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Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
I have a compact Sony cassette recorder (model TCS-580V) for recording sessions or concerts or just tunes from friends that I want to learn. However, becaues of poor sound quality, and other reasons, I'm interested in a new digital recording product.
I'm curious what devices people find useful in this regard.
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
I'm surprisingly happy with the recorder I put on my iPod, a small thing by Griffint (iTalk). Great for learning tunes, but not studio quality obviously. Cheap though, if you already happen to have an iPod.
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
It all depends on how much you care to spend. The replies so far refer to units ranging from $20 to $1000 or more and they all do the job of field recording. I suggest settling on your specific requirements before you go shopping.
If you’re mainly interested in capturing the music well enough to learn it, there are several pocket units for under $50 that do an acceptable job.
If you want something that you’ll enjoy listening to later, it gets more complicated. An external stereo mic should give you a quantum leap in sound quality. If sound quality is important, you should give as much weight to the mic as to the recorder in your decision. Units that support a good quality external stereo mic will probably be bigger and heavier. Now maybe you need a mic stand and maybe a mic preamp. And now it’s not quite so convenient or unobtrosive, but it’ll sound fairly good.
I’ve had several friends who started recording sessions and festivals many years ago. They tried lots of equipment over the years and they all seemed to arrive at one of two conclusions. Either they go for cheap, convenient and replaceable, like the $30 pocket MP3 recorder, or they go for something like an entry-level professional field recording unit with external stereo mic. In between those choices, you might find something workable, but it might not be durable.
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
You didn't say how much you want to spend. However, my recommendation would be a minidisc recorder. Paired with a decent mic, the sound quality is great. Just be sure that any model you look at can use an external mic.
Prices are all over the map, especially if you are comfortable buying through ebay. But regardless, you are not looking at over $300 for the recorder and mic.
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
Letty, you can improve the recording quality of your iPod + iTalk immensely by plugging a good mic into the pin (headphone) jack on the iTalk. Something like the Sony ECM-DS70P (available for $59.95 at minidisco.com) will do wonders. With any recording device - be it cassette deck, minidisc, iRiver, iPod, flash, whatever - the mic makes all the difference. Built-in condenser mics or the like are crap. Get a good mic and you'll be amazed at the difference!
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
I use a little mp3 recorder to record session tunes. Most have the voice recording function which is (on my device) kind of like a cassette recording without the hiss. It's not very good audio quality but you can always normalize or otherwise boost the signal on your pc to get decent listenable results. Definitely more than good enough for learning yer new tunes.
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
RATBISCUIT:
Thanks for the link to Vermont Folklife Centre. Very comprehensive, although 70% of it is incomprehensible to me at this time.
I use a $35 cassette recorder with a $20 microphone for session tunes, etc., and it seems good enough for learning tunes when replayed on my home system.
Of course, there is a lot to be said for the instant selection and replay control of a CD.
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
I use a Iriver H340 MP3 player with an external stereo mike. I've used it at our session just switching it on and leaving it on for the duration. I then edit out the reasonable sets, convert them and put them on a CD. The sound quality is remakably good.
I should be careful about recording concerts though, I'm sure you would be breaking some sort of copyright rule.
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
"So am I hearing correctly that the iPods will support a good quality external mic?"
Yes.....and no.
It depends on the model of iPod you've got. The 1st generation ones won't record at all, nor will the 5th generation (video iPod), although the 5th ones should be able to record at CD quality when the third-party manufacturers start to make input devices for them. For the other iPods, the iTalk add-on records at 8kHz, but you can install Linux (podzilla) which will let you record at (I believe) 96kHz via the headphone socket without having to buy any extra hardware apart from the mic. This is probably only for enthusiasts though - it's not just a matter of plugging in a device.
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
A flexible and reasonably affordable quality solution can be had with an M-Audio 24/96 2 track recorder and an audio-technica at822 stereo condenser.
I use a more costly solution for field recording but this system allows one to record at far greater than CD resolution, offers two mic preamps with phantom power, easy export via usb and with the at822 a very quick and easy setup time. Both components can be carried in a pocket. The recorder is $399 and the mic is $249
Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
I have a compact Sony cassette recorder (model TCS-580V) for recording sessions or concerts or just tunes from friends that I want to learn. However, becaues of poor sound quality, and other reasons, I'm interested in a new digital recording product.
I'm curious what devices people find useful in this regard.
Thanks.
Jeff Zajac
# Posted on January 31st 2006 by Mariajef
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
Escellent review of options and methods at Vermont Folk LIfe:
http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/archive-fieldguides.html
# Posted on January 31st 2006 by ratbiscuit
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
I use an iRiver ihp 890 with a Sony condenser mic taped to it. In terms of recent digital advancement it's like a trained hermit crab on a leash, but it works, uploads to computer to make mp3 files, and was relatively cheap. Here are some ancient threads discussing products. They're from last year.
