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What's the best portable recorder?

matamaticmatamatic 488 Posts
edited June 2009 in Strut Central
Wanna take one out to record sets and such. I have a mini disc recorder that I just got back from a friend and he said it doesn't work so I'm gonna need a new one. What's good? The M audio MicroTrack?

  Comments

  • discos_almadiscos_alma discos_alma 2,164 Posts
    Wanna take one out to record sets and such. I have a mini disc recorder that I just got back from a friend and he said it doesn't work so I'm gonna need a new one. What's good? The M audio MicroTrack?

    Cosign on this. Does any current one offer visible audio levels in a display? That would be a huge plus. I too used a minidisk recorder for years and had trouble getting levels correct the first time.
  • 4YearGraduate4YearGraduate 2,945 Posts
    If price isn't an issue than the Korg MR-1000 1-Bit portable is by far and far the best portable (and possibly even non-portable) recorder available. 1 Bit has to be heard to be believed. below that i haven't heard the MR-1 but it uses the same technology and is more affordable.
  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    I have an M-Audio microtrack that works fine for what I need it to do (radio interviews and occasionally recording sets through the line-in), and I got it really cheap off ebay so I'm not mad, but there's gotta be something better out there.

    With the new iPhone 3.0 hardware SDK someone should really be coming out with a recorder that uses the iPhone for storage and interface...unless Apple cripples this (they did so with iPod recording abilities)
  • matamaticmatamatic 488 Posts
    Damn that korg looks nice but $1100 bucks, too steep for me right now. The $399 Korg MR 1 looks cool though.
  • ageage 1,131 Posts
    I was looking into this recently,

    Tascam DR-1



    Anyone really have any experience working with one of these? Also, seems to be a pretty fair price too.
  • Emile BerlinerEmile Berliner 100 Posts
    The MR1 would be more what you're lookin for, Check the storage capacity, and compare that to your needs. The only criticism I've heard on it is that the mic preamps are louder than a lot of comparable units. But I haven't used it so I can't say.

    Fostex FR2Le is a dope piece of gear, but it's a big bigger. You also wanna check the battery options. Some will only run on the internal battery--which may or may not be replaceable--and some have the option to attach an external battery compartment that runs on regular alkalines.
  • Emile BerlinerEmile Berliner 100 Posts
    Just checked Bhphotovideo.com and they have the Korg MR1 for $230. If I were you I wouldn't even be looking at anything else (but do some research on battery life), cause all the other products in that range are a.) more expensive, b.) gonna require media, c.) will eventually be outmoded. The MR1 has a 20g internal drive. The good thing about 1bit recording--and I'm not entirely clear on how this works--is that the files are compressed when you dump to another format, it's designed so that future revisions in software will allow for improvement of previously recorded files.
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