1. Location of mics
2. Mic Configuration
3. Room mix(I list this 3rd since ALOT of times the mix was HORRIBLE live and the tapes sound WAY better than the venue did that particular night. this has actually happened MANY times)
4. Mics
5. Preamp
6. ADC (Analog-to-Digital Converter)
7. Cables
8. Recorder (Bit-Bucket)
As far as "Bit Bucket", I was under the impression that if you ARE running high-priced/quality mics like neumann's, a poor recorder will limit
your fidelity.
Also, 5 & 6 on your list are 2 things I would not want to have on-site, which is why I'm asking about the quality of the Oade mod, hoping
I won't have to carry additional gear.
well, in reference to Bean's list, that list is of functions that must be performed (for a digital recording).
in many cases, the pre-amp and ADC (#5 & 6) are contained within the recorder. in that case, the quality of recorder is important, because you will be using the recorder's internal pre-amp and internal ADC. when people around here say "bit-bucket", they are talking about a recorder that accepts a digital input from an external ADC. in that case, the recorder imparts no sound to the actual recording, because all it is doing is writing the digital input to a file. i.e. when I sold my M-Audio Microtrack and bought a Tascam HD-P2, the actual
sound of my recordings didn't change, because the only function of both decks for me was to record an S/PDIF data stream from my V3. the sole purpose of the upgrade was the HD-P2 is a much more reliable recorder.
in your case, the oade mods would upgrade the internal pre-amp. many people on this board think that the Oade pre-amp upgrades in the past have helped a lot, relative to the stock pre-amp in many pieces of gear. although at this point, I have not heard any actual recordings with an Oade mod FR2-LE (and for that matter, I don't know if anyone has), so any talk about these mods is speculation based on positive experiences with oade mods on other gear in the past.