Hello List
Before purchasing equipment, this list was a trusted source of
information and experiences with equipment for recording non-human
natural sources. After much research, budgeting and deliberation, I
ended up with the Sennheiser MKH30 and MKH40 microphones and a Fostex
FR2LE as a recorder. Considering how much information I gleaned from
list contributors, I thought I would take some time to post a first
blush review of the FR2LE (and the CF cards) which was broken in
while camping in El Yunque in Puerto Rico last weekend. Overall I
have to say that I am quite satisfied, though the machine does have
some serious shortcomings (that Ill tell you all about momentarily).
I bought the FR2LE for a couple of reasons. First was the price,
which was amazingly cheap at 499 USD for what it promises (24/96,
flash recording). Second was that the mic preamps were touted to be
decent, at least for an all in one recorder at this price range.
The first recordings real recordings that I took on the machine were
over a 12 hour period camping on the edge of the El Yunque rainforest
where the air was extraordinarily humid (as one would expect),
reaching about 90 degrees F during the daylight, though the
temperature dropped after sunset - none of which seemed to affect the
unit's operation. I had 2 CF cards, a Lexar Professional 133x
(~20mbps) and a SanDisk Ultra II (9 mbps), both at 4GB. I also used
AudioTechnica 10ft XLR cables and monitored with Sony MDR-D55
headphones.
The FR2LE requires that you pick the recording resolution for the
card when you format it. Additionally, there is no overwrite or
delete to clear up space on the card without reformatting. I
personally have no problems with this in general as I have lost many
recordings before by accidentally taping over a section. Just
something to be aware of. The phantom power is off by default (which
I turned on), and there are some other options for HP filtering and
whatnot which I left off.
I formatted the Lexar at 88/24 and the SanDisk at 44/24. I formatted
the SanDisk differently because 1) the write speed was slower and 2)
the microphones are only sensitive to ~20khz (judging by the response
documentation I received with them) and I assumed that the extra
20khz of frequencies above the range of the mics would just be wasted
disc space. If someone on the list would like to comment on high
resolution sampling frequencies (above 48k) and mic response
(especially that of the MKH series), that would be great. I do not
have any experimental data to back up my sampling assumptions - only
the Nyquist theorem and the machine and mic specs. Does a higher
sampling rate have any effect on the audible clarity of bandlimited
recordings (besides actually taking more samples per second)? Would
anyone advise that I be using the higher sampling frequencies, even
though that extra resolution may not theoretically benefit the
recording?
I would like to comment here on the SanDisk Ultra II. All the
recordings I took on the Lexar Professional media, at a higher
sampling frequency, were absolutely crystal clear. This unfortunately
was not the case with the SanDisk. In most all of the recordings from
that card there was a faint periodic digital distortion reminiscent
of what you hear from DAT sometimes. This is most unagreeable and
made some good recordings all but unusable. I cannot 100% verify yet
that this was not also caused by the FR2LE or the cables for some
reason, but considering that the 2 discs were used in very close
succession, until further research, I have to conclude that the
SanDisk Ultra II CF cards are not of sufficient speed or quality for
use in the FR2LE. At its core, this should not really be an issue
given the 9mbps speed of the card and the bandwidth requirements of
Message: 44.
Subject: 1/24bit audio files (about 2.7 mbps or so). The write speed should
have been plenty fast. It is also possible that I got a dud card, but
I until I sus out exactly what happened, I will not be using SanDisk
CF media with the FR2LE.
So back to the FR2LE. The casing is decidedly cheap. The small
plastic door concealing the CF card slot is almost flimsy and
appears as if its unfinished. In fact, there is nothing really
preventing a good gush of rainwater from soaking the internal
circuitry. The tiny little plastic knobs for trim and headphones are
also cheap. Furthermore, the pots are uneven and a little scratchy. I
basically cranked the trims up to about 80% and left them there,
adjusting the rest with the input knob (which thankfully moves evenly
and smoothly). All that being said, the machine performed more than
adequately in the field and its construction, no matter how visually
unappealing, was solid enough to give me no problems whatsoever - at
least on this first run.
