Topic: Recommend portable recorder w/ sp/dif & XLR's

[Donnie L.]

Hi Taper folks,

I've been out of the loop for a while on field taping.  Nobody uses DAT anymore barely, so I'm wondering what kind of unit is worth purchasing these days?  I'm interested in having a s/pdif output at the least, and input is good too.  Also, interested in having a XLR mic inputs too.  Thanks in advance these days, also battery power is a must, not really interested in recharge-able batteries.  Something that I can use a some duracells ...?

sincerely,

Donnie L.

[Belexes]

Fostex FR2-LE would be my pick.  Not for stealthing really, but for someone coming off DAT and wants to open tape.

[Javier Cinakowski]

The Sony D1 or D50 with xlr adapter is the only solution that works for all the features you describe.  spdif and analog inputs/outputs and steathable...

The FR2-LE is a nice deck as well as the PMD660, but neither has spdif in or out.   

[Donnie L.]

thanks guys,  I have been thinking of using my Boss BR-900...but I don't know how much music it will get on 1.0 gig of compact flash UNCOMPRESSED .WAV OR .CDA...it's  a nice unit, and does run off batteries, but I got to check it out in detail....it has decent xlr's and the cd burner built in...maybe I'll call roland to check it out...

thanks so much for the replies...

Donnie L.

[JasonSobel]

The Tascam HD-P2 has S/PDIF input and output, RCA line-ins, and XLR mic-in (with phantom power).  It can easily be powered with an external battery pack, or with internal AA's.

[H₂O]

I would say the following:

- Tascam HD-P2 < $1000
- Sound Devices 702 < $2000
- Edirol R-44 (Has SPDIF I/O don't know if it resamples - Does anyone know if the R-44 resamples on the SPDIF In (The Original R-4 did the later R-4 Pro did not)? < $1000

All use flash based storage for recording

[John Willett]

If you are in the SD 702 bracket - add the NAGRA LB to your list (due late September I understand) - I'm most impressed with what I have seen so far (prototype at the European AES).

[Donnie L.]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies...so cool...

I'm surprised that nobody has offered up a musician type machine like my Boss BR-900 CD...it has 2 XLR inputs, uses regular batteries, it will record about 3 hours of 16 bit , 44.1 kHz  if not more according to the manual...it says up to about 500 min, but it also is an estimate...this machine also has a built in CDR presser at 2x, 4x and 8x...I use it for demo songwriting, but I'll use it for non stealth field recording...it has a USB and converts to .wav or .aiff files...so I can export via USB, it also has a sp/dif output only...

I guess my next question will be what about the most reliable steath recorder for the cheapest price...

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

The Tascam HD-P2 has S/PDIF input and output, RCA line-ins, and XLR mic-in (with phantom power).  It can easily be powered with an external battery pack, or with internal AA's.

I bought the P2 after much comparison to the Marantz PMD671.  I went with the Oade Mod P2 for a few reasons:  no features were disabled with the mods (671 has features removed), and the P2 has a larger display.  Either recorder is fantastic! 

If you want something smaller, but almost as powerful, the Tascam DR1 and/or the Marantz PMD-660 are good units.  They don't have the SPDIF inputs, but offer a small all-in-one recorder. 

If you want something even smaller, perhaps a preamp into an Edirol R09 or similar recorder.  The M-Audio MicroTracker offers SPDIF input in a palm-sized recorder...

Terry


I just saw this on Yard Sale, its seems like a good price...  http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,109234.0.html

[johnw]

If you are in the SD 702 bracket - add the NAGRA LB to your list (due late September I understand) - I'm most impressed with what I have seen so far (prototype at the European AES).

Cool product - hadn't heard of this yet. Do you believe it will be priced to compete with the 702? I would think it would be closer to $3000 US...

[lordbelial]

PMD-671, my 0.2

[Ozpeter]

I did a short test of the R-44 spdif in which showed that its recording via that route (at 44.1/16 bits) was identical to the original.

I tend to regard it as a replacement for my HHB PortaDat - with extra channels!

[jlykos]

The Sony D1 or D50 with xlr adapter is the only solution that works for all the features you describe.  spdif and analog inputs/outputs and steathable...

I think that the Sony models only have optical inputs and outputs, not S/PDIF.

[John Willett]

If you are in the SD 702 bracket - add the NAGRA LB to your list (due late September I understand) - I'm most impressed with what I have seen so far (prototype at the European AES).

Cool product - hadn't heard of this yet. Do you believe it will be priced to compete with the 702? I would think it would be closer to $3000 US...

It depends on exchange rates - my understanding is that it will be about the same price in the UK - and the LB will come as a complete kit, so don't forget to factor everything else into it.  It will be slighly cheaper than the Nagra BB is at the moment is what I have heard (and it should be much better than the BB).

[sunjan]

I'm surprised that nobody has offered up a musician type machine like my Boss BR-900 CD

Looking at the specs, I see a few caveats, which would explain why it's not popular in the (open) taper community.

Useful Capacity CompactFlash: 32 MB to 1 GB
Weight: 2.2 kg (4 lbs. 14 oz.)
http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=718

The price tag ($540.99) it sweet, but OTOH you can get an FR2-LE for the same price. I think most tapers here would prefer the more lightweight model, if the rest of the specs are about the same.


BTW, I found the European price for the Nagra LB here:
http://www.nagrit.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=3_47_461
€2,290 + VAT = $3,380 + tax?!?