Hi all,
I’m a complete newbie to digital / portable recording and want to do some outdoor / wildlife recording - in stereo.
I'm well behind the times now, & know now't about current technology or brands etc, so am hoping someone can point me in the right direction as far as recorders/equipment go.
I’m a disabled pensioner and I'm not 100% certain what I want from a machine, so don't want to spend a fortune - yet. I do know that the machine will need to have mic in sockets, as I want to use separate mic's. I have no idea what features to look for or what the latest techno-speak means.
Eventually I want to put the recordings onto disc &/or save to PC and have been advised that the quality needs to be better than basic Dictaphones & Voice recorders.
Any ideas please ?
Feel free to put any other information that you think might help for my quest.
thanks for reading.
4 channel if wanting to go SS :)
If you know anyone who lives in or travels to the US, you can get the PCM-M10 for $229 (US) in New York City fromYes and in fact the M10 can usually be found much cheaper than that here in the states.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/638090-REG/Sony_PCM_M10_BLACK_PCM_M10_Portable_Audio_Recorder.html
That would be your best budget recorder, and I'm not the only one on this board who loves it.
I know they are ridiculously more expensive in Europe. People here have suggested that the Roland R-05 is the best unit for the money in Europe. Search for the threads on it.
Thanks guys,
I'm in the U.K.
The PCM M10 is £280 here - that's a whopping 445 US $ !
I reckon if I could get one for $229 - or £140 - I'd grab it.
We also have a problem importing stuff. Importing anything over £18 ($29.30) we have to pay our lousy government VAT of 20% of price, for doing bugger all, plus our postal service more money for being kind enough to collect the VAT from us !
This isn't just for Business or New stuff, but also personal & private things.
Before any Brits chime in with "why it's a good idea" please don't - heard it all before & still don't agree - leave me with my opinion.
cheers
Do you know anybody traveling to or from the US? If so, have them hand carry it back to you.
Thanks guys,
I'm in the U.K.
The PCM M10 is £280 here - that's a whopping 445 US $ !
I reckon if I could get one for $229 - or £140 - I'd grab it.
We also have a problem importing stuff. Importing anything over £18 ($29.30) we have to pay our lousy government VAT of 20% of price, for doing bugger all, plus our postal service more money for being kind enough to collect the VAT from us !
This isn't just for Business or New stuff, but also personal & private things.
Before any Brits chime in with "why it's a good idea" please don't - heard it all before & still don't agree - leave me with my opinion.
cheers
Do you know anybody travelling to or from the US? If so, have them hand carry it back to you.
Thanks guys,
I'm in the U.K.
The PCM M10 is £280 here - that's a whopping 445 US $ !
I reckon if I could get one for $229 - or £140 - I'd grab it.
We also have a problem importing stuff. Importing anything over £18 ($29.30) we have to pay our lousy government VAT of 20% of price, for doing bugger all, plus our postal service more money for being kind enough to collect the VAT from us !
This isn't just for Business or New stuff, but also personal & private things.
Before any Brits chime in with "why it's a good idea" please don't - heard it all before & still don't agree - leave me with my opinion.
cheers
Do you know anybody travelling to or from the US? If so, have them hand carry it back to you.
But don't forget that if you need it fixed under guarantee you will have to ship it back to the USA.
ALTERNATIVES:
Do any of these machines come close to the LS-11 & M-10 ?
Zoom H2 - £150
Tascam DR-05 £100
Tascam DR-07 £140
Roland R-05 £170.
O.K folks,
I've narrowed it down to either:
Roland R-05 - £160
Tascam DR-05 - £100.
for the time being.
I was about to go for Roland, but wondering if it's worth 50% more than the Tascam.
As you know, I don't know anything about the features & terminology, but need to know what makes Roland worth the extra,,,, if indeed anything ?
thanks again
Yeah but the rode uses electronic EQ to lower the self-noise. I believe it shifts the noise to a different frequency, but I forget the particulars. Just don't think you're going to get a freelunch from a cheap mass produced mic.Thanks, didn't know that.
Thanks guys,
My initial use for this item, is ambient outdoor / wildlife / nature recording, in stereo.
As I want a pretty good separation, I want to use external mic's - set apart.
For the moment, that needs to be my main objective.
I am imagining that lots of time will be quite quiet,,,, maybe the odd owl call, possibly bat sonar, insects etc, so I don't want to record loads of background machine noise/hiss etc.
I also need to take the interface into account – have read that some recorders have bad connections. Snow good buying anything that will only pick up arc’ing, clicking,,,, or nothing at all.
Of course,,,,, the recorder is only the beginning,,,,,,
Thanks all for your help & advice. It's well appreciated.
As I'm not 100% certain of what I'm doing,,,, or even if it will just be a flash in the pan,,,, I have to start somewhere, that won't break the bank.
It looks like I'll be going for the Tascam 05. I'll probably order one over the weekend, gives a bit more time for input. What should come in the box (size/type of SD etc) ? Where do you guys in the UK buy this sort of stuff ?
I'll be treating this as a learning curve, and if I get into it, or want to take it further, then i'll have a bit of experience to call on.
For the time being, I'll try it with its internal mic's & see how I get on.
Cheers
F
Am hoping to record the sea shore - hence stereo. I want to try catching:
1/ each end of a small wave/ripple
2/ 'follow' one along the beach,,,,,, from mic to mic (speaker to speaker) type of thing. (Taboo by Arthur Lyman was great for this - way back in the 50's !?)
Put the SD card in the DR-05 and have the recorder format it. You should always format the card by way of the recorder, not in your computer.
The machine arrived a couple of days ago, so am - slowly - getting used to it around the home.
A couple of posts ago you were talking about next step, i. e. building mics based on inexpensive caps.
When you are ready to do that, I suggest you to consider Primo caps instead of Panasonic WM 61, especially if your goal is recording nature sounds. Primo caps are quieter (ca. 14 dB self noise) and better but still inexpensive.
The model is EM-172.
Personally I didn't find anything about rewiring or modding....
Would it be any easier by using a EM173 instead?