[patton45]

hi - my daughter wants to create a CD of her playing to go along with her audition for high school jazz band.

I've looked at the Tascam products but was hoping someone here has done some recording and could suggest the best product for this purpose...

thx - Craig


Moderator - am I in the best forum category for this query?

 

[Soul Patch Paul]

May be a little while before you get a moderator response. Seems to me that "electronic equipment" would be the right category. It might be helpful to know what price range you have in mind for a recorder. There are LOTS of different machines with a wide range of prices depending on what your needs and expectations are. I've been shopping for a recorder myself. The Zoom H2 seems to come fairly highly recommended for a good basic recorder. It's about $150. Tascam makes what looks like a pretty good basic recorder for about $100, the DR-05. For something like a high school player to make her own CD I would think those would be pretty good. The H2 was recommended to me by more than one person here at SOTW. I'm sure you'll hear from some more experienced folks soon. And I think it is GREAT you're behind your daughter's playing. Both my sons were band kids and it enriched their lives immensely. Good luck!

 

[luzsax]

I have a Zoom H2. It's excellent.

I also have a Zoom PS-04. Also excellent.

For your purposes, I think that the H2 would be the better choice.
Simple to operate, reliable, moderately priced.
I hope that this helps.

Best wishes.

 

[patton45]

boy I wish I understood computers/electronics better... Been reading the link to the H2 and the reviews.....sure is foreign to me. (I'm so old school I still have a portable Radio Shack recorder with cassette tapes...)
the Amazon link shows that SD cards are used for storage. I guess I could just record on that and give it to the teacher. Just trying to figure out the download issues with a Mac..
Such a dinosaur I am.
http://www.amazon.com/Zoom-H2-Portable-Stereo-Recorder/dp/B000VBH2IG/ref=lh_ni_t_

Craig

 

[Saxhound]

It's actually not that bad. The Zoom connects to your computer via USB, just like a thumb drive. You can copy (drag and drop) the WAV file from the Zoom directly to your hard drive, and then burn it to a CD. If you want to edit it first, download a free copy of Audacity. It's real easy to snip off the dead space before and after the performance. Lots of other effects as well, but you don't really want to add that stuff on an audition tape.

The hardest part is setting your levels for recording - it's mostly trial and error. Too hot and it will overload and have some nasty digital noise. Not enough volume and you will hear a lot of background noise like feet shuffling and keys closing.

 

[saxjohnny]

The Zoom H2 is not hard and is good. But you can't go wrong with a good 'ol Tascam for an easy all-in-one. They've been on top since the very early 80's and still put out the old 4 track but digital now instead of cassette. Of course you can go 8 and 16 track too...
I use them and have reviewed them as well:
http://yourhomerecordingstudio.com