Portable Digital Recorders

[BIGBENDS]

Hey everybody. I have no experience with these PDR, but I was hoping to try a couple this weekend. I think it's a great tool for on-the-go. I need to capture my ideas before i get distracted. Any of you have a PDR you love and can't live without? Sony? Tascam? Korg? Roland? So many to choose from. All opinions appreciated.

[jonnyg]

As I already had an iPod I bought a Blue Mikey. It just clips on the end of the iPod and turns it into a pretty decent portable. I haven't tried any others, and I'm not saying it's the best or anything, but if you own an iPod already it's a cheap(er) solution and worth a look. Works for me.

[sjl200]

I have a Zoom H4n and love it. It fits in a guitar case and is easy to use and sounds great.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXSeSZq-9IM

 

[Guest BentonC]

Haven't tried it, but I've heard good things about the Zoom H4n...

[Rame]

I have Belkin Tune Talk mic for the Ipod. It's great for getting ideas down before they leave your head. And the files are automatically in your Ipod then so you don't have to download them to the computer to load up to your Ipod. Very convienent and user friendly.

[BIGBENDS]

Thanks Jonny, SJl200, BentonC, Rame. I'll look into those options. It'd be nice to have it loaded into an iPod automatically. Gotta get an iPod! The Zoom looks like a sweet tool also. Thanks again brothers!

[gvdv]

Hi,

I have the Boss Micro BR, which I bought a couple of years ago.

 

Here's a link

Boss Micro BR

 

The unit is incredibly small: it will fit into a shirt pocket, and is only a little too heavy to go walking around with in one's pocket like this (also, of course, you need to protect it).

 

I have been very impressed by the recording quality. The internal condenser microphone is especially noteworthy - I find that the 'colour' that it adds to my thin sounding voice is fantastic. The built-in reverb is also wonderful (at least to my ears).

 

The main drawbacks for me are that the unit has a somewhat counter-intuitive menu system (but once one learns it, things go much quicker of course), and the boatload of Boss effects (mostly guitar effects - you can plug a 1/4" jack into the unit). I just dislike Boss effects, that's all.

 

While I think that I would probably get along better with the Tascam equivalent (the DP 004) in terms of ergonomics, the Tascam is significantly larger than the Boss. Of course, the economical size of the Micro BR means that you can't reach out and turn an analog knob, like you can on the Tascam, because all of the control settings on the Boss MBR are accessed via buttons, but this is a necessary compromise.

 

I have just thought that I am going to try to hook the MBR up to my DAW and try to take advantage of the microphone that way - however, I suspect that this will not be possible, because the unit lacks a true output - one can only export the finished recording via USB, and I suspect that the unit is not capable of passing a live signal from the microphone straight through and out to an external recorder. Not sure if the Tascam can do this, either.

[Artie Owl]

I have a great Boss Micro BR recorder that I got for a steal at a boxing day sale, it does lots of stuff for recording but I use it mostly for recording my own backing tracks to solo over.

 

I recorder and mixed this quick demo down in about 20 minutes, just to try out the onboard, built in microphone, it's pretty good! (The microphone not necessairly the playing)

 

[Hoyt]

The really nice thing about the H4n is the capability to overdub. Also one can easily hook up condenser mics to improve recording.

 

Although I have an H4n and use it on occasion, the best sounding two-track recorder in my experience is the Sony PCM-D50 (there is a less expensive "10" which I hear is very good too). The PCM-D50 is a super recorder and I use it when I think I might luck up and actually play/sing something worth keeping.

 

You can spend weeks -- even months -- trying to decide what to get, but you'll be better off getting any of those on the market and start recording. At some point, you might decide another recorder is better for your needs. Everything on the market makes better recordings than the bootleg records I loved from the late 1960s and early 1970s.