Sorry Walt, I stuffed up the link to the recordings, stay with me and
I'll get it fixed, I'm having trouble uploading with my computer at the
moment :-(
Martyn Stewart
-----Original Message-----
From: Walter Knapp
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 7:10 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] Going digital.
Martyn Stewart wrote:
> I use Flash card recorders, minidisk & DAT.
> My DAT recorders are a Tascam DA-P1 and a Sony PCM-M1, Both are great
to
> take out into the field and I have had no end of success with these,
> however, I did have some trouble once with the DA-P1 In the humidity
of
> Australia and it played up a wee bit, but listing to others it's a
> common occurrence with DAT recorders.
I had considerable experience with rotating drum video recorders, which
is why I never went with DAT.
> My Minidisk recorders are a HHB-500 Portadisk and various pocket size
> Sony's. I like the format and as Walt says, they are handy in as much
as
> you slip another disk in when the first is full, Battery power is good
> on all recorders but sometimes I will get trouble with the HHB-500 and
> have to change batteries on a regular basis, especially if you are
> running Phantom power.
Even running Phantom power, I'd be changing disks far more often than
batteries. I use 2000mah AA NIMH for the Portadisc. I rarely have to go
to my 2nd battery caddy in a session, or even a whole evening. But, I
often have the recorder charging from the car's inverter system while
moving to new areas if I've put in lots of use. I have enough high speed
chargers to charge batteries faster than the portadisc could use them
along on my forays. Mostly those charge headlamp batteries, my bigger
battery user. Though that's improved since I retrofitted my duo's with
the new LED low beam system.
> I like the flash recorders (PC Cards) I have a Marantz PMD-690 and I
> love this machine, transferring data is a sneeze, whatever you record
on
> this is transferred instantly for editing on your computer and if you
> use Cool Edit" like me, this is the way to go, at first the flash
cards
> were an expensive media unlike MDisk but now with cards of over 128mb
> from Costco its fairly cheep, You can also by portable drives that
will
> hold as much as 30Gigs that you can transfer all the data without a
> laptop that will run on 2 AA batteries. If it's MD you want to go then
I
> would choose the Portadisk above the Marantz for most of the reasons
> Walt has said but it does have a 20-second recording buffer for extra
> confidence while recording on the move.
The 20 second buffer is different from the prerecord. I went and checked
the specs on the PMD-650 minidisc. It does list a prerecord of up to 2
seconds. That's what would be compared the the Portadisc's 6 second
prerecord. The Portadisc uses part of it's record buffer for the
prerecord. It also is buffering during record. Looks like your solid
state has a prerecord buffer too.
Recording on the move is virtually not done with the higher output mic
systems. At least by me. Any way you move will mess the recording up.
Even shifting your weight or breathing hard. I have bumped the portadisc
around during recording accidentally, and it's not had any skipping. I
have also moved around while recording, walking to a new location etc.,
which of course ruins that section of recording, no problems from the
portadisc. So, I'm not sure how important a buffer really is to nature
recording. The portadisc's system will preserve the unwritten TOC info
even through a accidental battery removal.
It should probably be pointed out that 128mb uncompressed stereo at
16bit 44k is only something like 12 minutes. Is that about what you get
per 128mb card recording to wav file, or do you use compressed audio?
While we are at it, how's the preamp noise, is the phantom power clean,
what's the limiter, attenuation choices, low cut etc. like?
> The Maycom recorders are great tools too and the latest handheld model
> is showing you that the format will be as good and practical as the
MD.
> Take a look at this page on the Web for various choices of recorders.
> http://www.bradleybroadcast.com/2001/digital_audio_recording.htm
The handheld appears to be compressed audio only. For those looking for
uncompressed recorders.
Walt
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