Anyone got any experience with high-def portable audio recorders?
thinking of getting something for recording my band so we don't forget songs as we make them up and would like some advice.

been considering one of these
www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/2581_digital_recorder_ls-10_details_18565.htm
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 13:44, 26 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

Don't know about that one
but a friend of mine has a Tascam one and it's the business.

Go to www.soundonsound.com and search for 'portable recorder' if you want to see lots of reviews.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 13:56, Reply)

how would you rate the quality of the recording
if you use it in a room with a full band?

does it sound like you are in a room with a full band? or like someone did a mediocre recording of a full band?

thanks for the linky
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 13:58, Reply)

You have to be very careful about positioning the recorder
in order to get a decent balance.

Also, bear in mind it's going to depend a great deal on the room acoustics, where close micing would pretty much eliminate that. But used properly, it's not bad at all. The recording quality, from a technical standpoint, is pretty good.

One other thing - don't rely on the auto record level setting. Get someone to do it manually to avoid overloads and/or gain pumping.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:03, Reply)

thanks
it is mainly going to be used for recording jams and practices and such like so I'm sure we will be able to get reasonable positioning.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:06, Reply)

I can highly recommmend
the Zoom H4.

Goes from mp3 up to 96kHz WAV and it's great! Have used it for spoken word recordings as well as live band stuff and it sounds good. I tried it with just myself and a guitar once as well and was very impressed. The stereo effect is spooky...
(beanojam isn't really Ricardo Flange, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:01, Reply)

that was one of the ones I was just looking at
similar price to the olympus. The olympus would probably have won it already, if it weren't for the fact that the zoom has two xlr inputs...

edit: hmm, zoom can connect act as usb audio-computer interface, and comes with cubase LE....
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:07, Reply)

yeah
the usb thing is very good. doesn't even need any software; you just plug it in and it just shows up as another drive. copy your files and bingo!


dino dna...
(beanojam isn't really Ricardo Flange, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:14, Reply)

the new version of it looks even better
just got to persuade the band, and then it will be mine ours!
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:19, Reply)

Oh fucking hell!
I want one too now :(
WHY?
Why must you mock me so?
( Cawl, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:23, Reply)

because you deserve it?
I reckon this will come in handy for my side project too. Means I can get some drum loops and stuff from my drummer and then track my guitar and bass parts in the comfort of my own home.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:36, Reply)

I don't
Desperately need one though.
And in other sad news, my band has only got a few months left :(
( Cawl, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:38, Reply)

oh no!
that's a real shame.

What's the story?
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:43, Reply)

I'm moving far away in August/September.
Guitarist is joining the army.
Drummer is gonna still be in Essex.
( Cawl, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:45, Reply)

ah that sucks
where are you moving to?

or is it classified?
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:46, Reply)

Somewhere west!
*shrugs*
( Cawl, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:47, Reply)

heh heh
thankfully mine was a work purchase that i am legitimately able to 'borrow' if i want to use it myself.

you just have to watch the levels when you're cranking up the volume in the practise room. i had to turn it right down when i put it in there with my band. we're monstrously loud :D

got quite a good drum sound when sitting just in front if the kit with it too. our drummer has two bass drums and you could hear them ever so slightly panned left and right as i was sitting in the middle. marvellous!
(beanojam isn't really Ricardo Flange, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:26, Reply)

very nice
my band currently has a bit over a grand residing in my ISA, and not too many forthcoming outgoings. Bass player is already on board with the idea, as long as we get some monitor speakers at some point too, so should have one in a week or so hopefully ;-)

We're hoping to get our CD mixed soon, and get a proper website made, so might well inundate the board with stuff in the near future!
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:34, Reply)

we've just done a CD
and that cost us just over a grand...

it was money well spent though, our producer was awesome. i think we've caught him at a good moment, i suspect he'll start to get a bit too expensive for the likes of us very soon.
(beanojam isn't really Ricardo Flange, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:40, Reply)

we got the services of a producer for free as a favour to our patron
he's only worked with the likes of AC/DC, Diamond Head simple minds

:-D

he was fucking good. currently waiting for him to do the final mix of stuff.

I'm sure the recordings could have been done better, but we did record 14 tracks in one day...
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:43, Reply)

now that's hardcore
we did 5 days and only did 5 tracks! and even then we probably could have done with another day.

our producer was unfeasibly tall. i'm not sure why, but i wasn't expecting that. he seems to be starting to make a name for himself on the underground metal scene, but he hasn't worked with anyone on the same level as AC/DC... ;-)
(beanojam isn't really Ricardo Flange, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:51, Reply)

this guy has been around a while
he was a dude though, his ideas worked with ours perfectly. We're kind of dirty blues-rock-funk. Think Gomez and Pearl Jam crash into Stevie Ray Vaughn leaving all slightly crippled. and stoned.

Our singer makes up half the words as he goes along and we improvise a lot so tracking stuff wasn't really an option. We opted for a live feel, and it worked pretty well. Suited us too.

www.myspace.com/dumberthantheaveragebear if you are interested. our sound is a bit better now as I have a new amp :-D

I like metal a lot, so I'd be interested to hear your stuff
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 14:57, Reply)

i have sold two awesome amps
dammit. i worked my way all the way up to a Marshall JCM900, then sold it when i was skint. then when i'd managed to get hold of my dream Peavey 5150 half stack i had to do the same! gah!

i like your sound :D it's worlds away from the kind of music that dominates my cd collection, but i like lots of other stuff besides and moonlighting as a sound engineer means i get to see lots of different live bands; so i appreciate all kinds of things.

you asked for it, prepare to have your ears destroyed by Cymbiotic. The first track that plays is the one from the new CD...
(beanojam isn't really Ricardo Flange, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 15:18, Reply)

Thanks :-)
I had been using a Marshall VS100 that I'd had for ages but frankly, it's shit for everything apart from shredding. and only good for that if turned at least halfway up.

I've got myself a Fender Blues Junior, which considering it is merely 15 watts of wonderful valve-ness is stupidly loud. The sound is so good for our type of music. Using a Boss Blues Driver which is superb as well.

I just concluded that I didn't need a massive amp as I'm not playing metal much anymore.

I'll have to listen to your stuff when I get home as myspace doesn't work at work, but I'll check it out!
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 15:23, Reply)

i currently have
a crate GLX1200H which i got off ebay for £100. It's OK, but funnily enough we didn't use it on the recordings ;-)

It has a useful multi-effects thing built in though, in that you can set a different effect on each channel with the effects knob, and it then remembers which effect is on which channel, so you can just footswitch it on and off. very handy.

oh for the money to buy back a beloved 5150... it was the absolute nuts!
(beanojam isn't really Ricardo Flange, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 15:26, Reply)

that does sound quite useful
I think if I needed anything bigger I'd just go up the Fender range. Coupled with my Strat I couldn't hope for a better blues sound!
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 15:33, Reply)

yeah
my housemate has a fender deville. it wouldn't work for me, but for his particular live requirements it's absolutely spot on!
(beanojam isn't really Ricardo Flange, Thu 4 Jun 2009, 15:48, Reply)