my son is a composer, and needs an inexpensive, easy to set up rig to record live small ensemble classical/chamber music, like string quartets, etc. i would appreciate any recommendations on putting together a complete entry level set up for him. thanks.
Budget? "Inexpensive" means different things to different people.
Open recording environment, stealth, or either depending on situation?
he will be able to place mics wherever he needs to on stage. i was thinking of perhaps a marantz pmd 660 basic, a stand, and a pair of decent mics for ORTF. thanks for your comments.
I have an Oade ACM (advanced concert mod) Martantz 660, and it is really a great all in one solution...but I'm beginning to give the Fostex FR2-LE some serious consideration. 24/96, xlr, phantom, and from listening to the pulls of a number of folks here who are running unmodded, it sounds pretty nice right out of the box, which means you can get one and make a decision later about having it modded.
If I was getting a rig together now, I'd check it out. ;)
I bet that something like some used AKG 391 > ACM 660 or FR2LE would sound pretty good for not a whole lot of money. You can get a variety of caps for the AKGs so you can experiment with different configurations and placement. I ran the 391 / 393 for a while and they can overload with loud rock music, but you won't have that problem with what your son wants to do.