Oggy Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I’m sure that this has been asked before but it’s been some time since I’ve been on the site and I’m not sure where to look for the info. I’m looking for a ‘low-cost, say £50 - £100’ digital recorder to use at rehearsal sessions that will give a reasonable quality replay sound, recommendations would be appreciated. Drums / Bass / Guitar and Vocals - Blues Band. Thanks Chaps. Oggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrig Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 [quote name='Oggy' post='1166914' date='Mar 18 2011, 11:54 AM']I’m sure that this has been asked before but it’s been some time since I’ve been on the site and I’m not sure where to look for the info. I’m looking for a ‘low-cost, say £50 - £100’ digital recorder to use at rehearsal sessions that will give a reasonable quality replay sound, recommendations would be appreciated. Drums / Bass / Guitar and Vocals - Blues Band. Thanks Chaps. Oggy [/quote] Hi Oggy, I'm from "Bore em stiff" too! I use a [b]Zoom H4 [/b]and find it excellent for live recording, although it does cost around £250. The [b]Zoom H2[/b] is around £150 which should also do a good job. But I saw the [b]Alesis PalmTrack Handheld SD Recorder[/b], in Digital Village for £69.99 reduced from £119, and looks perfect for your needs. Give Digital Village in Barnet a ring, and they will get one for you to try, if they do not already have one. There are quite a few under £100, just check out the DV website. Good luck with your search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butlerk02 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Hi Oggy, I've just purchashed a Zoom Q3HD, and used it last night for the first time. I have to say its an excellent bit of kit. Although they retail at £200, i'd say they are definately worth the money. They also use the same mics in the Zoom H4, but this is £50 less and you can also capture video in HD too. If you want to listen to some clips from our rehearsal, I can send you a link if you like (as long as you don't laugh). Cheers Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oggy Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 [quote name='thebrig' post='1166970' date='Mar 18 2011, 12:27 PM']Hi Oggy, I'm from "Bore em stiff" too! I use a [b]Zoom H4 [/b]and find it excellent for live recording, although it does cost around £250. The [b]Zoom H2[/b] is around £150 which should also do a good job. But I saw the [b]Alesis PalmTrack Handheld SD Recorder[/b], in Digital Village for £69.99 reduced from £119, and looks perfect for your needs. Give Digital Village in Barnet a ring, and they will get one for you to try, if they do not already have one. There are quite a few under £100, just check out the DV website. Good luck with your search.[/quote] Hi – Another Bass player from Borhamwood, I’m not alone then . Thanks for the info I’ll pass it to our ‘new’ drummer, he’s making the purchase and it’s really for his benefit. The Guitarist and myself have been playing together for over three years now so we’re pretty tight but the poor old drummer is struggling a wee bit remembering where the Starts / Stops / Breaks etc – no wonder really, he has three ¾ hour sets to get his head around and most of the material is news to him – who said Blues and old style R&B was easy? Drop me a PM sometime, if you’re up for it, it’d be nice to have a chat or run things by another local Bass player. Are you playing locally? Oggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oggy Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 [quote name='butlerk02' post='1167005' date='Mar 18 2011, 12:49 PM']Hi Oggy, I've just purchashed a Zoom Q3HD, and used it last night for the first time. I have to say its an excellent bit of kit. Although they retail at £200, i'd say they are definately worth the money. They also use the same mics in the Zoom H4, but this is £50 less and you can also capture video in HD too. If you want to listen to some clips from our rehearsal, I can send you a link if you like (as long as you don't laugh). Cheers Keith[/quote] Hi Keith Please pass me the link, I promise no laughing from me uless it's Benny Hill, George Formby or Arthur Askey covers you're doing . Oggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Sticking strictly to the budget, the Zoom H1 is probably worth a look*. Very simple interface -- they've ditched the slightly fiddly (and eye-strainingly small) menus from the H2 and gone with a much more hit-it-and-go thing (BIG RED BUTTON to record). It's happy up to 120 dB SPL too, which is useful. Don't forget to factor in the cost of a bigger storage card too. You usually get 2GB, which'll probably only do you a couple of rehearsals at CD-quality WAV. * Based on nothing more than the fact I love my H2 and I guess the H1 will be similarly decent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oggy Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 [quote name='BottomEndian' post='1167023' date='Mar 18 2011, 01:07 PM']Sticking strictly to the budget, the Zoom H1 is probably worth a look*. Very simple interface -- they've ditched the slightly fiddly (and eye-strainingly small) menus from the H2 and gone with a much more hit-it-and-go thing (BIG RED BUTTON to record). It's happy up to 120 dB SPL too, which is useful. Don't forget to factor in the cost of a bigger storage card too. You usually get 2GB, which'll probably only do you a couple of rehearsals at CD-quality WAV. * Based on nothing more than the fact I love my H2 and I guess the H1 will be similarly decent. [/quote] Thanks BottomEndian Good point about the extra storage - well spotted. Oggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 [quote name='Oggy' post='1167032' date='Mar 18 2011, 01:13 PM']Good point about the extra storage - well spotted.[/quote] [url="http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h1/sd.html"]Some figures here[/url]. At the end of the day, you won't notice much difference between 16/44.1 WAV and MP3 at 320 kbps, so you can get nearly 14 hours on the 2GB card if that sort of thing doesn't bother you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I pikced up an H2 from Toasted a few months back and I must say it's been a terrific purchase; dead easy to set up and use. We record all our rehearsals with it now and will be trying it at a gig in due course too. Also might have a go at some Youtube clips synching it with my HD camera. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crag42 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I use a Yamaha Pocketrak 2G..... Very very pleased with it.... very simple to use. Ive attached a recording we took at rehearsal using it..... Our cover of Voodoo Child. