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Portable recording device recommendations...

vinylslug

vinylslug

pfm Member
Hello lovely people. I'm attending an seminar next week and was considering recording it on my iPhone so that I can reference it later. Then I started looking at add-on mics for the iPhone and then, in the spirit of true audiophile upgradeitis, began looking at stand alone portable recording devices. I was wondering if anyone here has much experience of such devices and might know how good (or not so good) these devices really are for recording lectures.
Devices that have caught my eye are: ZOOM H4n (£200), Olympus LS-P1 (or similar) £100, -- or iPhone add-ons, Shure MV88, Rode IXY or Zoom iQ6 (or 7)
I don't really want to spend as much as £200 for what might end up as a one-off use, but if it really is exceptional for the task, I could be pushed.
 
Choice of microphone will be far more important than recording device here. Obviously it has to be able to accept an external mic....
A PZM mic would be a good choice and many are available which have an AA battery for self powering (electret condenser). For "difficult" recording jobs a gun mic may save the day.
 
Arkless Electronics said:
Choice of microphone will be far more important than recording device here. Obviously it has to be able to accept an external mic....
A PZM mic would be a good choice and many are available which have an AA battery for self powering (electret condenser). For "difficult" recording jobs a gun mic may save the day.
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Ok - good shout. I’ll have a look into a small add-on mic. This will be for a one-time recording and must be pocket-size, so I’ll see what options I can assemble based on all advice while keeping the cost lowest. The recording doesn’t need to be broadcast quality - just decipherable.
 
In which case the inbuilt mic is more than adequate.
My lad recorded all his uni lectures and then wrote them up afterwards.
Recordings were very clear.
 
vinylslug said:
Ok - good shout. I’ll have a look into a small add-on mic. This will be for a one-time recording and must be pocket-size, so I’ll see what options I can assemble based on all advice while keeping the cost lowest. The recording doesn’t need to be broadcast quality - just decipherable.
Click to expand...

Well a gun mic is obviously quite large and not that discrete... A PZM is a flat plate, usually a little smaller than a CD box, which you place on a large flat surface, such as a table top, or even the floor has been known to work well. You may well have seen them on UK police dramas in interview rooms.
 
vinylslug said:
attending an seminar next week and was considering recording it on my iPhone
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please, before coughing up the cash, check with the speaker and organisers that they are happy for individuals to record.

We ask that no one records ours, but we do supply our recordings for free to all those who express an interest.

All of our lectures are recorded and placed online for our students to view back in their own time.

I went to a seminar last week where we were asked specifically not to record, photograph or talk about the content.
 
gintonic said:
please, before coughing up the cash, check with the speaker and organisers that they are happy for individuals to record.

We ask that no one records ours, but we do supply our recordings for free to all those who express an interest.

All of our lectures are recorded and placed online for our students to view back in their own time.

I went to a seminar last week where we were asked specifically not to record, photograph or talk about the content.
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Fair point - I’ll email and ask. I suspect it’ll be alright, but always better to ask. Thanks for the suggestion - it’s not something I’d thought of.
 
Arkless Electronics said:
Well a gun mic is obviously quite large and not that discrete... A PZM is a flat plate, usually a little smaller than a CD box, which you place on a large flat surface, such as a table top, or even the floor has been known to work well. You may well have seen them on UK police dramas in interview rooms.
Click to expand...
It’s turns out that I have a PZM from another project, but I think it might be overkill for this situation. I’m getting the impression that the small dictation device will suffice for my needs assuming that it’s going to be significantly better than a stand alone iPhone.
 
Following advice given here in PFM I bought a Zoom H1 for a young friend. It is their cheapest one at around £80 and from what I've heard it's wayyy better than an iPhone and well worth the money. Gear Best were the cheapest at the time..
 
steveinspain said:
Following advice given here in PFM I bought a Zoom H1 for a young friend. It is their cheapest one at around £80 and from what I've heard it's wayyy better than an iPhone and well worth the money. Gear Best were the cheapest at the time..
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These basic little Zoom recorders are indeed very good. The H1 has been superseded by the H1N which has ergonomic improvements among others. I bought one recently to record band practices with. It's ridiculously easy to use and the sound quality is fantastic, as long as you avoid MP3. I paid the equivalent of 85 GBP for mine, locally.
 
Mine was the H1n version too - I got the 'kit' deal with a mini tripod and memory card for an extra tenner - again, for my young musician friend it made sense.
I'll tell him to avoid mp3 - thanks for that!
 
At the University we have used many different types.
In my opinion, ignore the very small recorders (Olympus, Sony, etc), but otherwise there isn't much to choose between them.
Our favourite has been the Roland(Edirol) R5. The Tascam DR05 is equally good but not so solidly built. The Zoom mentioned above is also a decent recorder.
For any of those, an add-on microphone isn't usually necessary.
 
Vinylslug - if you buy a Zoom H1n and want to sell it on after do let me know as I too might want one for one off use and my buddy lives several hundred miles away so I can't easily borrow his...
 
Thanks for all the advice. I think it's between the Zoom h1n and Olympus WS-853. The attraction of the Olympus is the built in memory (and that it's cheaper!), but I can't ignore the ground-swell of positivity for the Zoom throughout this thread.
 
Having recorded a few gigs with both voice memos on an iphone SE and with a Tascam Dr05 I would say that to record a lecture the phone alone would be more than adequate. I was recording gigs just to get feedback on my playing, not for HiFi sound quality, and the iphone alone was fine.
 
sean99 said:
Having recorded a few gigs with both voice memos on an iphone SE and with a Tascam Dr05 I would say that to record a lecture the phone alone would be more than adequate. I was recording gigs just to get feedback on my playing, not for HiFi sound quality, and the iphone alone was fine.
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That's interesting. I've just had a little play with my phone while listening to the radio... The radio isn't loud, particularly (approx. 45 db according to a sound-meter app) and it was perfectly audible. I would assume that, if the lecture is loud enough to reach my ears comfortably, then the iPhone should pick it up adequately?
 
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