Topic: Hand helds - How do they handle vibration?

[relddif]

I am (or will be soon actually) new to the world of hand held recording devices, but DO have some experiences with some "studio in a box" (DAW)units...Tascam 2488 and KORG D1600

These DAW's (especially the 2488) are prone to lock ups / hard drive skip / etc. when subjected to vibrations...ie: set up for a live band recording sessions, and the drums make if lock up

Do the hand helds suffer from this type of issue too or is there no little spinning hard drive to worry about in these?

Sorry if this is a dumb question   

[rastasean]

While I don't know much about the devices you listed, most people on here think hard drives are good but flash media is the better choice. There are different devices like the iriver H120 that has a hard drive but I've never heard of anyone stating it locks up that frequently--but I'm not a know it all, I'm sure it can happen. There is software for the irivers called rockbox that allows the hard drive not to spin up as much for longer recordings which I have installed on my iriver h120.

The companies that continue to make hard drive based recorders (i.e. sound devices) probably make them to last a little longer than 1st and 2nd generation ipods with hard drives since these recorders are a little pretty expensive.

Perhaps if you don't want to worry about lock up on hard drives, invest in a CF kind of recorder--R-09/HR, zoom H2/4, Fostex FR-2LE. I also think people have stated the sound devices allow for CF cards--in addition to a hard drive.

I hope someone can second my comments here and maybe even approve/disapprove of what I said in order for me to learn more.

[relddif]

So......I think you are saying there are NO vibration issues with a hand held recorder.......correct? 

And what does CF stand for?

[rastasean]

So......I think you are saying there are NO vibration issues with a hand held recorder.......correct? 

And what does CF stand for?

CF is compact flash. There are three different types and I don't know what they are. A quick search on google will tell you more than I care to explain. 

I think there will be vibrations no matter what but it is just a question if it will be bad enough. I haven't done nearly enough recording of ANY KIND to tell you how exactly it affects recordings but I can't imagine it being too bad. Most people hook their equipment up and leave it alone throughout the show, its not like they are running around with the SD 722 or h120 which would make bad vibrations. Not only that but people generally record away from the stage in front of the SBD where there probably is very, very little vibrations. Now if you were going to have a poorly designed hard drive recorder on a very, very loud show, there could be some problems there.

What kind of recordings and conditions are you looking at doing?

[relddif]

Recording band practice is where I fear vibrations might cause problems....mostly fromt he drums

We play on the 2nd level of my drummers garage, so there will be movement in the floor framing (versus playing on a concrete slab fer example)   

[rastasean]

In that case, my personal opinion, is that this wouldn't be an issue. Have you ever used a computer up there while recording? I wouldn't leave the recorder on the ground or directly in front of the drums but I seriously don't think it would be an issue. I would wait a couple days to see what else other people have to say about this issue, though.

[unclelouie]

Agreed. You'll be fine with any Compact Flash or Secure Digital card based recorder (such as R-09/HR, H2, H4, etc.) because they have no moving parts.  This is why digital recorders are great for stealthers; it's a spinning hard drive or rolling tape that will skip/lock with excessive movement.

The one thing you do have to worry about is handling noise if you're using the internal mics and physically holding the recorder. Fortunately that can be solved by using a mic stand.