Hey thanks for the reply's. My main reason for wanting to learn taping is, I visit a lot of Juke Joints in Ms and some other Blues venues around and although not every gig is something I would like to listen to again there are nites when everything is just right and I would love to preserve the moment for my listening pleasure. The "demo" for the Son is just a side project. Thanks again!
Bill
I agree with someone else that said it...MAJOR plus t for caring about delta blues. I'll give you some details...for what it's worth, people are always loathe to give specifics because they don't want to come off as providing specific recommendations or they just don't want to take the time.
For a starter taping unit, you are looking at investing probably around $300 at the very minimum. I'd say any less than that, you probalby should hold off spending anything until you can get up to the minimum because you won't be happy with the results, particularly since your interests are sorta motivated by a desire to archive. That says to me that you're gonna be somewhat interested in quality, although you also said that your prime thing is getting a recording to preserve the special moments. You can most def do that with a starter rig. So, this budget you can get a pair of nice small mics that will give you surprising good quality. the overall sound quality from these rigs is really surprisingly good. For SURE you need to do some homework to become familiar with some basic model numbers. Look for Chris Church's mics from Church Audio or the AT-853 based mics from Sound Professionals...the model number is SP-CMC-4 or SP-CMC-4U. You'll need a battery box to power the mics. These run anywheres from $50 from Sound Pros to maybe $160 for Chris's...which people on this list swear by. Look on the Sound Pros site and search for battery boxes for just a basic explanation of what these do, but they basically provide a 9V battery to power your mics. Finally, you'll need a recorder and you'll want to buy one that has a Line In jack. Most have a mic in jack too..the mic in jack provides like 3v to power your mics...not very much and the 9V battery box usually is a better option. Some people are still using the original incarnation of mini-disc. Used MD players can be found for less than $50 and are very easy to find on ebay. Going back only a few years now, DAT was the standard and DAT decks can be found on the Yard Sale forum for pretty cheap these days ($100 - $150)...but DAT decks tend to need a reasonable amount of maintenance. Hi-MD decks would be a good entry level recorder...and you should be able to find something on the web used for $100 - $150. Go to minidisco.com for an explanation of hi-md. However, saving the best for the last, the most popular alternative on this forum is a Creative Jukebox 3, commonly known as the JB3 or the IRiver. These offer direct to disc recording using a Line In or Optical In connection. It's easy to operate and they are quite reliable. The JB3 with two batteries will power for as long as 5 or 6 hours without shutting down. These run anywhere from about $120 to $200 in the yard sale, but most run $130 to $150 and the Irivers are a little higher, but more compact and convenient to use.
Having said all of the above, if I were starting over again, I'd personally skip the entry level and dive straight into the mid level. The reason is simple, experience is that you will be just like everyone else that's on this list...it won't take you long before taping really becomes more of your life than you expected. You won't believe me now, but you will read this thread a year from now and shake your head because a) you'll realize that I'm right, and b) you'll no longer own the original gear that you bought if you spent $300. OK, so it's not a rule, but a rule of thumb that ALOT of people get bitten by the live taping bug and fast outgrow their entry level rig. This is why you should check out the yard sale if $300 is the way you choose to go, because there's a pretty high turnover of that gear.
Sooo, what I'd do if I were starting over is save my money until I could afford a mid-level rig. Investment here would be anywhere from about $600 total to about $800 or 900 or maybe even more. I know that sounds like alot of money, but there's lots of components to this hobby and you simply CANNOT believe what most of us have spent on our rig. I'm betting before it's all over you will be in this mud pit slogging away with the rest of us.
OK, starting with mics, you'd want to look for a pair in the $200 to $400 range...here are a few good choices...Oktava MC-012...AKG C1000...Studio Project C4...and my personal favorites that I'm hearing these days...Avantone CK1. Coming out the mics you need a set of mic cables...anywheres from $40 to $100...don't skimp too much on this cost cause they're important to good sound...then the preamp. The preamp/ADC cannot be underesimtated as to how important it is to the end result. Get a good unit which will cost you at least $300. Look for a modified Edirol UA-5 (used ones on the YS daily), or maybe Denecke AD-20/PS-2 combination. The UA-5 is your best bet and if you get one that's not modified at all, you might be able to score one for less than $200. Again, look through the archive though to bone up on the various incarnations of the UA-5. Finally, you'll again need the recorder...refer to the options above. If you have a higher budget, there are some really cool digital recorders out there that are reasonably priced...Edirol R-09 for $300 uses SD media cards and records in both 16 and 24 bit, Marantz PMD-660 ($450) which records on CF media but is only 16 bit) and some others.
Since the mid-level stuff is more serious gear, it's not as compact. The rig that I mentioned in the first paragraph as entry level would be quite stealthy and small. Everything can fit in your coat pocket. For the mid level, you'll need a stand, bag, some mounts for your mics and various accessories to stash in your bag, like a flashlight, duct tape, etc. and yada.
Once you get it all, set up in your living room and play with it because if you wait until you get out the venue, you'll be so excited to be taping your first show that SOMETHING will mess up. By testing everything out at home first, you'll eliminate 3 or 4 rookie mistakes right off the bat. DEFINITELY record something in your living room because you want to make sure everything is working, that you know how to hook it all up, etc.
The other thing you should do is visit
www.archive.org. Listen to setups like you're contemplating buying. What you buy will end up sounding pretty close to what you hear on the archive. Sure the dynamics of a specific venue may change the overall sound a bit, but generally if you listen to three or four samples of the same rig, you get a feel for what you can expect from a specific rig.
So there ya go!!! Details!!!
Topic: Old Dog Trying to learn new trick, HELP! (Read 7362 times)