stan_the_man
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Registered: 14th Feb 07
Location: Perth, Western Australia
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I co-run a music/dj event, and we have had lots of bad luck when it comes to recording the sets.
I have a audio recorder but its really wank and keeps crashing etc etc.
Anyway.... We have a budget of £150ish and need a method of reliably recording the event.
It needs to have a line input, be able to record up to 6 hours, and prefferably be MP3 format or similar.
Any ideas? (now i know why tapes are so good!)
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Aaron
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Registered: 9th Aug 04
Location: Cottingham, East Riding
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Laptop with a line in port (or an external sound card like a Maya 44 ot what ever) along with something like Adobe Audition should be ok shouldnt it?
Could plug the laptop directly in to one of the outputs of the mixer in order to record.
This is how i used to record mine.
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stan_the_man
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Registered: 14th Feb 07
Location: Perth, Western Australia
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quote:
Originally posted by Aaron
Laptop with a line in port (or an external sound card like a Maya 44 ot what ever) along with something like Adobe Audition should be ok shouldnt it?
Could plug the laptop directly in to one of the outputs of the mixer in order to record.
This is how i used to record mine.
I tried that and it completely shat itself when it came to saving it. Using the line input and Sound Forge 9. Hmmmmmm
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Aaron
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Registered: 9th Aug 04
Location: Cottingham, East Riding
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quote:
Originally posted by stan_the_man
shat itself when it came to saving it
Save the mix(s) as WAV files and then choose encoding format you want it in later (mp3 for example). The laptop (or what ever) should have enough space to record in WAV format for long enough.
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stan_the_man
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Registered: 14th Feb 07
Location: Perth, Western Australia
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Wav files are huuuge!
I dont really wanna chance fucking it up again, hence the standalone audio recorder. Its becoming a running joke now 
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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Not sure if it's the sort of thing you are after, but my other half bought a 4 track recorder a few months ago (she's a musician in what's laughingly known as her spare time), I think that cost just under £200. You can save your recordings on a memory stick of some sort IIRC, and I'm sure you can specify either MP3 or WAV format.
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stan_the_man
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Registered: 14th Feb 07
Location: Perth, Western Australia
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You got any more info on this mate?
Sounds good.....
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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Yeah it's called a Zoom H4:
http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h4/
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Aaron
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Registered: 9th Aug 04
Location: Cottingham, East Riding
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Each to their own then 
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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Standalone recorders are good because you can use them in places where they may not be a power source (festivals, gigs, etc.).
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Tiger
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Registered: 12th Jun 01
Location: Leicestershire Drives:Astra VXR
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We use the Zoom H2 in our band, which I think is the updated version of the H4 and its great for what we use it for, which is recording the formats of new songs. Could use it for a demo using the built in mic's but if you can input a line out from a mixing console then you're on to something.
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Tiger
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Registered: 12th Jun 01
Location: Leicestershire Drives:Astra VXR
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Oh yeah, and the H2 is about £120
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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It's not an updated version, the H2 is a 2 track recorder whereas the H4 is 4.
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jacko198
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Registered: 1st Mar 07
Location: Buckinghamshire
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You looked into protools?
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jacko198
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Registered: 1st Mar 07
Location: Buckinghamshire
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http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/product/17424-digidesign-mbox-2-mini-now-includes-protools-le-8-via-download-.html
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sand-eel
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Registered: 15th Mar 07
Location: carluke/braidwood--IRNBRULAND
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I've got a Boss BR-532, its very good a few years old now but its a 4 track but you can bounce them into 32 tracks, probably isn't made anymore but I imagine an updated version is out.
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by Tiger
We use the Zoom H2 in our band, which I think is the updated version of the H4...
No the H4 is the model below, it doesn't have XLR inputs and the likes.
The H4 is pretty decent, just update the firmware and get a decent SD card and you're ready to go. Battery life isn't too bad, but it includes a mains adaptor anyways.
The H2 is probably more your thing if you're using line level mini-jack anyways.
