I'm in the process of buying new equipment to record the vocalizations of wild mammals, and have used Marantz's solid state recorders with great success in the past. However, it seems that their PMD range of recorders are not easily available anymore. I've looked around and the Tascam DR-1 portable solid state recorder seems like a good option, but I have no experience with that product.
I'd appreciate any advice on the best, portable recorders to be used in the field. Nothing too fancy (I don't expect ultrasonic vocalizations, for example), but I'd love to hear from you about the pro's and cons of different recording tools that you've used. I would need the recordings to be of good enough quality to analyze properly in programs like AviSoft.
Hi Aliza. Today the market is full of good portable equipment, and I have tried recording with several Tascam, Edirol, Zoom and other small devices, generaly without problems. (Notable was Tascam Dr-100 and Zoom H6) But they often share common drawback - high self noise of the preamplifier. The simplest machines, like Tascam Dr-1 you mentioned, have limited connectivity, too. So it depends on your microphones and whether you are going to use external preamplifier. After having used around 10 different portable recorders I can say without hesitation: Fostex Fr2-LE is the best for me. Very low self-noise, high range of dynamics, XLR connectors with 48 V phantom power, enough energy with 4 AA batteries. The hardware itself might look less fancy than other more recent recorders, but I would really recommend it based on its sound, it is my personal #1! Some technical info can be found on this page, but you may already know: http://www.avisoft.com/recordertests.htm
Best regards
Jiri (www.soundzoo.cz)
Great, thank you for your help, Jiri! I am hoping to also discuss this with some colleagues at conferences in the coming weeks. It is both good and challenging to be spoiled for choice.
Best wishes,
Aliza
In fact, everything really depends on your goals. I record natural and other sounds mainly for pleasure - I like sound. And my goal was to record even the most silent sounds without any noticable background noise. So I eventually ended up with carrying with me a large and heavy setup consisting of Fostex FR2-LE recorder and a pair of RODE N1-A microphones mounted on a camera tripod. The low noise of this setup can be heard for example here: http://www.zvirecihudba.cz/Stranky%20zvuku/moucha%20chycena%20v%20saracenii%20eng.html
However, if you do not care about the background noise because your analysis software can ignore it, and you use, for example, Sennheiser ME67 directional mics, then 1) the self-noise of these mics is already quite high so there is no need for a low-noise recorder, and 2) they can be connected to recorders via 3.5 mm jack without phantom power. So, in conclusion, using these mics you may be satisfied with any basic Tascam, Zoom, Edirol, Olympus, Sony or Maranz product. I thing that today they all have developed good handy recorders.
Let me know what your colleages recommend you.
Best regards,
Jiri
Hi, the right choice depends on multiple factors, and cost is one of them.
If you need top sound quality (excellent low noise mic preamplifier) joined with flexibility, reliability, easy of use, then my first choice is a Sound Devices 702 or 722, depending on recording needs. My second choice is the Fostex FR2LE for the sound quality (only few dB more noise); the weakest point is powering, much less flexible than the SD.
Third choice is the Olympus LS100, much more compact, with decent internal mics, both P48 and PIP powering for mics.
If you don't need XLR and P48 then there are many pocket recorders with internal mics and PIP powering for external microphones. Among these I love the SONY M10.
For mics, again, it depends on what you need and the budget. To stay in the low end of the budget, for low noise recordings I love the Rode NT1 (cardioid), and, as second choice, the AudioTechnica AT4022 (omni) both requiring P48. For distant sources I like the Sennheiser K6+ME66 or ME67 which can be also powered with internal battery, so you can connect to any pocket recorder. If your budget is good, then look at all Sennheiser MKH microphones, ranging from omni to super directional. To get very distant sources, then the Telinga parabolas are the best choice.
Gianni
Hi Gianni,
Thanks for all of these suggestions -- I will look into them. Talking to my colleagues especially in the US, the Marantz was the equipment with which they had the most familiarity and which they trusted. I will find out which of these excellent suggestions are available locally (South Africa) and give them a try. Thanks for helping me be bold -- I'm always afraid of accidentally wasting money on "untested" equipment.
Aliza
Hi Aliza, the latest Marantz 661 MK.... models are very good as well. If you're primarily interested in self noise, then look at this table:
http://www.avisoft.com/recordertests.htm
Gianni
Hi Alina,
I have used many recorders throughout my career and it wasn't until I discovered the Sound Devices Model 722 that I stopped buying other field recorders. It is a two-channel digital recorder (they also make a 4-channel model), made in the US, with a wide, flat frequency response that enables you to record up to the high-frequency limit of your microphone. So if we want to record ultrasound, we use an ultrasonic microphone. If we don't need this capability, we use a standard directional mike that drops off at 18 kHz or so. The microphone signal is digitized at a sampling rate selected by the user via a menu. The digitized signal is stored as a .wav file on the internal compact flash card. When this is filled, you can easily transfer the contents of the CF card to the internal 40 GByte hard drive. This is a small, lightweight recorder that can run on rechargeabale batteries that give a recording time of 6-12 h. Take a look at their website- I think you will be pleased. By the way, I have no connection to this company!
Hope this helps-
Peter
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