Portable Digital Recorders - update?

[Bacchanalia]

I've had the $100 Zoom H1 for about a year now...and I love it. It's basically just a slightly smaller, not quite as sturdy, version of its more expensive brothers. So if you're the kinda guy known for stomping on your audio equipment, it may not be your best option. But if you've only got the 100 bucks to spend,it may be your best friend, whereas you'd be waiting to afford the others. It has most of the features you'd want in a hand held recorder and the sound of the recordings is just awesome for such a convenient device.

I've recorded in several churches with it and the recordings (while admittedly not quite as good as a the ones we've had professionally done) were astonishing. When you consider the fact that I simply walked up in front of the group just prior to performance, sat the device on the floor with a teeny tripod and hit one button - then picked it back up on the way out the door and was listening to the recording from the headphone jack minutes later, I could not have been any happier.

It's also been amazing for recording my tuba practice sessions and getting instant feedback. It really doesn't seem to care where I place the thing. Every recording sounds great.

[Lingon]

... Zoom H1 ...

How long time can you record without changing battery?

[oldbandnerd]

I'm also in the market for a portable recorder and have taken an interest in this thread. Can anyone here tell me how well these devices do recording a large band (50 members) In a medium concert hall ( 388 seats ) ? WHere would be the best place to set the recorder up ? Right in front,mid ways or all the way in the back ?

[AndyCat]

I'm in the lucky position to have access to many devices through the school I work at. I've used the Tascam DR1, DR100, Zoom H4N, H2, Q3, Edirol R1, R09 and Sony D1.

I always end up back at the DR100, mainly for the dual battery function, and the decent XLR inputs with Phantom power. YMMV.

As an aside, I also used a Macbook/RME Babyface/SE4400a matched pair setup for live recording (brass group, choir etc at school). There is almost no perceptible difference between this cluttered setup, or the same mics straight into the DR100. Therefore the macbook and interface are now redundant!

[bbocaner]

I'm also in the market for a portable recorder and have taken an interest in this thread. Can anyone here tell me how well these devices do recording a large band (50 members) In a medium concert hall ( 388 seats ) ? WHere would be the best place to set the recorder up ? Right in front,mid ways or all the way in the back ?

depends on the hall and the type of microphones in the recorder, but your best results are almost always going to be some variant of right in front. The microphones perceive sound differently than our ears and anything but right up front is going to have too much ambiance from the room and not enough direct sound from the group. The problem with a larger group and a single point recorder is that you really want to get it a fairly equal distance from all the performers in the group or else the instruments up front are going to be much louder and more present sounding than those in the back. The best way to do this is a very tall microphone stand that gets the recorder up 10-20 feet in the air or so just in front of the group. A really wet sounding stage you might want to be just behind the conductor. A really dry sounding stage you might want to be 10 feet back or so.

[Bacchanalia]

... Zoom H1 ...

How long time can you record without changing battery?

I'm too paranoid to not change the battery before anything important. And I've never let one run completely out. I have recorded for over 4 hours at a time without issue. Their website claims 10 straight hours on one AA and I have no problem believing that claim is at least pretty close, since even after a long recording, I'll use it for brief practice related stuff here and there for days after that. I really don't think you'll do much better out of a device on the battery issue... then you just get a monster micro SD card and you're good to go

Sorry to not be able to give you a straighter answer to your question...just never really evaluated it specifically for the battery time

I CAN tell you that for 100 bux, it blows my sox off. The lightweight (less sturdy compared to its brethren) aspect of it can obviously be considered a negative or positive, mainly depending on whether you're trying to stuff it in your pocket before performances or not. I just noticed last night, that even a year later, they've updated the firmware to include new features. I do like it when a manufacturer keeps on top of their products...instead of just telling us to buy the new one