP-SPSB-6  >  JB3
And this is where it all started:
http://www.taperssection.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=19407

HELPFUL LINKS:
MICS:
http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-CMC-2
BATTERY BOX:
http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-SPSB-6
JB3s ON eBAY DIRECT FROM CREATIVE (but you don't have to buy direct... lots of JB3s out there):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=15058&item=5706725231
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=15058&item=5705894324
OTHER STUFF:
http://www.soundprofessionals.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/njb3tapers
http://www.nomadness.net
JB3 FAQ:
http://www.taperssection.com/yabbse/index.php?board=14;action=display;threadid=16338
NEWBIE FAQ:
http://www.taperssection.com/yabbse/index.php?board=14;action=display;threadid=4237

[Brian Skalinder]

This [JB3] is the current recorder preferred by many low end tapers

It's pretty popular across the board, actually.