Portable Digital Recorder

Here's where to talk about preamps, cables, microphones, monitors, etc.

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Here's where to talk about preamps, cables, microphones, monitors, etc.
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MIDI Life Crisis
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Re: Portable Digital Recorder

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

HCMarkus wrote:
Prime Mover wrote:Fortunately, since my job is to create smooth, noise-based ambiances for people to fall asleep to, a little hiss isn't actually that bad, I often end up adding some pink noise anyway. But I do often wish I had the ability to get a really clean recording if the time comes.
Steady state hiss should be removable using software...
Wow, I haven't seen a post where "hiss" has been considered a problem in a very long time - even before the age of digital recording! That's kind of a no-brainer... isn't it? :rofl:
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wylie1
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Re: Portable Digital Recorder

Post by wylie1 »

Just saw this today if you have a iOS device it looks pretty cool
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MV88
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Re: Portable Digital Recorder

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

Not bad for quick and dirty but then again, for quite ℅ and dirty the built in iOS stuff is fine. I really prefer the Zoom and multi-track capabilities of the Zoom style devices, not to mention removable media!
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Re: Portable Digital Recorder

Post by wylie1 »

I use Zoom as well but for the high SPL stuff the built in iOS audio can't handle it.
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Re: Portable Digital Recorder

Post by stubbsonic »

The built-in iOS mic sounds terrible to me.
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Re: Portable Digital Recorder

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

stubbsonic wrote:The built-in iOS mic sounds terrible to me.
That's because it is.
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Re: Portable Digital Recorder

Post by mikehalloran »

wylie1 wrote:I use Zoom as well but for the high SPL stuff the built in iOS audio can't handle it.
Not an issue for either of the Zoom mics I listed. Both have volume controls and a choice of automatic gain (which I do not use except when recording interviews). If you use the Zoom app, you can control the mics within the app.

I have an older Olympus that I no longer use. Its file format is not Mac compatible—I had to download the files onto my PC in order to convert them to .wav. I probably have an app now that can do the file conversion but my iPhone makes it redundant. I imagine that the newer ones don't have that issue.

I can see owning an H4 but the idea of carrying another portable stereo recorder when my iPhone works so well isn't something I want to do.
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Re: Portable Digital Recorder

Post by wylie1 »

mikehalloran wrote: If you use the Zoom app, you can control the mics within the app.
Thats why this looks like a nice little add on for iOS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQNDRGvzt3o
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Re: Portable Digital Recorder

Post by mikehalloran »

wylie1 wrote:
mikehalloran wrote: If you use the Zoom app, you can control the mics within the app.
Thats why this looks like a nice little add on for iOS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQNDRGvzt3o
Now that the user guide is online and the price has dropped to $150, the Shure does look pretty good.

Their Matrix app is limited to 2G file size which they say gives 2 hours at 48k 24bit and more time at 44.1/16. I like that you can select a different app from within to record while still allowing Matrix to control the microphone. That's very nice and may incite me to pull the trigger on this little bad boy.

http://cdn.shure.com/user_guide/upload/ ... nglish.pdf

The Zoom mic does work well, however... I don't really need the Shure, I suppose...
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Re: Portable Digital Recorder

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

Need and want are sometimes distinctly different from each other.
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Re: Portable Digital Recorder

Post by mikehalloran »

Someone had a Shure MV88 on eBay, an unexpected gig fell in my lap... I had to get it.

http://cdn.shure.com/user_guide/upload/ ... nglish.pdf

Nice and the ShurePlus MOTIV App, while not necessary, does give you control over the mic and can let you use other apps for recording if you want. Unlike the iQ mics, there are no controls on the body if you wish to bypass the app. The MV88 sounds a little better than the Zoom iQ5 as I expected. Possibly superior the the iQ7. The all metal construction looks and feels great.

I found a design difference that may be a deal killer for some: The asymmetrical base covers the headphone jack of my iPhone 5s and my wife's iPhone SE in one position. Not such a big deal (turn it around) but, since the upcoming iPhone 7/7+ will not have a headphone jack, you can see the problem if you want to monitor while recording.

The Zoom mics have a headphone jack (zero latency when using their Handy Recorder.app). The iQ mics have controls on the mic if you chose not to use the Zoom app.

https://www.zoom-na.com/sites/default/f ... _iQ5_0.pdf
https://www.zoom-na.com/sites/default/f ... _iQ7_0.pdf

I imagine that Shure will come out with a newer version of the MV88 with a built in 1/8" stereo jack, someday. I'm not going to sell mine anytime soon and, if I need to monitor in real time, there are the Zoom mics, right?
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