Ableton Forum

Hi,

I am limited on space in my house so my studio setup is in part of the house that isnt very well suited to recording audio from a mic as there would be some sort fo background noise.

I was wondering (and stop me if this is a really bad idea) I ve a portable mini disk recorder that I could use to record my audio too first of all in a quieter place or at friends houses or even audio from out and about that I find interesting and then hook it up to my setup and record it into live. I know the part of hooking it up to live is easy enough, but the bit that worries me is that my portable mini disk player has only a tiny 5mm input jack. So what sort of mic would be suitable for this kind of use and secondly would connecting it with an adaptor to make it smaller effect the quality?

the above is me sorry wasnt logged in

bump

Not exactly what you were looking for, but you might look into a Zoom PS-04 as an extremely portable way to get some tracks recorded:

http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/models/ps04/pdmodel.html

CoreSound sells a pair of Low cost binaural mics for $75 that are are fabulous for portable recording....they are the size of a 2 pencil erasers with a little alligotor clip and have the small jack you need ......I have a pair and I think they are great. I clip them to an empty beer glass or a menu on a stand for a mic stand when I'm recording friends at the bar..or you can use your shirt lapels if you don't mind standing still and not talking.....You can try them out easily , Len Moskowitz the guy who makes them offers a 30 -day moneyback I think ....check with him ...you won't send them back I bet

If you are a sound purist,they also have a higher end version of the same for just under $300 with same size and a lot more head room and they are matched for sensitivity so you get better quality tracks.

keep in mind that these are condenser mics so they need phantom power that your laptop mic jack won't provide, your MD player should work just fine however

I have tried other regular mics , but it;s a hassle draggin those stands and adapters around plus friends don't appreciate using duck tape on a chair to make a quick mic stand

the problem I have with MD recording is digital signal clipping, but that's another post ....hey , it's a great way to go.

Thanks I'll check them out

Hi Nav,

I think you would be ok recording into your mini disc. As far as I know there is no loss of quality due to the size of a jack, at least not that I am aware of. Just try it out and see how it sounds. If your mini disc is 16Bit 44.kHz then it should be fine for doing some recordings, without having to splash out lods of cash on extra equipment. Just get the right adapter from Mic to mini jack (cant remember if you said you had these) . I used to use my sisters Mini Disc to record stuff outside, mainly machinery and vehicles and it worked well. Foley is the way ahead, yehh

Dav