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display.php/7517/comments#comment161201
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display.php/8616/comments#comment184209
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display.php/5958/comments#comment127889
# Posted on January 31st 2006 by ∅
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
I'm surprisingly happy with the recorder I put on my iPod, a small thing by Griffint (iTalk). Great for learning tunes, but not studio quality obviously. Cheap though, if you already happen to have an iPod.
# Posted on January 31st 2006 by Letty
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
It all depends on how much you care to spend. The replies so far refer to units ranging from $20 to $1000 or more and they all do the job of field recording. I suggest settling on your specific requirements before you go shopping.
If you’re mainly interested in capturing the music well enough to learn it, there are several pocket units for under $50 that do an acceptable job.
If you want something that you’ll enjoy listening to later, it gets more complicated. An external stereo mic should give you a quantum leap in sound quality. If sound quality is important, you should give as much weight to the mic as to the recorder in your decision. Units that support a good quality external stereo mic will probably be bigger and heavier. Now maybe you need a mic stand and maybe a mic preamp. And now it’s not quite so convenient or unobtrosive, but it’ll sound fairly good.
I’ve had several friends who started recording sessions and festivals many years ago. They tried lots of equipment over the years and they all seemed to arrive at one of two conclusions. Either they go for cheap, convenient and replaceable, like the $30 pocket MP3 recorder, or they go for something like an entry-level professional field recording unit with external stereo mic. In between those choices, you might find something workable, but it might not be durable.
# Posted on January 31st 2006 by Bob himself
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
You didn't say how much you want to spend. However, my recommendation would be a minidisc recorder. Paired with a decent mic, the sound quality is great. Just be sure that any model you look at can use an external mic.
Prices are all over the map, especially if you are comfortable buying through ebay. But regardless, you are not looking at over $300 for the recorder and mic.
# Posted on January 31st 2006 by Craymcla
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
Letty, you can improve the recording quality of your iPod + iTalk immensely by plugging a good mic into the pin (headphone) jack on the iTalk. Something like the Sony ECM-DS70P (available for $59.95 at minidisco.com) will do wonders. With any recording device - be it cassette deck, minidisc, iRiver, iPod, flash, whatever - the mic makes all the difference. Built-in condenser mics or the like are crap. Get a good mic and you'll be amazed at the difference!
# Posted on January 31st 2006 by johnkerr
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
I use a little mp3 recorder to record session tunes. Most have the voice recording function which is (on my device) kind of like a cassette recording without the hiss. It's not very good audio quality but you can always normalize or otherwise boost the signal on your pc to get decent listenable results. Definitely more than good enough for learning yer new tunes.
# Posted on January 31st 2006 by Cammy
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
So am I hearing correctly that the iPods will support a good quality external mic?
# Posted on February 1st 2006 by Brendan
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
RATBISCUIT:
Thanks for the link to Vermont Folklife Centre. Very comprehensive, although 70% of it is incomprehensible to me at this time.
I use a $35 cassette recorder with a $20 microphone for session tunes, etc., and it seems good enough for learning tunes when replayed on my home system.
Of course, there is a lot to be said for the instant selection and replay control of a CD.
# Posted on February 1st 2006 by oldstrings
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
I use a Iriver H340 MP3 player with an external stereo mike. I've used it at our session just switching it on and leaving it on for the duration. I then edit out the reasonable sets, convert them and put them on a CD. The sound quality is remakably good.
I should be careful about recording concerts though, I'm sure you would be breaking some sort of copyright rule.
Daver
# Posted on February 1st 2006 by Daver
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
Daver at £269 your H340 MP3 player would need to give you "remarkably good sound quality"!
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews76971.html
# Posted on February 1st 2006 by Ptarmigan
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
"So am I hearing correctly that the iPods will support a good quality external mic?"
Yes.....and no.
It depends on the model of iPod you've got. The 1st generation ones won't record at all, nor will the 5th generation (video iPod), although the 5th ones should be able to record at CD quality when the third-party manufacturers start to make input devices for them. For the other iPods, the iTalk add-on records at 8kHz, but you can install Linux (podzilla) which will let you record at (I believe) 96kHz via the headphone socket without having to buy any extra hardware apart from the mic. This is probably only for enthusiasts though - it's not just a matter of plugging in a device.
# Posted on February 1st 2006 by JerryH
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
I vote for iPods or any mac product, they simply are superior for media/music etc. my two cents.
# Posted on February 1st 2006 by suzique
Re: Digital Devices for Recording Tunes at Sessions & Concerts
A flexible and reasonably affordable quality solution can be had with an M-Audio 24/96 2 track recorder and an audio-technica at822 stereo condenser.
I use a more costly solution for field recording but this system allows one to record at far greater than CD resolution, offers two mic preamps with phantom power, easy export via usb and with the at822 a very quick and easy setup time. Both components can be carried in a pocket. The recorder is $399 and the mic is $249
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Live/Sound/Microphones/Wireless?sku=270560
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Recording/Multi/Track/Recorders?sku=702520
Good luck!
-holbrook
# Posted on February 5th 2006 by holbrook