KenElevenShadows Posted June 4, 2001 Share Posted June 4, 2001 I was wondering what people were recommending nowadays for recording music in the field with durable, yet small and light equipment. I've been looking at the Nagra ARES-P, but understand that it uses a data compression scheme, and is probably more geared towards reporters. Also, are the MDs, such as the HHB MDP 500 Portadisc Professional MD recorder up to snuff for decent-quality field recordings? Are they reliable? Are they approximately the same audio quality as using something like a Tascam DA-P1? I already have a Tascam portable DAT recorder, the DA-P1, which seems to work pretty well, so I bring this up simply for point of reference in case anyone is familiar with these. However, I just wanted to see if there were anything that didn't use DATs but fit the above criteria. A bonus would be that the equipment uses "conventional" batteries. ------------------ Ken/Eleven Shadows/d i t h er/nectar ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ music*travel photos*tibet*lots of stuff "Sangsara" "Irian Jaya" & d i t h er CDs available! http://www.elevenshadows.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ken Lee Photography - photos and books Eleven Shadows ambient music The Mercury Seven-cool spacey music Linktree to various sites Instagram Nightaxians Video Podcast Eleven Shadows website Ken Lee Photography Pinterest Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mats Olsson. Posted June 4, 2001 Share Posted June 4, 2001 Whould it be wrong with an analog Nagra...? You can pick up a used but well-maintaind one for not a whole lot of money now. They still sound good. My Girlfriend has got two Nagras, I love them almost as much as I love her ;-) /Mats http://www.lexam.net/peter/carnut/man.gif What do we want? Procrastination! When do we want it? Later! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uh Clem Posted June 4, 2001 Share Posted June 4, 2001 Ken, tha DAP1 is nice but the pre-amps and converters suck, esp the pres. I use a Grace Lunatec battery operated pre-amp - smaller thatn the DAP1, that has the Grace quality sound - pretty nice upgrade, but pricey. I'm also considering adding a Sonic Sense AD1K+ portable converter to it as well since the Apogee AD1000s are kind hard to find. Graham Patten also makes some small mic-pres and converters that will inprove ths sound. Sonic Sense can hook you up with everything you need to get that DAP1 rocking: http://www.sonicsense.com/ This message has been edited by stevepow on 06-03-2001 at 10:52 PM Steve Powell - Bull Moon Digital www.bullmoondigital.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenElevenShadows Posted June 4, 2001 Author Share Posted June 4, 2001 The DA-P1 mic preamps ARE really horrible. Doesn't take much to overload them, either (low headroom, if I wanted to sound more knowledgeable). Regarding the post before that, yeah, analog Nagras would be great, used or whatever. Do you have any models you could recommend? What should they cost approximately in the used market? I would imagine they are quite durable, considering what people have put them through in the past! ------------------ Ken/Eleven Shadows/d i t h er http://www.elevenshadows.com 4 music, travel, more! http://www.cdbaby.com/elevenshadows Ken Lee Photography - photos and books Eleven Shadows ambient music The Mercury Seven-cool spacey music Linktree to various sites Instagram Nightaxians Video Podcast Eleven Shadows website Ken Lee Photography Pinterest Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderton Posted June 4, 2001 Share Posted June 4, 2001 I use MD for field recording. Most of the time what I'm recording is not symphony orchestras, but street sounds, environments, and such. In these instances, the data compression isn't really the limiting factor for fidelity, but the mic and pres. Besides, when you plop the samples into the middle of a dance mix, no one notices anyway... MDs have been very reliable for me, and the ability to index/move/erase samples makes it easier when it's time to transfer them to my computer. Craig Anderton Educational site: http://www.craiganderton.org Music: http://www.youtube.com/thecraiganderton Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/craig_anderton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F7sound - Posted June 5, 2001 Share Posted June 5, 2001 I'd shy away from anything that uses data compression. My field recording setup is an HHB PDR-1000 DAT (discontinued) with Grace Design Lunatec preamps. If I have the AC option available, I'll put an Apogee Rosetta in front. For serious music recording I wouldn't go with anything less. However, for less critical stuff, I'd give the HHB MD recorder a shot. I would imagine that the preamps and converters are lower in quality, but the setup is affordable and portable. Michael Oster F7 Sound and Vision http://www.f7sound.com Michael Oster F7 Sound and Vision http://www.F7sound.com http://www.regurgitron.com http://www.LaptopNoise.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.