> From: "Donald Weiser" <>
> Subject: CF cards for sound recorders are not expensive, I beg to differ
>
>
> Yes, you will need fast CF memory cards for your digital camera but
> NOT for your digital sound recorders. For example, those from
> Marantz that use CF cards perform just as well with even the slowest
> CF cards. So save your money and buy the largest storage, slowest
> CF card(s) you can find. Putting an expensive (i.e. fast access) CF
> card in a digital sound recorder is akin to putting rocket fuel in a
> 32 Ford. A waste of money with zero gain.
True, particularly so if you are just recording standard CD quality two
channel. That is up to a point, see below.
So, how much do you save with the slow CF? I just took a look at the
listings on Ebay. Buy it now for Sandisc Extreme III, 130 times faster
than the slow cards, and one of two brands I have, is about $105 for a 1
gig. Buy it now for Sandisc regular is about $65 for a 1 gig. Not
exactly all that cheap either. And regular speed 1 gig are much less
common on ebay than the faster Ultra II or Extreme III. This is even
more so in the even larger cards.
There is another issue, when solid state recorders were first brought
up, the point of going into hock for the memory cards was supposed to be
fast download times for the cards to the computer. Represented as
practically instant, it turns out to be well slower than that.
Especially as you get up in card size. A full 1 gig takes some time to
transfer. If you are doing that with a USB reader, it's probably not so
important how fast the card is, but if you have a fast reader like my
SCSI based reader then card speed will determine how long you wait for
the download. The high speed card will download much faster.
So, even for sound it's not entirely a waste of money.
Walt
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
|