Twigman Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 (edited) I want a stereo hand held recorder to record rehearsals and jam sessions. We are currently 'writing' an album and many ideas get floated at rehearsals but I can never remember them as I have never recorded them. Often we will work on an idea during rehearsal but often there are bits I play at rehearsal that, when i play them I think they sound great but soon forget what I did. I'd like to record these in an efffort to include all the best bits when we eventually finaliase an arrangement. I just want something I can place somewhere out of the way, leave it running then review everything on the computer when i get home. Suggestions? Edited March 26, 2013 by Twigman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Get a Zoom H1 or used Zoom H2! http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h1/ http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h2/ £70 for the H1. The H2 is older and can do surround recording - you could pick one up cheap used but the H1 is the best deal around at the moment I think! http://www.studiospares.com/zoom-h1-silver-portable-recorder/invt/361325 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Yup, I have an H4n and its superb. One warning, rip those files off there and name them carefully straight away, and prune out the rubbish immediately. I have literally got gigabytes of recordings of rehearsals that I can dip into (and thats mp3s that are edited to individual songs/takes/ideas, if I hadnt edited as I went it would be terabytes or worse), it gets overwhelming very quickly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 One of the Zooms - I use the H2 with great results... about £80 used, I think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Thread closed just ordered a Zoom H1 with accessory pack - will be here tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassicinstinct Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 [quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1364301524' post='2024526'] Thread closed just ordered a Zoom H1 with accessory pack - will be here tomorrow [/quote] You'll not regret it. Great piece of kit - especially at the price!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Genuine question - do these things work reasonably well? I ask because I've thought about getting one but every rehearsal session I've heard by various people using a variety of devices from smartphones to camcorders have been over-recorded and severely distorted. Fine for taking audio notes of a jam session or rough song ideas, but pretty much useless for anything else. I hasten to add that I've never heard anything from these Zoom devices and I suspect they are rather better, hence my question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 (edited) Yes. I've tracked drums with my Zoom H4n (the device itself as the OH and a kick and snare mic with it). This is the result:- https://soundcloud.com/lines-horizontal/the-individuils No distortion to worry about, recorded at 48KHz 24bit and allowing plenty of headroom for the preamps (peaking at -12dB at least) Some people have struggled with the H1 and very very loud bands, but the H4n is excellent in this regard. Here is a track recorded jsut in the room with the H4n, there has been some post processing, but nothing much (bit of eq and lifting the level).... [url="https://soundcloud.com/51m0n-1/track-7/s-T7TIC"]https://soundcloud.c...track-7/s-T7TIC[/url] Edited March 26, 2013 by 51m0n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1364307908' post='2024599'] Genuine question - do these things work reasonably well? I ask because I've thought about getting one but every rehearsal session I've heard by various people using a variety of devices from smartphones to camcorders have been over-recorded and severely distorted. Fine for taking audio notes of a jam session or rough song ideas, but pretty much useless for anything else. I hasten to add that I've never heard anything from these Zoom devices and I suspect they are rather better, hence my question. [/quote] They're far better. Placement is important, as is setting the gain (usually LO on my H2), but it copes very well at high volumes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Carter Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 All the Audio on my site has been recorded using a H2 at the back of the room, with a little more time setting up I think I could get it sounding even better. [url="http://themagicdragons.co.uk"]themagicdragons.co.uk[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 Debuted the H1 at rehearsal tonight attached to a mic stand in the middle of the room with the input level down at 10/100, recording 44.1/16bit....came out marvellous after running it through audacity's compressor when I got home to bring it back up to reasonable levels. Bunged a 32GB Sandisk micro SD card in it so should be good for a fair few rehearsals. Well chuffed The quality is astounding. Now I will have no excuse for not remembering that new song we played 6 weeks ago......oh well can't win 'em all. thanks chaps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 Just in case there was any doubt, here's another +1 for the H1. Picks up bass very well as you'll hear from the recordings from others above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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