Cheap, portable stereo recorder

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 5:54 am

I'm looking at a few, but what would any of you recommend for the purpose of recording jams, and mebbe the ex flying off her handle?

Is there anything new out there?

I would prefer a built-in mic, with the ability to run an outboard mic, and at least 1 hour recording time, and under US$400.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 5:58 am

For example, anyone used this, for example, or this, or this?

rluk · Post by **rluk** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:04 am

I think it is hard to beat Zoom H2 at the moment.

http://www.samsontech.com/products/prod ... rodID=1916

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:51 am

This looks interesting.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:01 am

And the ZoomH2 ..

Has anybody compared any of these?

EDIT: sorry rluk, didn't see your post.

Do you have one?

Is it sturdy?

Are the tracks good enough to integrate into a multi-track recording?

My idear, besides getting the ex melting down, is to mebbe use some jams, or just drum recordings, from the practice studio to throw into my DAW.

rluk · Post by **rluk** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:15 am

Sorry, dont have one myself yet, but I have been searching for one too, and seems pretty much everybody is pleased with their h2. Multiple patterns rock.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:27 am

Then there's the H4 ...

With that I could put a Cathedral Reverb on the ex's ranting, a lotta distortion, y'all will know how I hear her!

Nate Dort · Post by **Nate Dort** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 8:00 am

Wait for the H4n to come out

;ivlunsdystf · Post by **;ivlunsdystf** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 9:34 am

I have a Zoom H2, like it, etc. But ever since I got an iphone and installed the free http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/italk, I don't use the Zoom H2 very much. I am actually thinking of getting rid of it. It's probably higher-fi (never done a shootout) but I always have my iphone on my person and it is always charged and ready to record, whereas the Zoom is invariably dead-batteries and I have to go get it off the shelf and deal with batteries before I use it, etc.

GoatKnuckles · Post by **GoatKnuckles** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 10:05 am

I have the Tascam DR-1 I love it because I travel a ton and you can charge it through the USB port on your computer, and you can pull stuff off or put stuff on just like a hard drive. It sounds pretty cool, used it yesterday to get some church bells.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 2:42 pm

The H4n does look interesting, but probably more than I need.

I hear the H2 is a bit fragile.

I'm looking at the DR1 for the same price, but it doesn't come with a power supply.

The DR-07 looks cool with the phantom power, I must say.

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 3:16 pm

I have the H2, and we have 2 more at work. They're pretty good for the $$. I've definitely used tracks from them for production work.

newfuturevintage · Post by **newfuturevintage** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 3:39 pm

nate wrote:Wait for the H4n to come out

I have the H4 and agree with this statement.

qualification: I really, really like the H4...internal mics are nice, feature set is very good, but it appears the h4n has UI improvements and may be able to track 4-tracks simultaneously, which would just rule.

dsw · Post by **dsw** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 4:41 pm

I have an H2 and I use it all the time.
Not that fragile, but you wouldn't want to toss it around hard, that's for sure.
I heard a recording done with it of a young woman singing and playing guitar in the control room of a pretty nice project studio and it sounded REALLY good. I use it as a note pad for songwriting, but I did record my wife snoring one time just to prove to her that she does it....
Also record living room jams. If the room sounds good the recording will sound pretty damn good. Not quite stunning, but perfectly usable for most things. Your cool mic pre and LDC will beat it out of course.

They sell for $179.
Best bang for the buck for sure.
I've recorded with the Edirol R-09 and the Edirol R-09 HR, and the Microtracker and the Olympus LS-10. The Edirol R-09HR sounds the best.
The Microtracker sounds ok, but lots of problems. I wouldn't buy one.
Never used the Tascam or the Yamaha.
If you're going to spend over $300 wait for the Zoom H4n. That looks to be the one to beat. XLR in and 4 tracks at once.

pk · Post by pk » Fri Feb 13, 2009 5:05 pm

I also have the H4, been using for 2 years.
The best part of it is, it's also a recording interface when you need it, ie: travel, etc.
I've done some great bass and acoustic guitar recordings while in Paris, going through the H4 directly into Ableton Live, all in 24bit/44.1. Sounded incredible.

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Cheap, portable stereo recorder

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