I review field biologists' and physical anthropologists' proposals for
field research and I've had a fair amount of difficulty disabusing them
them of their cassette recorders even when they are asking for funds to
purchase new equipment. I'll give them that cassette recorders are tough
in the field and might even be necessary if you need completely
comparable results from previous recordings.
Anyway, can anyone direct me to authoritative reviews and comparisons?
Marc
oryoki2000 wrote:
>
>
> David,
>
> I understand your desire to continue to use your cassette machine.
> When you decide to improve the quality of your recordings, the Hi-MD
> minidisc is the most cost-effective alternative.
>
> Your Sony cassette tape machine was widely used for field recording
> during the 1990's. I'd guess that the majority of bird vocalizations
> in library and research collections today were made using tape
> machines similar to yours.
>
> Field recording technology has improved a lot in the last few years.
> Your recordings will capture a much wider frequency range if you
> switch to an inexpensive Hi-MD minidisc machine (your cassette tape
> machine is limited to a range of 100 to 9,000 Hz, Hi-MD 20 to 20,000
> Hz). The minidisc machine also has a considerably quieter preamp
> (less "hiss" in the recording). Hi-MD is a digital format, which
> makes for faster and more accurate transfers of your recordings to
> your computer. And a Hi-MD recorder is much smaller and lighter than
> your cassette machine. You can easily slip it into a big shirt pocket.
>
> It won't take a big investment to update your equipment. The cheapest
> new Hi-MD recorder is the Sony MZ-NH700. It's a discontinued model
> that is readily available (unused) on eBay for about $130, sometimes
> less. If you would prefer to purchase a current model, the Sony
> MZ-RH910 costs about $170. Add $35 for five reusable Hi-MD discs, and
> you're set.
>
> While the cassette recorder should be retired, your Sennheiser mic is
> still perfectly serviceable. I'd connect it to the minidisc machine
> using a Shure A96f impedance matching transformer ($40, discussed in a
> recent message).
>
> --oryoki
>
>
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