Although if the recordings are important, then i'd use the laptop as well - that way if one fails then you still have a copy.
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by jacko198
You looked into protools?
no offense but that's f'ing extreme! And you could get away with a cheaper usb I/O and a copy of cubase 4 LE.
Plus it still doesn't guarantee that he'll have a recording, especially as he says his laptop is flaky.
In a Live recording situation (where the recordings are important), you should atleast be recording to two devices - one primary, one secondary as backup, with both devices being from different manfucaturers/technology etc In the past, i've used HDR24 as the primary HD recorders then a Tascam X-48 as the secondary (clocked from the HDRs), whilst taking a stereo mix on a SD Recorder. Certainly extreme, but it has saved my arse a few times.
So like i said previously, it's worth purchasing a solid state recorder, like the H2 but i would also record to the laptop as well. And you should really be recording to Wave/Aiff - 6hr Wav @ 44.1/16bit is only 3.7GBs ((44.1 x 2 x (16/8) x Time) / 1024)). Perhaps also change from Sound Forge to something like Audacity (or Cubase 4 LE, which you can get from the special shops) if you're still having problems.
edit - also you don't NEED a multi tracker. Just a simple stereo solid state or hard disk recorder that accepts line-level via a 3.5mm jack (mini-jack).
[Edited on 28-03-2009 by Dom]
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Aaron
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Registered: 9th Aug 04
Location: Cottingham, East Riding
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quote:
Originally posted by Dom
edit - also you don't NEED a multi tracker. Just a simple stereo solid state or hard disk recorder that accepts line-level via a 3.5mm jack (mini-jack).
You mean like a laptop with Adobe Audition (or what ever) installed?
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by Aaron
quote:
Originally posted by Dom
edit - also you don't NEED a multi tracker. Just a simple stereo solid state or hard disk recorder that accepts line-level via a 3.5mm jack (mini-jack).
You mean like a laptop with Adobe Audition (or what ever) installed?
Yes, but he's already stated that his laptop is flaky and you should never rely on one piece of gear, so it's still worth stan getting a standalone device - if one fails (mostly likely his laptop) then he still has a recording and visa versa (SD recorders do fail, i've had it happen to me when the SD card was a little dodgy).
And again like i said, i think the reason the laptop is failing is because he's recording to mp3 - so the laptop is having to take the input, convert it and then dump it to disk. Record in Wav/Aiff and i doubt you'd have too many problems tbh.
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Aaron
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Registered: 9th Aug 04
Location: Cottingham, East Riding
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Yup, recording in wav was my thoughts too. You then have the option to encode into what ever you want!
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by Aaron
Yup, recording in wav was my thoughts too. You then have the option to encode into what ever you want!
It requires less processing as it's not having to do on-the-fly encoding for mp3, so it probably is that that's causing sound forge/windows to crash.
The Zoom H series does do mp3 on-the-fly, but i've never recorded for longs periods in mp3 on the H4 i had - always had it recording at 48k/24bit and it survived a few 3/4hr recordings.
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Hawkins
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Registered: 25th Aug 07
Location: Wolverhampton, West Midlands
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Alesis HD24, bomb proof!
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by Hawkins
Alesis HD24, bomb proof!
Brilliant systems and like you say rock solid, again it's a bit excessive for what stan needs. He only needs a 2-track (stereo) recorder!
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Hawkins
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Registered: 25th Aug 07
Location: Wolverhampton, West Midlands
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quote:
Originally posted by Dom
quote:
Originally posted by Hawkins
Alesis HD24, bomb proof!
Brilliant systems and like you say rock solid, again it's a bit excessive for what stan needs. He only needs a 2-track (stereo) recorder!
haha I know, when I read you said HD24 I was like 'bloody 'ell, industry standard!'. So your a fellow engineer yourself I presume? Not pointy shoe I hope? (I'm not sure whether you'll know what I mean )
[Edited on 29-03-2009 by Hawkins]
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