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Gear / Technical Help => Recording Gear => Topic started by: philbombs on September 22, 2006, 03:00:06 PM

Title: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: philbombs on September 22, 2006, 03:00:06 PM
hey all...
i am brand spankin' new here, so allow me to beg your indulgance on a question that has probably already been asked and answered time and time again...(if this is the case, kindly post the link to where i can find some info)....

here goes...i work at a club that runs its sound off of a 16 channel allen&heath...i want to patch in and get soundboard recordings that i can then upload onto my Mac for bit torrent purposes...so im in the market for the best possible recording device to suit my needs...now, i've done some slight research on the nomad JB3, and get the incling that it isn't so much mac friendly...is this so? Is this a recommended recording device? What are my best options?

Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: thegreatgumbino on September 22, 2006, 03:26:30 PM
hey all...
i am brand spankin' new here, so allow me to beg your indulgance on a question that has probably already been asked and answered time and time again...(if this is the case, kindly post the link to where i can find some info)....

here goes...i work at a club that runs its sound off of a 16 channel allen&heath...i want to patch in and get soundboard recordings that i can then upload onto my Mac for bit torrent purposes...so im in the market for the best possible recording device to suit my needs...now, i've done some slight research on the nomad JB3, and get the incling that it isn't so much mac friendly...is this so? Is this a recommended recording device? What are my best options?

What is your budget?  There are several options, but they are budget dependant.  The iRiver H120 or H320 come to mind.  They show up as an external drive when mounted on the mac.
Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: philbombs on September 22, 2006, 03:54:12 PM
...budgeting would be around $300-ish...

what are the cabel requirments (the in's and out's) of the iRiver...i would be running two quarter inch outs from the soundboard...

and how does this mount, specifically, to the mac?

Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: bluegrass_brad on September 22, 2006, 04:02:14 PM
The nomad JB3 works just fine with a Mac.  I use it all the time.  Just download the program XNJB (freeware) and you are golden.  Only downside is it only uses USB to transfer so its slower than a Firewire, but no biggie really.
Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: philbombs on September 22, 2006, 04:21:10 PM
hmmm...bluegrass, do you know much about this iRiver piece...comparitavely, i wonder what the pro's and con's are of the two for mac users...
Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: philbombs on September 22, 2006, 05:01:17 PM
choices, choices...i guess i have my research cut out for me...

still, in the meantime, i am open to any advice on this...lemme hear it!  and if ya have any links to where i can obtain more info on some of these products, link away...

i would like to say that quality and simplicity of use are key in my decision...and to reiterate, basically, i am just going to upload the sound files onto the 'ol G4 for bit torrenting purposes...whatever device that offers the smoothest transition throughout the entire recording/uploading process will get my cash...

already you all have been mighty helpful...thank you!
Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: tonyvt on September 22, 2006, 05:08:14 PM
Back in early July I purchased a new Edirol R-09 and Applecare replaced my old G4 iBook with a new MacBook. Both have been excellent.
Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: philbombs on September 22, 2006, 06:04:57 PM
sounds super nice of applecare...for me, personally, i just kind of inherited the G4, which was previously pretty much unused...its not a laptop though, it sits pretty at home. and i gotta say...i love it...i wanna put it to great use...

whatcha think of the edirol r-09? do tell...
Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: ashevillain on September 22, 2006, 08:11:57 PM
I never could get the Iriver 120 to play nice with my Mac...others seem to not have a problem with it. YMMV

I just got an R-09 but haven't had the chance to play with it other than to determine what everyone else has = that the battery door sucks.
Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: bgalizio on September 22, 2006, 08:45:54 PM
No problems using the iRiver with my Mac. I think it's probably the best solution for you right now.

Here's one thread on SBD patch cables:
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=34254.0
Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: willndmb on September 22, 2006, 10:27:36 PM
microtrack works fine with mac too
Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: CQBert on September 22, 2006, 10:37:01 PM
Go get a copy of pro-tools and record every track directly to the machine..... ;D
Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: tapeheadtoo on September 23, 2006, 09:42:14 PM
SD card from my R-09 plugged into generic USB 2.0 card reader plugged into my iMac G5... then Sound Studio and xACT to finish it out... my flac files are ready to be uploaded the same night of the show.
Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: bucagator on September 24, 2006, 08:30:09 AM
The iKey works great for us. We record chuurch services onto a flash drive, plug the flash drive into the mac, download it, edit it, and burn a cd. It's easy. We take a y cable (1 TRS to two rca) from the headphones out of ou A&H icon digital mixer into the iKey. Get the new iKey plus that has metering capabilities.
Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: Krispy D on September 24, 2006, 09:19:07 AM
how big is this room.  how good is the sound.  I don't want to sound condesending but you maybe very dissapointed with the results of a dsbd recording.  I would look into a butget aud rig.  you can always do a couple matrixes if you want.  I run sound in a small room and quite often don't have the whole band miced.  this would make a poor dsbd tape for sure!

food for thought
Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: bgalizio on September 24, 2006, 10:22:35 AM
how big is this room.  how good is the sound.  I don't want to sound condesending but you maybe very dissapointed with the results of a dsbd recording.  I would look into a butget aud rig.  you can always do a couple matrixes if you want.  I run sound in a small room and quite often don't have the whole band miced.  this would make a poor dsbd tape for sure!

food for thought

True, but starting with a recorder for patching (SBD and through other rigs) is a great way to see if you like this hobby. You'll get some good recordings and get a feel for how the whole taping scene works. Then, if for whatever reason you don't like it, you still have an mp3 player.

FWIW: I went from MD for SBD patching to a UA-5 and JB3. Then I added the Studio Project C4's for my first full AUD rig. Doing things little by little was easier on the grad student wallet, I got some great recordings, and a feel for what to do and what I like/dislike about taping.
Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: philbombs on September 24, 2006, 11:05:36 PM
any of these devices mentioned also have XLR inputs...it just dawned on me that sometimes the whole band i would like to record is not  fully mic'd...then i'd combo the SDB and stereo pair together...whatcha's think?
Title: Re: best recording device that is compatibale with Mac's...
Post by: bgalizio on September 25, 2006, 07:34:24 AM
any of these devices mentioned also have XLR inputs...it just dawned on me that sometimes the whole band i would like to record is not  fully mic'd...then i'd combo the SDB and stereo pair together...whatcha's think?

For combining the SBD and stereo mic pair, you're in the realm of either an "on-the-fly" matrix with something like a UA-5 or you'd be using two different recorders and syncing the recordings in post. Search for matrix for more information.