Need Help on portable Recorder

[leftymike01]

Can I get some advise on a decent portable recorder,looking at a few online
want something to recorder vocal , acoustic guitar or electric mainly need it for my
vocal lesson.
leftymike

 

[JohnHurley]

Give us a price range ha ha!

 

[MarkDyson]

If you don't plan to record it directly, rather via some sort of external mic, there are a lot of good Zoom units at various price points that do a good job and record onto an SD card.

 

[PapaRaptor]

I can recommend the Zoom H1n. I have used its predecessor, the H1 for several years, doing recordings at open mics and jams (back when those things happened regularly). It's cheap and dirty, but the recording quality is top notch, especially for the $120 price. The major difference between my old H1 and the H1n is they made the controls much easier to access on the H1n. It looks almost like a toy, but the recordings it produces are excellent. In my application, I had to use external microphones, as the built-in units didn't handle the very high volume levels of a full amplified band, but I've used it with the internal mics for acoustic recordings with great success. The biggest negative about it is it does pick up noise through the case. I recommend you put it on a small camera tripod or something rather than just laying it on a table. It accepts a 1/4" threaded camera mount, so it will fit most cam tripods. I have velcro on two sides of mine, and have velcro on a couple of microphone stands, so I can just stick it to the mic stand and it does very well.

 

[MarkDyson]

I can recommend the Zoom H1n.

Yeah, that's the one I have. Brought it to a couple of open mics (definitely agree on the small tripod to reduce noise) and the only complaint I had was it did too good a job of picking up all the yakking in the pub in addition to the music.

 

[PapaRaptor]

I had was it did too good a job of picking up all the yakking in the pub in addition to the music.

I noticed that the off-axis rejection is pretty good (not excellent, but pretty good). If I could get close to the source (acoustic) with the yakking behind me, it wasn't objectionable. Unfortunately, I couldn't always do that in a bar. I ended up with a pair of Rode Video Micro Pro mini-shotgun mics. Unfortunately, the pair of them cost as much as the recorder. But they work exceptionally well. I ended up getting a few photog gadgets to put the recorder and mics on a bar.

 

[artyman]

I've had a Tascam DR07 MkII for a few years that does for me.

 

[leftymike01]

I was checking out a Zoom H2n any thoughts on this unit?

 

[CaptainMoto]

I'd have to agree with the reco on the H1n.

I just took a look at the specs on the H2n and it's a pretty full featured unit.

Looks like it should suit your needs.

 

[CapnDenny1]

I have the H2n and the H5.

The H2n works really nice. A little difficult controlling it with one button that does a lot of things, scroll, select. You have to be good at pressing down without scrolling. But the audio is great. It has some nice auto level control modes.

The H5 is easier to use, with a few more buttons. It also has removable microphone pods. You can also plug in two external microphones. I use the H5 to add audio to my SLR video. I bought it for my son to use in making his videos, and then inherited it.

It sounds like the H2n would work well for you.

 

[JohnHurley]

Well everyone is going to throw in their favortes here:

I like the SONY PCM it's about 220 ish ... its highly capable and can do a bunch of stuff.

Then there's the SONY PCM D100 i think those are 700 ish.

 

[PapaRaptor]

I was checking out a Zoom H2n any thoughts on this unit?

Honestly, I don't think you could go wrong with any Zoom audio recorder. I have yet to see a Zoom model that wasn't a top-notch recorder. I even have a Q8 video recorder and while it's not the best video recorder in the world, it has what is essentially a H4 audio recorder built in. Since I got a better video camera (with atrocious audio), I use the Q8 in audio only mode.

 

[leftymike01]

Thank You All For your Input

 

[cowboy]

I'm with Papa on this one...got an old Zoom that I used to do over 200 recording with a band (years ago)...did a fine job...just needed to learn where to place it...that is the trick with any recording device...where to place it...later.

cowboy