The LCD screen is nice and simple, easy to read and back lit. The
menu navigation is, um, interesting, but usable once you get use to
it. The one interface gripe that I will share is the input button
placement which are in a grid, all of exactly the same size, and not
really laid out in any sort of intuitive order. What this means
practically for the recordist in dark situations that is unfamiliar
with the setup is the need to break out the flash light to be sure
what you are doing. Fortunately there is a "remote", that has only 3
buttons that you can strap to your person. Also, the LCD and buttons
are on the top of the unit. This makes operation of the machine in a
bag of any sort impossible. So if you are in the field, just strap it
on and hope that it doesnt start pouring rain (the CF card slot faces
up while using the strap!).
Next order of business, the mic preamps. Oh my. I can start by saying
that the recordings I got from the rainforest are very very clear,
but probably not because of the mic pres in the FR2LE. The first
thing I noticed is that they are not that loud. This is not a big
deal when you are in the middle of the Coqui chorus at the beginning
of the night, in fact the gain is more than sufficient, but when
recording in the open during the day, the signal was low. Perhaps
this is symptomatic of recording quiet things in general, so lets not
blame the FR2LE entirely. As far as self noise goes, it is very low
and only faintly detectible in very very low sound ambient recording
situations (of which we may find ourselves in frequently). In the
future I will more than likely invest in a higher quality mic preamp
to get better gain and monitoring (see next paragraph).
The headphone amp is noisy. Period. Its just noisy and this totally
sucks. On the upside I was able to easily tune it out, and it does
not affect the recordings in any way. You just have to pretend that
the frequencies coming from the headphone amp do not exist (which
they dont really as far as your recording is concerned).
The last thing I want to mention is the battery usage. Get
rechargeables or some sort of super battery pack (it has a nice
connector for it). You will chew through batteries like popcorn at a
movie, and Mama Earth doesnt really like that.
So here is the roundup in bullet format
Pros
- Inexpensive
- Decently usable mic preamps (I mean, hey, its 500 bucks)
- Rugged enough for a rainforest
- Nice backlit, easy to read LCD
Cons
- Noisy headphone amp
- Lowish gain on the mic preamps
- Tiny, uneven trim knobs
- LCD and buttons are on top on the unit, making bagged operation
impossible
- Eats alkaline batteries for breakfast
- Interface buttons are probably designed by (and for use by) a robot
- It aint the prettiest thing on the planet and the casing seems
cheap
Final assessment
The FR2LE makes good recordings. If you are looking for a beginner's
all-in-one machine, this is a good choice. It is fairly rugged and
cheap enough to get all the rest of your gear straight and still make
very high quality recordings. After all, it is the recorder that
depreciates in value the fastest of anything in your setup, so as
long as it does its job without a hitch, you can cut corners here.
Heck, given this philosophy I could probably have bought some killer
mic preamps and an M-Audio recorder instead (though this scenario
would still have been more expensive than the FR2LE which is priced
lower than most decent mic preamps). The recordings I got were very
clean with lower noise than the sound of the highway 6 miles away
(though I was using an MKH30/40 pair).
Beware of one thing: the interface design is a total travesty. I can
forgive the cheap feeling knobs and casing (because the recordings
were good), but between the incomprehensible and seemingly haphazard
button layout, the card slot which faces up and LCD which faces
outward when using the unit with a strap (was it opposite day in the
lab?), it is painfully obvious that usability (and maybe logic
itself) took a backseat to feature set with this unit. I am not sure
there was even a design team... just engineers and marketing dudes.
As always, there is a reason this machine is 500 and not 1500.
All in all, I can see myself using this machine for quite some time
while upgrading the small things along the way. I suppose that if it
was in high school, I would give it a B-... or perhaps 3 stars on a 5
star scale. I would generally recommend it for anyone just starting
out with field recording.
As soon as I get my servers straight I will post some recordings so
that you can judge the sound for yourselves.
David
-
Unnature
New York City
http://unnature.org
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