The information is there on the Core Sounds site, but as I said, it
is "lengthy" and not particularly clear. I think the pertinent facts
are these:
The key component is the $200 digital input CF card. This takes co-ax
or optical input through a 3.5mm MD type combo-jack. It is shipping.
The CF card plugs into a Compaq/HP iPAQ hand-held PDA. Models ranging
from $125 to $500 will record 16/44 stereo or better, PDAs at the
upper end of the price range will do 24/96 and have more responsive
metering.
But there's more: the stock PDA's usually don't have enough slots,
most require an expansion pack, which the PDA slips into adding a
few more slots for CF, PCMCIA, or other solidstate memory format.
Some of these expansion "backpacks" also can hold more batteries.
With the expansion pack, you plug in the CF digital input card into
one CF slot, and and a removable storage card solid state or spinning
tiny hard disk into another slot. Connect an external A/D via co-ax
or optical and the hardware part of the system is complete.
Then you need software. CoreSounds gives away a linux-based, open
source app. There are several other 3rd party companies that have
software in beta or maybe shipping now running under the WinCE system
that the PDA's ship with. Software ranges from $50 to $500 for a
fancy ENG-targeted application.
It seemed to me that an entire package (not including mics, preamp or
A/D) could be assmebled for around $500 to $1000 depending on how
fast a PDA you choose and your choice in storage media.
I'm inclined to buy the cheapest combination of these components and
see if the system suits me. Then again, the Fostex recorder isn't
THAT much more expensive...
rudy
>For those interested in super-tiny recording systems, Core Sounds was
>showing their (now shipping) PDA-based digital audio recorder. See
>their site, http://www.core-sound.com for lengthy details.
>
>Rudy
When I went there, I found a complete mess of updates on updates, no
coherent product information. Can you point to a more specific place?
-Dan Dugan
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