Topic: Looking for a decent but cheaper hard drive recorder

[phriq]

Hey everyone.
   I am new to the taping scene. I have my mics and battery module now and am just looking for a good recorder. i think i want one that uses a hard drive as opposed to minidisc or DAT. Somehting small but that can record alot. good for stealthing...any suggestions. noob here. please help.
  thanks everyone

[flintstone]

"decent and cheap" describes the iRiver H120 (20GB) and H140 (40GB) recorders perfectly.   These iRiver models are discontinued, but you can find them on eBay and on this board for $150 to $200 delivered.

Be sure to install the "fabulous and free" operating system from www.rockbox.org to make your rig work much better for recording.

Flintstone

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

The Nomad Jukebox 3 also works very well.  I used to have 2 of them.

You may be able to find one on EBAY, or occasionally for sale here on Yard Sale.  They run about $150-$200...

Terry

[beefstew]

sounds like u definatly want a Edirol R-09

[phriq]

what is the Edirol R-09 ?

[Nick's Picks]

it is a recorder from the company Edirol.
http://www.rolandus.com/products/productlist.aspx?ParentId=114
why that would be better than the iRiver options is that its analog input is light years ahead of those.
the iRivers have a digital input...where the Edirol does not.
the R9 is also a 24bit recorder, the others are 16bit (and old, I might add).

the R9 sounds really nice just running mics/batbox straight into it.

[flintstone]

The R-09 is a good recorder, but it uses SD and SDHC flash cards,
not a hard disc (as the original poster requested).
Flintstone

[phriq]

how much recording time could you get on a 2 gig SD card? do they make cards larger than that?
 this looks like it may be an ok device. does it compress the audio or can you record in wav?

[Len Moskowitz (Core Sound)]

Perhaps the original poster doesn't know about flash memory recorders.

Hard drives are sensitive to shock.  And the popular ones that folks here liked (e.g., the Nomad Jukebox3 and iRiver h120/h140) have been discontinued.  And some of them record the electrical noise that their hard drives make when recording on their analog mic inputs.

I'd recommend the M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96.  Now that the folks at M-Audio have finally fixed the firmware (with version 4.3.5) it's dead reliable.  And in my opinion it has better and quieter mic pre-amps than the Edirol R-9.  Also (and this is important), it has an S/PDIF digital audio input so you can use an external true 24-bit mic pre/ADC - the Edirol does not have a digital input.

Without the external input you'll be forever limited to the 16-bits of dynamic range that the internal pre-amps allow, despite the 24-bit name on the recorder.

The down side of the MicroTrack is that it doesn't have interchangeable batteries.  That'snot much of a problem because it records for 4+ hours on a single charge and also lets you use low-cost external USB battery packs that take standard AA batteries (rechargeable or not).

You'll get 1.5 hours per  gigabyte at 16-bits/44.1 Kilosamples per second (CD quality).  You can get a 4 GB Compact Flash memory card for around $30 to $40 these days.  That's a lot more storage than you'll need to record the usual concert.


Len Moskowitz
Core Sound
www.core-sound.com

[rreidiii]

I'd recommend the M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96.  Now that the folks at M-Audio have finally fixed the firmware (with version 4.3.5) it's dead reliable.  And in my opinion it has better and quieter mic pre-amps than the Edirol R-9.  Also (and this is important), it has an S/PDIF digital audio input so you can use an external true 24-bit mic pre/ADC - the Edirol does not have a digital input.

I only have ver. 1.4.5 on mine and it works great.I can't wait to get a hold of this version 4.3.5 I'm asuming there are no more 2gig splits and this thing could probably run on either boggers or beer.

[Church-Audio]

I love my iriver...

[Len Moskowitz (Core Sound)]

I love my iriver...

They're good machines for what they are.  We have two of the iHP-120s here. 

Choosing between them and the MicroTrack or our PDAudio system, there's no comparison.  The iRivers stay home while the others go to the clubs and concerts.


Len Moskowitz
Core Sound
www.core-sound.com

[flintstone]

I agree that the MT (aka Edirol/Roland MicroTrack 2496) is a capable machine.
The cost of the MT is about $360 these days unless you get lucky on eBay. 
You'd have to buy 5 4GB Compactflash cards to give the MT the same capacity
as the H120, so add $150 to $200 more. 

Only the original poster can tell us if this still fits into the "decent but cheaper"
category.

Flintstone

[rowjimmy]

I've never heard of an i-river or an r9 exploding from a faulty internal battery.
Though, in fairness, I have only heard of one MT doing that but... I wouldn't want mine to be the second.

[dactylus]

I've never heard of an i-river or an r9 exploding from a faulty internal battery.
Though, in fairness, I have only heard of one MT doing that but... I wouldn't want mine to be the second.

Not worried at all about my 24/96 blowing up - No problems.  That one isolated incident involved using an external HD to write to didn't it??  Much more strain on the battery than writing to compact flash...