Recording/PC deivce question - please help.
 

I want to be able to record sounds and then transfer the recordings onto pc.

I know some mp3 players have voice recording functions and all, but I don't know what kind of quality that offers. I really just want a dedicated recording device that can put the stuff onto my pc. I'm sure it's probably simple, but I don't know where to start, or what a device that does it is called.

If it has to be plugged into something like a radio, then so be it, but a decent quality microphone would be much preferred. If I want to spend £50 - £100 ($100 - $200 dollars?).

What kind of device should I be looking at? Will I have to buy seperate softwatre?

Many thanks for any help.

there are a lot of digital dictaphones available now, but most are pricey.

the sound is pretty good, and I'm sure that there are even mic jacks if you wanted something even better.

I didn't have much time to look but this was about the least expensive (of the higher quality kinds). I'm sure if you searched around you could find something cheaper.

[edit: clicking at the top of that page gave even more choices of inexpensive recorders]

:):):) <---- click the smilie. DO IT.

Sounds like you probably need something like a minidisc recorder or dat. Some of them come with decent microphones incorporated in the mechanics, but for £50 or even less you could get a good separate one too. It's also fairly easy to record into a pc, the only tricky part is perhaps getting to arrange the recording levels of the sound that you are pouring into it. For that all you'll need is a stereo cable that plugs into both the microphone socket of your hard drive and into the line out socket of the minidisc recorder itself. With that cable you can convert literally any sound from sources as diverse as tvs, disctaphones, turntables etc etc. Software-wise, I always used Sound Forge as the main tool for recording from the sound card, plus it is extremely good not so much for the effects etc, but more for the editing functions and various amplitude modulation frequencies that you can achieve with it. Do you need to record stuff for a specific purpose like field recordings or sound experiments?

Thanks to both of you.

I'm checking the link, floatingslowly.

I'll look at minidisc recorders and dat. too pork.

i'd ask you some questions first, namely: what do you want to record--what kind of sounds? is it spoken word, is it nature sounds, is it music? where will you want to record this-- indoors/outdoors? and if it's music: will it be solo performances, will it be a band? are you looking for something to tape shows or your own music? there are optimal tools for each of those so i'm not ready to offer a generic solution until i hear more-- but i've learned *quite a bit* about this in the past few months, and i know stuff that goes from $50 to $2000 (25 to 1K £?) so i think i can help.

microphone-->soundcard--->comp

I'm currently looking at this: http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-WS-100.../dp/B0009N9PJA

The customer reviews seem good, and the price is OK. Any thoughts from the anel?

You ought to see some equipment that is used to record enviromental sounds for studies of acoustic ecology. Amazing, they pick up sounds that even the human ear would struggles to.

Good questions. Spoken word, from live and maybe in front of a shortwave radio speaker, plus nature sounds. There's unlikely to be music involved.

I'm looking at decent quality, although I'm not expecting too great, given my budget.

the Olympus voice recorders tend to be pretty good.

although I've only had experience with the analog kind, I would assume that as long as it has a mic jack and USB port, nothing else would matter.

the higher priced units might have better built-in mics, but that's about it.

hm. voice does not require very high quality. shortwave radio doesn't either. i would not be too concerned with an expensive device. as a matter of fact, most mp3 recorders do 320kbps which is quite high, lossy yes, but not a big issue. i do interviews with my iriver flash player & it's very simple.

however, if you want some kind of quality for other people to listen to (not just "voice notes"), you'll want to do better. in that case what matters the most will not be the recorder itself but the microphone.

for indoor recording, talking front of your radio, however, i'm not sure you need a portable recorder. you could record directly into the PC

maybe a blue "snowball" microphone which you can plug directly into the usb port of your mac or pc? as long as it's relatively a quiet machine, it should cause no problems. all you need to do is download audacity (which is free) and you're in business. goes for about $100, not sure about prices in the u.k. looks cool too! i want one. yes i do.

for nature sounds, say, if you're going to be recording birdsongs, then it's tricker, you'll need a quality shotgun mic, a windscreen, and either a recorder with XLR inputs or an adapter from XLR to miniplug. you'll need a good pair of monitor heaphones too, to check that you're actually recording what you want and not a bunch of wind.... all of which is an expensive proposition, even if you get a chep recorder, but you can find some "value" solutions if you do your homework and hunt for bargains.

does this more or less answer??

to summarize again: the microphone's the thing.

That answers quite a bit, thanks. I certainly now more than I did when I started the thread. The snowball mic looks very good.

I'm going to spend some of tonight looking at everything.

I bought an iRiver H320 on eBay for I think it was 150 Euro a couple of months ago. It's got a 20GB harddrive, and normally records in mp3 format. But when you install the rockbox firmware, you can record in wav. It has an internal mic, but I've never used it. Bought some external mics and use it for live music recordings. And it works great, very easy to use once I got to know where all the settings were for.

You could also take a look at some of the other players here: http://build.rockbox.org/ Maybe some model with a smaller harddrive would do for you if you only want to use it for recording.

oh, i just found what seems a better quality & cheaper mic than the snowball. not as cool looking though.

the samson C01U

i have a samson wireless mic, and while it's, not a superior piece of equipment, it offers a great value for the price.

I've heard good things about the iKEY Plus Portable USB Recording Device.

The iKEY Plus provides versatile live audio recording. Use the iKEY Plus with your iPod or any USB storage device to record MP3 or WAV files in real time. Perfect for keeping a log of board meetings, lectures, or keynotes, or transferring your favorite vinyl album to a digital format, the unit offers RCA inputs, a phantom power mic input, and a built-in phono preamp for direct connection to turntables. Easy to bring with you at 3.27 x 5.43 x 3.27" and 2 lbs, the iKEY Plus is a convenient real-time recorder.

I think they go for about 150 euros.

As for microphones, Sennheiser

That sounds pretty promising. Compact is good, so I could get a microphone and use that. I need to convert some vinyl too. Thanks.

They go for £100 in the uk.
I'd take a look around though. You might be able to get it cheaper or with extras. Mic, headphones, bag, etc.

It looks like you get quite a bit with it anyway, according to the treocentral review.

I've looked at the iKEY site, and there's a stockist in my town and one in Chester, so I'll see if either have the Plus in stock. It's looking like a possible purchase.

that's a nice little interface, but the sennheiser mics would bust his budget in a major way. and he'd still need a storage solution, unless he's going to use his computer.

for VALUE mics i like audio technicas. good bang for the buck.

HOWEVER. you'd still need an XLR to miniplug adapter, which is the reason why i recommended the USB mics directly. lowest cost and he can use the computer (he's got computer no?)

hip priest, how fixed are you within the bounds of your budget?

also, you can convert your vinyls through the usb interface directly into your computer, no need for ipod/flash/etc.

anyway maybe i'm too money-minded when it comes to these purchases but i hate nothing worse than being broke after a shopping binge.

hip priest: you have to look at the TOTAL cost and how much you're really willing to spend, sure the more money you spend the more "options" you get but there's a point where it becomes impractical, and there are ways to optimize & make your money go a long way.

if money is not an issue then i'd recommend a fostex field recorder a shotgun sennheiser mic and a studio mic, maybe some lavaliers, plus solid state media; but then you're talking about maybe 1,500 pounds.

To start with, I don;t want to go above £100, although that amount itself is no problem. I have a basic flash drive (128mb), but I can get a bigger one, and I can certainly buy other accessories at some point soon.

I can see that the fostex stuff looks imppressive, but at the moment I'm happy with some thing basic. I can go a bit more professional at a later date if I get into it enough.