[MPA] equipment question

[Charles Turner]

On Mar 9, 2004, at 7:40 AM, Mac Pro Audio List wrote:

> Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2004 15:12:21 -0700
> Subject: [MPA] equipment question
> From: lilyplant <lilyplant at poetworld.net>
> Message-ID: <BC723DD4.553%lilyplant at poetworld.net>
>
> I need to purchase a light weight field stereo recorder which will 
> upload
> into a Mac. I have a limited budget. I'm new to sound. Want to use it 
> for
> art.
>
> Am considering a CD recorder, solid state (Marantz PMD670 ) or hard 
> drive.
> What would you suggest. I haven't bought a mini-disk recorder because 
> they
> look fragile, seem hard to control and don't have many controls. A 
> friend
> has an iriver (little hard drive recorder) which he says doesn't have 
> the
> controls he wants.

I just want to jump in here and say "me too!" ;->  I've been thinking 
about this very thing a lot recently but I have not come up with 
anything that doesn't break my budget (e.g. that Marantz box).

I have a little Sony Walkman MD recorder and Sony stereo mic. The small 
size is very convenient. I have used it a lot but it has aggravated me 
a lot too. It is far too easy to miss-set the recording level. The 
recorded audio can only be played back out as audio, not pulled 
directly into the computer digitally. Nevertheless, an MD-recorder plus 
an iMic might get the job done cheaply, depending on what that job is.

Thanks for passing along the comment about the iRiver device because I 
was looking at the iHP-100. Another problem I've read about with those 
is that the battery is built-in and not replaceable.

The Archos Gmini 220, et al, seem possibilities. Unfortunately I've 
read discouraging words about the reliability and service of Archos 
products. That's not a particularly good statistic, however, because 
folks who are satisfied with a product typically aren't posting 
messages in forums touting that, whereas dissatisfied buyers are much 
more vocal.

Many of these devices implement their audio input only for line level. 
Good portable mic preamps seem to be quite expensive, which again makes 
it hard on the budget.

-ct