Oscar South Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 (edited) Hey, me and my friends want to record our jam sessions (preferably digitally), we don't mind sacrificing some quality and doing it 'on a budget'. Aside from the £200ish portable recorders, can anyone else suggest any other methods? The ideal thing would be something battery powered and digital that can carried around easily, are any of those mp3 players with a mic half decent? Or anything similar? We usually sit around in a room and play acoustically so we could just put something in the center of the room. Cheers, Oscar. Edited July 3, 2008 by Oscar South Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 [quote name='Oscar South' post='232064' date='Jul 3 2008, 03:23 PM']Hey, me and my friends want to record our jam sessions (preferably digitally), we don't mind sacrificing some quality and doing it 'on a budget'. Aside from the £200ish portable recorders, can anyone else suggest any other methods? The ideal thing would be something battery powered and digital that can carried around easily, are any of those mp3 players with a mic half decent? Or anything similar? We usually sit around in a room and play acoustically so we could just put something in the center of the room. Cheers, Oscar.[/quote] Whatever you decide on for a recorder (laptop? cassette? minidisk?), do try a PZM for a microphone (ideal for your situation; place the mic on the floor in the middle of the room). [url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=27414&DOY=3m7"]http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Module...414&DOY=3m7[/url] Unbelievable price>performance ratio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar South Posted July 3, 2008 Author Share Posted July 3, 2008 That looks pretty perfect, just need to figure out something to plug it into now. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wulf Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 I'm very pleased with my Zoom H2 (less than £200 although more expensive than just buying a mic). If you can afford it, the advantage over mic linked up to a laptop, etc, are that it is very easy to set up not just for rehearsals but also for gigs. It's also very easy to transport around. It is everything I wanted my minidisk unit to be - an equally excellent recorder but without the hassle of getting the recordings on my computer and with even more recording time. Wulf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 Do you have a laptop? You can get digital dictaphones with mic input and USB output. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar South Posted July 3, 2008 Author Share Posted July 3, 2008 [quote name='wulf' post='232117' date='Jul 3 2008, 04:26 PM']I'm very pleased with my Zoom H2 (less than £200 although more expensive than just buying a mic). If you can afford it, the advantage over mic linked up to a laptop, etc, are that it is very easy to set up not just for rehearsals but also for gigs. It's also very easy to transport around. It is everything I wanted my minidisk unit to be - an equally excellent recorder but without the hassle of getting the recordings on my computer and with even more recording time. Wulf[/quote] Yeah I had a look at that, its a bit pricey but it could be pretty useful for other stuff too (recording gigs and uni stuff), I want to look at some cheaper options first though as theres quite a lot of stuff I've been gassing for recently and I want to save a little money this summer so I don't have to work during term time next year. [quote name='cheddatom' post='232118' date='Jul 3 2008, 04:26 PM']Do you have a laptop? You can get digital dictaphones with mic input and USB output.[/quote] Yea, since we're all acoustic though (and I even have wheels for my double bass or a mandolin if I'm being lazy ) we tend to move about and practice in lots of different places, so I was planning to get something more portable than that. Also, anyone played with any of the Olympus voice recorders? Anyone got any idea how good the sound is and whether you can plug an external mic in? Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 Yeh, like I said, you can get digital dictaphones with mic input and USB output - olympus do one. It'll sound allright if you get a decent mic. I would get a stereo condensor mic with battery inside ('cos you wont have phantom power) and plug that into a digital dictaphone. Or you could just get a Zoom H2 or the Tascam thing. If you read a few threads in the recording section here you'll find lots of questions the same as yours, with lots of answers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar South Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 (edited) I found an old cassette recorder with a mic that belongs to my dad and is about 10 years older than I am, but it actually sounds pretty decent (well a lot of background noise, but it picks up the sound well). I'll put some excerpts up soon. Edited July 8, 2008 by Oscar South Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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