Ableton Forum

Hey guys,

Can anyone recommend a decent field recorder for somewhere around 100 pounds ($160 US)?

Thanks in advance!


Oh... Does anyone have any experience of this?
I'm not too hopeful but worth looking into i guess!

http://soundcloud.com/apps/fire

Zoom's stuff in that price range is supposed to be pretty sweet.
No firsthand experience, but that's a name I hear a fair bit with almost entirely positive things attached to it.

If you have an iPhone that's 3GS or earlier or an iPod Touch from before the current generation, check out the Blue Mikey.
Had one for about a year and for the price and convenience, you can't beat it.

Fire is a decent enough audio recording app. It does what it does, well enough. It does have one awesome feature though, which is the ability to enter a web address in a web browser on your laptop/desktop and download files directly off the device wirelessly. That's come in handy so many times.

Of the Zoom units mentioned in the linked thread, the H4N is the unit to get now although it is above your price range a bit. The big hit of the past six months has been Tascam's new inexpensive entrant, the DR-03. It is a bit difficult to find but a quick google search should bring up a place nearby. The DR-03 is aimed at musicians as opposed to recordists.

Hard to know what to really recommend as there are so many units to choose from.

I'm using M-Audio Microtrack 2 and am pretty happy with it. A lot of times I use the guitar recordings straight from there, just because I like the sound of it.
Only issue I have with it lately, is the battery lifespan... The first year I had it, it was perfect, but since a few months it drains the battery also when it's idle. So if I plan to go out for some field recordings nowadays, I always have to make sure I charge it the evening before.

A friend of mine owns a Zoom H4, which he's very happy with. I heard some unedited recordings from him of the sea rolling in and out, which sounded very crisp/nice as well...

I also checked some iPhone apps before, but especially for the clarity and overall sound I would not recommend that. Maybe if you use it in combination with a very good mic and some eq-ing afterwards it might be okay, but I'd recommend you buy a dedicated field recorder. It's a world of difference! my 2 cents...

Good luck with your purchase...

I have a Yamaha Pocketrak CX which is now discontinued but I think there is a similar one available.

Good points: very small, good quality recordings, uses one AA size enloop rechargable battery which last for ages
Bad points: mics not very sensitive so not so good for quiet sounds

Overall I am very happy wih it.

My zoom h4 has been reliable for the last couple years. Always carry it around for finding interesting sounds. A few friends have borrowed it to record audio on short films using a rode shotgun on phantom power, and it turned out really nice aswell.

Szuumm wrote:http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php? ... d+recorder

Yeah, I got some good advise in this thread. In the end went with a Olympus LS5 (about £165 on amazon). Very happy with the quality, although it's the only one I've ever owned. Definately worth getting something with wind muffs for out door recording. It's worth considering size as well, depending on if you want to carry it around all the time. The LS5 is pretty compact and fine for me, but I'd probably think about smaller if I wanted to carry it everywhere I went.

wingfieldaudio.com is a good place to read reviews on some popular models