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crag42 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Forgot to say.... i picked mine up on Ebay for £70 Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 (edited) I use, or have recently used, the H4, the H2, the Q3, the Q3HD, and the R16. From a rehearsal point of view, ALL of those will do everything you want plus a lot more. I have absolutely no doubt the H1 will do the same. The Q3HD coming out means that there are pre-owned Q3s out there (like the one I sold here). The H2 resulted in pre-owned H4s being sold (like the one I sold here). The H1 will no doubt result in pre-owned H2s coming up for grabs (like the one I'm keeping ). Forget the storage thing. Dump the contents onto your PC after each rehearsal, and put a copy in Dropbox for your bandmates to have access. I have had the same 4Gb card in my H2 since the day I bought it, and never got close to filling it. A 2Gb card would probably have been enough. Edited March 18, 2011 by Happy Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ras52 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Our guitarist just got a Zoom H1 with all the trimmings - extra storage, tripod - for < £100. Very easy to use and sounds good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrig Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 [quote name='Oggy' post='1167013' date='Mar 18 2011, 01:00 PM']Hi – Another Bass player from Borhamwood, I’m not alone then . Thanks for the info I’ll pass it to our ‘new’ drummer, he’s making the purchase and it’s really for his benefit. The Guitarist and myself have been playing together for over three years now so we’re pretty tight but the poor old drummer is struggling a wee bit remembering where the Starts / Stops / Breaks etc – no wonder really, he has three ¾ hour sets to get his head around and most of the material is news to him – who said Blues and old style R&B was easy? Drop me a PM sometime, if you’re up for it, it’d be nice to have a chat or run things by another local Bass player. Are you playing locally? Oggy [/quote] PM'd you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solo4652 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Here's another option for you: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Line-6-BackTrack-Portable-Recorder-Mic-/130497666821?pt=UK_Recorders_Rewriters&hash=item1e62445f05"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Line-6-BackTrack-Por...=item1e62445f05[/url] There are 2 versions - make sure you get the one with the on-board mic. I have one and I use it regularly to record rehearsals so I can practise the band's version of songs later. It's small (about the size of a small mobile phone), [i]really[/i] simple to use and gives surprisingly good results. Saves tracks as WAV files which are easy-peasy to open on your PC - even I can manage it. You don't need to worry about batteries - it recharges from your PC via the supplied USB cable. You can pick them up off ebay for £50, no problem. Cheap and cheerful bit of kit that's really helped me to learn a band's setlist. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 I'll just give this a little bump as I'm interested in recommendations, too... Something with OK video would be nice, too. For as cheap as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WalMan Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 [quote name='wateroftyne' post='1180704' date='Mar 29 2011, 01:01 PM']I'll just give this a little bump as I'm interested in recommendations, too... Something with OK video would be nice, too. For as cheap as possible. [/quote] The following were recorded on a [url="http://www.roland.co.uk/products/productdetails.aspx?p=1077"]Roland R-05[/url] so possibly not meeting the cheap criteria. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=126931"]Gig recordings[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=126620&hl=burlesque"]Rehearsal recordings[/url] The gig ones were done with the input volume on Manual setting. The r/h on is set to Automatic. I tend to set the manual low to avoid digital overload (horrible) and then whichever method has been used copy the files onto the PC and run them through Audacity to normalise them and bring the level up, generally followed by a pass through IK T-Racks, but with careful setting the basic results are pretty good. I have a 16 Gb SD card in the machine which give hours of fun even when set to record both WAV & MP3 at the same time - it currently has a coupe of r/h's (one of which I forgot to put the machine in pause for an hour leading to much blackmail info ) and about 8 hours of assorted gigs and still has plenty of space. Battery life is good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 [quote name='wateroftyne' post='1180704' date='Mar 29 2011, 01:01 PM']I'll just give this a little bump as I'm interested in recommendations, too... Something with OK video would be nice, too. For as cheap as possible. [/quote] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Zoom-Q3-Camcorder-High-Quality-audio-recording-/170620980171?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_Video_Camcorders&hash=item27b9cd8bcb"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Zoom-Q3-Camcorder-Hi...=item27b9cd8bcb[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Cheers, HJ! My only reservation with this is the lack of a record level - it's pre-set, isn't it? Did you ever find it was a problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 No - it has the usual Zoom slide-switch Gain control = Low / Med / High. That's perfectly adequate for choosing between a low-level rehearsal and a full-on pub gig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Side note: IIRC, with the Zoom H/M/L switch for mic gain (at least on the H2), the H and M settings are identical in terms of the analogue signal coming from the mic; the difference is that the H position gets an internal boost in the digital domain, pushing the noise level up with it. The Zoom forums are littered with people doing sample-by-sample comparisons of the same signal recorded at H and M settings, and finding no difference once the M version has been brought up to the same level as the H. As I say... IIRC. As you were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ba55me15ter Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I have the H1 - it's great. Variable gain on a 1-100 scale with a handy red LED clip indicator which flickers on for clipping when you're not recording or flickers off (from a steady on state) when in record mode. Easy hardware controls for everything and great quality results. Drawbacks are it is very susceptible to handling and wind noise, but for indoor rehearsals that's not an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarcher Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Wish this thread had started a week or so back. Picked up a Zoom H2 with a 4gb card and extra lavalier mic for £111 off ebay,faily new by the looks. Wife seems quite happy with her new toy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 One of the band has a Tascam DR (i think) 5 that produces excellent results. Since it's now superceded they should be within your proce bracket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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