[Eisenschwinge]

Hi! I am looking for a small portable recording device which I could use to record my band playing for practising and stuff. It shouldn't be too expensice, about 100 $ I guess. Is there anything you could recommend?
Thanks in advance!

 

[ving]

Try the Zoom H4 or the new H2, if and when it somes out. Great recording devices, the H4 is more like $200 but I think the H2 isn't much over $100 if its out now...

 

[Morry]

The H4 is $299 most places. I can't recommend it enough. Great little gadget.

 

[ving]

Yes! I meant more like $300--sorry about that. I have the H4 and its great, the H2 looks like it records in surround too and only does stereo recording as opposed to 4 track as with the H4, so maybe thats all you need...or maybe what I need also...!

 

[Morry]

Yes! I meant more like $300--sorry about that. I have the H4 and its great, the H2 looks like it records in surround too and only does stereo recording as opposed to 4 track as with the H4, so maybe thats all you need...or maybe what I need also...!

I have no need for 4-track recording, or the myriad of other gizmos in the H4. I would have preferred to have saved $100, and given up those features.

The one thing that I wish it did have is a remote control.

 

[danarsenault]

Love my H4.

 

[tomsch]

I was just about ready to pull the trigger on an H4 until I read about the new H2! Looks like I'm waiting until May for the new H2 to come out.

 

[rabbit]

Thanx to everyone, I'm interested too, did know of the H2.

 

[goodsax]

For something different, and simple to use, take a look at the iKey Plus. You can record right into a USB flash drive and simply plug that right into any computer USB port, upload and play.

 

[Saxnflut]

Hi! I am looking for a small portable recording device which I could use to record my band playing for practising and stuff. It shouldn't be too expensice, about 100 $ I guess. Is there anything you could recommend?
Thanks in advance!

For $100, or less, I'd suggest looking for a little MD recorder, Sharp or Sony have worked great for me, especially if you run a line out of your mixer, direct into it. The discs are cheap, editing is a breeze, and they can be used over & over again.

If you already have a new iPod, the Belkin stereo recording accessory for about 50 bucks can offer hours of recording, and a couple pro players I know love those....

 

[hangman]

I like the H4 and you can pick it up with Shipping for $265 new on ebay if you look. Ping me and I will send you the site where I have some clips.

 

[Eisenschwinge]

I think the zoom h2 recorder suits best to my needs. Does anyone know when they plan to release it? I just found "spring or summer" but that's very unprecise...

 

[ving]

Looked like May more or less from what I read---but who knows if thats closer to APril or to June...

Looks cool though--the H4 is nice but for some applications I would like the smaller size of the H2...definitely a step forward past the minidisc in terms of usefullness and fidelity.....

 

[goodsax]

I think the zoom h2 recorder suits best to my needs. Does anyone know when they plan to release it? I just found "spring or summer" but that's very unprecise...

Don't know about the H2, but I have a ZOOM PS-04 Palmtop Studio I'm not using, if you're interested in one of those. Read more about it here.
and here.
You can have mine for $110.

 

[jazzsax07]

I would agree with using a MD recorder. Get a good stereo mic and you are ready to go.
I put one disk in at the beginning of each set and it will record for 70 Min.
Bring it home, send it to Garageband for editing and itunes for burning a CD. A couple of digital recorders I looked at awhile back had serious recording time restrictions.

 

[saxmanglen]

I just listed an MD recorder/player in the marketplace.

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?p=495427#post495427

 

[Saxnflut]

I would agree with using a MD recorder. Get a good stereo mic and you are ready to go.
I put one disk in at the beginning of each set and it will record for 70 Min.
Bring it home, send it to Garageband for editing and itunes for burning a CD. A couple of digital recorders I looked at awhile back had serious recording time restrictions.

I agree with you, they are very under-esteemed in their ease of use, editing, as well as fidelity. I was a bit startled at the comment about the H2 being an improvement in fidelity, as I think the reality is that current day MD recordings have a greater than CD-quality sound. I know a CD I made, just by using some live recordings done with a small MD recorder, with very minimal post-recording editing, has received many compliments on how well it sounded", aside from the quality of the music.

My biggest negative about them, is their inability to transfer the music digitally, via USB or Firewire, in & out of a computer. I know some of the newer Sony models can, but except for maybe the very latest model, none of them were Mac-compatible. My rackmount MD unit does have optical-digital out, but I still don't think that means I can transfer music to my computer any faster than in "real time". Is that correct, how do you transfer yours into Garageband? And is Garageband a good program for editing tunes before burning?

Finally, a little off-topic, can anyone recommend a user-friendly, low-cost midi-editing program, for Macs? Thanks...

 

[Morry]

I would agree with using a MD recorder. Get a good stereo mic and you are ready to go.
I put one disk in at the beginning of each set and it will record for 70 Min.
Bring it home, send it to Garageband for editing and itunes for burning a CD. A couple of digital recorders I looked at awhile back had serious recording time restrictions.

The H4 can record a 44.1 WAV file for 4 hours, or 192 MP3 for about 16 hours, I think. Simply place the SD card in the PC cardreader, and presto.

 

[ving]

To add, the built in mics of the H4 are far better than the sony mic I was using with my minidisc recorder--anyone with an H4 would agree that the quality is better than minis disc, even in mp3 format--I have recorded at 192 compression in mp3 and it sounds great. With a 2 GB card you really don't have to worry about space...anyhow, those are only about $30 now so you could buy 2 and porbably not have to worry at all...

 

[Saxnflut]

To add, the built in mics of the H4 are far better than the sony mic I was using with my minidisc recorder--anyone with an H4 would agree that the quality is better than minis disc, even in mp3 format--I have recorded at 192 compression in mp3 and it sounds great. With a 2 GB card you really don't have to worry about space...anyhow, those are only about $30 now so you could buy 2 and porbably not have to worry at all...

For some reason I think many have forgotten the initial request of this thread's creator, his desire to find a small recorder around $100.

Sure, if you spend three times that (plus the extra cost for memory cards), I would expect it to have more or better features, but it's apples & oranges.