Re: [Harp-L] Portable Recorders

[G <gigs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Subject: [Harp-L] Portable Recorders
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx, harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx

>Happy 4th,
>  I am hoping someone can help me out with a recording question? I would 
>like to record myself everytime I play at either a jam or a gig? What 
>kind of nice little portable recorders are available. Can anyone help me 
>on this with their own experiences and trial and errors? Thanks Kevin Keith

Hi Kevin.
  I've found Minidisk recorders ideal for my own recording purposes.  You
can get a lot of MD recorder for your money these days.  The latest one I
have is the MZ NH700, and I either use the tape out from the mixer or use a
Sony ECM-MS907 stereo microphone.  
  My computer isn't up to using the USB connection, so I manually record
stuff onto my computer through the headphone output and the quality is more
than good enough for my needs.  You can use the optical output of equipment
to record CDs and what have you directly into the recorder, if you don't
use the USB, this is a handy way to get your albums onto disk, especially
if you have a multi disk CD player.  

I always have a MD player on me with a few of my favourite disks, either in
my jacket pocket or in a camera belt pouch.  They're a huge step up from CD
walkmans because they're not affected by movement, much smaller and each
disk can hold a lot more music.
  The regular disks can hold 2 to 3 CDs worth of music, the new Hi-MDs hold
ridiculous amounts of music, and can be used as an external hard drive for
your computer.  And the Hi-MD recorders now have a high quality recording
mode that doesn't involve any compression.  
  The only warning is don't move or bump the recorder while its recording.
I abused my first recorder, and for two years I was continually using the
record features while walking around, it took that long before I finally
damaged it, so they're pretty rugged, but I don't do that with my new
recorder, and the busted recorder works fine as a player, so it continues
to be useful.    However it's best to put the recorder where you want it
for recording, and leave it there until you're done.

Cheers,
-- G.