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  #1  
Old 02-04-2014, 02:15 PM
Yeah Yeah is offline
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Default Some portable recorders recomendations

Hi fellow guitarrists, I`ve been wanting to buy a portable recorder, but I have a tight budget, so I would appreciate your help.
My current recording gear is plugging my guitars directly into a very cheap external audio interface (a m1 audio imitation) and singing in a dynamic mic.

So far that quality is not as good for me, but i deal with it.

Since I travel a lot I´ve been thinking about purchasing a portable recorder. For budget reasons (I live in argentina) I could afford a zoom h1.

My question would be, regarding sound quality, are Tascam better than the zoom h1, is there a lot of difference between the zoom h1 and the h2?? Would I get better quality with any of those than with my actual recording gear??

I would appreciate any feedback.


PS: Please excuse my spelling, I can´t edit the title

Last edited by Yeah; 02-04-2014 at 02:23 PM.
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Old 02-05-2014, 07:12 AM
Rudy4 Rudy4 is offline
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The portable is going to sound better than a directly plugged in guitar (if your guitar sounds good to begin with) and will give you a better vocal when compared to using a lower-tier dynamic mic into your interface.

The lower priced portables are all going to give you nearly identical sound quality as they all basically use the same types of back electret mic capsules and electronics in them. Zoom, Tascam, and a few other small handhelds will give you about the same results.

Depending on what you want to do you might want to consider a Zoom R8. With the addition of a pair of headphones it will give you the ability to multi-track anywhere you like.

There are examples of a few different Zoom models and examples of how to easily multitrack with them on the home recording page at my website:

http://www.bluestemstrings.com/pageRecording1.html
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Old 02-05-2014, 07:22 AM
Yeah Yeah is offline
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Thanks pal, very useful site. Zoom R8 is sadly non available in my country, and, due to tax fees, buying it online would be REALLY expensive.
Would you recommend the zoom h1, the h1 or the tascam?? Is the h2 worth the price difference?
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Old 02-05-2014, 09:02 AM
Rudy4 Rudy4 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Yeah View Post
Thanks pal, very useful site. Zoom R8 is sadly non available in my country, and, due to tax fees, buying it online would be REALLY expensive.
Would you recommend the zoom h1, the h1 or the tascam?? Is the h2 worth the price difference?
The only handheld I have personal experience with (and own) is the H1. It works fine and produces good results, although it feels very cheaply made. Someone else will have to relate information about the other brands.
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Old 02-12-2014, 03:00 AM
HankWillow HankWillow is offline
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I use a Tascam DR-07 MKII for grabbing informal sessions and capturing song ideas quickly and simply. It's a little upscale from the DR-05 which is in the same ballpark as the Zoom H1. A few more features than the DR-05 and has a rudamentary overdubbing ability that allows one to get a couple parts recorded. Not a true multitracker by any means but handy when that genius idea strikes out in the woods so to speak. And it's a lot less cumbersome than lugging around my Tascam 2488. Great fidelity and reasonably easy to use.

If you think you'd want a little more multitrack versatility Tascam also makes some "pocket studios" now. They have more in common with a true multitacker where as the small handheld units usually record only stereo tracks. The DP-06 is, as one would expect from the name, a 6 track unit, and the DP-08 has 8.

The main give and take as I see it is the DP- units have more versatility in multitrack capabilities. The DR- units excel in easy field use. The DP-'s record in CD quality 16bit/44.1khz wav. The Dr-'s record up to 24bit/96khz wav. Either format is perfectly sufficient for songwriting use, the DP-'s giving you more tracks for extra parts. If you're going to take the raw tracks and further process them extensively, the higher resolution the Dr-'s allow could be helpfull. Myself, I record in 24 bit 44.1khz wav. That's the maximum my 2488s will accept.

Here's a couple sites to ponder and get more detail.
Tascam:
http://tascam.com/applications/recor...l_portastudio/
http://tascam.com/applications/recor...held_recorder/
A couple Online sources (for price comparisons):
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/audio-recorders
http://www.sweetwater.com/c1006--Portable_Recorders

I don't have any personal experience with Zoom equipment so I'm sorry I'm not much help there. Some friends have some of their stuff and seem relatively pleased with it.

Hope this helps a little. More options can't hurt. Good luck with your search.

Rick
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Old 02-12-2014, 10:26 AM
Yeah Yeah is offline
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Hey pal, thanks a lot, really useful. I will be pulling the trigger on a recorder soon, let you know.
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Old 02-12-2014, 10:46 AM
philjs philjs is offline
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Do you have an iPad, iPhone, other smart phone or tablet? There is simple to very complex recording software available for these devices (eg. Garage Band up to the full-featured Cubasis for iPad) and if you already have one then perhaps you just need a microphone to suit the interface? For example, the Rode iXY for iOS devices...

Phil
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Old 02-26-2014, 10:21 AM
kenstogie kenstogie is offline
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I have the Zoom H4n and am fairly pleased thus far. It has 2 XLR inputs with phantom power and can be a simple 4 track or 2 track stereo recorder. No real editing as far as I can tell.
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  #9  
Old 02-26-2014, 09:53 PM
HAPPYDAN HAPPYDAN is offline
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Default Tacam DR-05

Guitar Center ran a ridiculous sale on the Tascam DR-05 this past Christmas, so I got one in the stocking. Great, handy little device that is very easy to use. Actually records true stereo, so my bathroom recordings almost sound professional! Just need to use aux speakers or headphones for the playback. Check with GC to see if they are still on sale. Good Luck!
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  #10  
Old 03-01-2014, 01:37 PM
Taylorplayer516 Taylorplayer516 is offline
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Default Some portable recorders recomendations

If you have an iPhone try the tascam im2 mic, it's a great improvement over the phone mic and I got it at amazon us for $12. I just picked up a zoom q2hd to try some video recording.

I like the mic BC I can email sound files straight out without having to bother with a computer.
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Old 03-01-2014, 02:28 PM
Nailpicker Nailpicker is offline
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I like my Boss Micro BR 80. Very small, as many features as some larger units.
Easy to operate. Well under $200. My only negative is that it doesn't convert to mpeg or wav format on board. Gotta transfer the file to your computer to do that.
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Old 03-01-2014, 02:39 PM
mc1 mc1 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Yeah View Post
Thanks pal, very useful site. Zoom R8 is sadly non available in my country, and, due to tax fees, buying it online would be REALLY expensive.
Would you recommend the zoom h1, the h1 or the tascam?? Is the h2 worth the price difference?
i own the h2 (older model) and h2n and definitely prefer the h2n, if that helps.
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Old 03-01-2014, 02:54 PM
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Got an iPhone/iPad? Try this:

http://tascam.com/product/im2x/
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Old 10-24-2014, 11:00 AM
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I finally bought a Tascam DR 07 MK II, pretty good sound quality and ease of use. It looks very fragile though, but I think it´s a very good purchase for the price.
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Old 10-24-2014, 11:18 AM
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I have the h1. And as others have said it is cheaply made. A very flimsy cover over the the memory card slot. There have been reviews that state the AA battery will drain while the unit is off. So I take the battery out when I am not using it.

Also, do not record to MP3 format. It is horrible. Record to wav format and set it to at least 48/24. Then when I am done I import the wav into audacity (free) on my laptop to perform compression and eq. I then export back out to wav format, and convert to mp3 using FormatFactory (free).
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