Portable Player Which Has a Good Recording Capability?

[dj_mocok]

Portable players are not my scene at all. So I have no idea which one is good.
I need to get one for my partner.

It will be used to record lecture. Playback sound quality is no 2. The most important is the ability to record. That's the most important thing, everything else is second. Any flash player which is good for this?
I mean really really good ?

She had a digital recorder broke down before, so she's kinda avoiding it. At the moment, she is using the mini-cassette recorder, but according to her, her friend's MP3 player can record better than her dedicated, mini-cassette recorded.

I find this a bit hard to believe, but that's what she said.

Just wanna confirm, does anyone know such good player? (if it exists at all)

It can be an MP3 player, or a NetMD player, whatever as long as it's good.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Covenant]

The iRiver HD320 is a very good option IMO. It has line-in recording, a built in mic, AND an external mic, and can record at 320kbit mp3 from the latter.

Its also available quite cheaply from Headphonic, so its something to consider.

 

[bangraman]

Hi-MD without a doubt. iRiver recording facilities suck in comparison...


... BUT the built-in Mic is quite useful for ad hoc recordings. However it picks up hard disk noise so you might find critical sections drowned out by "wheeeeeerrr...".


I'd recommend something like a Sony ECM-DS70P (a stereo mic with a built in jack), with a midrange Hi-MD machine. You can export recordings as WAV, and although it's as slow as some of the slower flash players to transfer audio files, it's very good quality

 

[LFC_SL]

Sony have several mics available for recording - which is best?, although I'm aware of the ascending price scheme

 

[philodox]

Archos AV3xx is the most versatile I've seen.

You can record from any analog or digital source to high bitrate MP3 or WAV.

If you need to make live recordings you can get the higher quality external microphone with a built in preamp or you can use the built in mic which actually isnt all that bad.

Oh, and it can record DivX too if you have a use for that.

I've got one for sale as part of a portable audio package [including the external mic/preamp]... but they appear on eBay pretty frequently as well.

 

[bangraman]

One thing I didn't mention is the difference in performance between the Hi-MD mic preamp and the other recording portables I've tried. It's pretty major... Hi-MD is definitely superior in this respect.

 

[DigDub]

yea. recording-wise, i think md still wins hands down. there are more recording options and the hi-md units have excelent battery life too.

 

[philodox]

How would you compare the Hi-MD to the list of features that the AV320 has for recording[Listed in my above post]? Do these players have digital input? Can they record directly to WAV? [This 'exporting' to WAV sounds like transcoding to me, which is a no-no

]

EDIT: I just re-read the original post and I guess that live recording is all that will be used. In that case the AV3xx is still a good choice if you also get the external mic and preamp. Probably a little overkill if you don't plan on taking advantage of its other recording features though.

 

[IpaqMan]

I have looked high and low for a good portable recorder for years. I have tried various Iriver players, the Ripflash recorders, and more. The best of the lot has always been minidisc recorders with the new Hi-MD recorders offering true PCM (WAV) recording. MD recorders offer recording functions similar to your standard tape recorders (pause, ff, rw, stop, erase, and more). MD recorders also offer vu-meters and record level adjustments. The Sony's also offer auto-gain record level control which makes quick and dirty recordings easy.

Most flash player recorders that I have tried (Samsung, Iaudio, Creative Muvo, Ripflash) are noticeably noisy. The MD is quiet. Various HD recorders have problems. The Iriver H series have limited recording features. My IHP-120 adds clicks to the recordings. There is no vu-meter. Record battery life is limited. My NJB3 is large and not 100 percent reliable. It does not include a mic pre-amp.

Some of the best digital (flash) recorders that I have used are the new top of the line Olympus digital voice recorders. They have limited frequency response but are excellent voice recorders. They record in MS WMA format at bitrates up to 128kbps. They are excellent for lecture recordings. I used to record sermons with my MD recorder but have switched to the DS-2200 recorder because of the acceptable quality, convenience (USB mass storage, WMA format), and portability. Some of them even play mp3s.

 

[DigDub]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox How would you compare the Hi-MD to the list of features that the AV320 has for recording[Listed in my above post]? Do these players have digital input? Can they record directly to WAV? [This 'exporting' to WAV sounds like transcoding to me, which is a no-no ] EDIT: I just re-read the original post and I guess that live recording is all that will be used. In that case the AV3xx is still a good choice if you also get the external mic and preamp. Probably a little overkill if you don't plan on taking advantage of its other recording features though.

hi-md can record in wav format or atrac.

they also can record via analogue in, optical digital in and mic in.

they also have volume meters so that you can see if the recording is too loud. on some manufacturer's model, there is also auto-gain that automatically turns up the recording sensitivty when the sound gets too soft and turns it down when the sound gets too loud. the gain level can also be set manually.

md recording also allows setting of track marks at regular intervals and manual settings of track marks. it can also set track marks when there is silence for a certain of period.

you can also edit recorded tracks by renaming, deleting, splitting and joining them on the md unit itself.

 

[dj_mocok]

Almost unanimous. HiMD it is.
I was also thinking the same thing.

I checked a few models, they are quite pricey eh?

But I believe the recording quality will be similar from certain level (price range) onwards to the top of the range HiMD (correct me if I'm wrong), meaning usually top of the range differ in different areas, eg. playback quality, or display screen... but recording capability is the same?
So without overkilling, based solely on the main purpose, only for recording, which model of HiMD will be sufficient for the task?

Thanks.

 

[t10]

thankfully with HiMD the choices are very simple (since only sony is in the game right now).

HiMD Linup: http://www.minidisc.org/part_Hi-MD_Sony.html


NH700/NHf800 are the lowest tiers with MIC capability, could probably be had for ~$150 shipped: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...786440593&rd=1

RH910: $210shipped http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...786429000&rd=1

RH10: $270 shipped: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...786456327&rd=1

 

[dj_mocok]

Thanks for the input.

But seems like some models are not available in Japan. My partner is currently in Japan, so she'll be getting it from there. Couldn't find some of the HiMD models at the usual place (eg. yodobashi website). Some of them can't play MP3s...

The "cheapest" one (HiMD with MP3 support) is MZ-RH10, at US$276

Damn... these things don't come cheap eh?]


MZ-EH930 is cheapest (almost half of that RH10), but no MP3 support. But I don't think I'll be needing MP3 support anyway, since the file is recorded in .wav, so even if I copy the file and play it with my other MP3 player, I can still use it since it supports .wav

Am I right?

 

[philodox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DigDub hi-md can record in wav format or atrac. they also can record via analogue in, optical digital in and mic in.

Cool, the AV3xx has coaxial digital in instead of optical, and MP3 instead of atrac but otherwise they seem pretty similar here.

The autogain feature sounds interesting, depending on how well it works.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DigDub you can also edit recorded tracks by renaming, deleting, splitting and joining them on the md unit itself.

The splitting and joining feature sounds very cool. You can rename and delete on the AV3xx, but you can't split and join.

What capacity do these units have?

I guess HiMD is the way to go then... unless space is an issue [the AV3xx can be upgraded to 100GB] or you think you will take advantage of the AV3xx's other features.

 

[dj_mocok]

Damn, those Sony MDs are so good looking.
I really don't need a portable, but it's really tempting.

It's a bit pricey, so I'm not sure whether I can convince her to get this one.

PS: Don't really like the most expensive one though (DH10P), the one with camera. I think it's too gimmicky. If I wanted a camera, I'd get a camera, not an MD.