which portable recorder to buy? HELP

K

konfont

New member
newbie here.

have been debating on whether to get the sound devices 702 or the korg mr-1000. my conundrum revolves around the SD 702 being sort of an industry standard and the mr-1000 providing the hi rez, future-proof(or so they claim((quite convincingly, i might add)), and lower price.

if i'm gonna shell out that much dough i wanna be comforted by the fact that whatever i purchase will insulate me from obsolesence even if for a little bit.

i'd appreciate answers from veterans with experience with either or both.

thanks.
 
I'd go with the 702. The Korg unit is going to create a lot of headaches in post because you're going to have to convert the files to something useable in standards DAWs and NLEs.
 
I would go for the 702 over the Korg - but, personally, I would wait a month and get the new NAGRA LB.

Nagra_LB_angle_green.jpg
 
I looked at the Korg and the 702 but ended up getting the Tascam HD-P2 from Oade Brothers with their superupgrade. My buddy is a sound engineer and owns a 702 so we have compared both side by side. We did a bunch of tests using sennheiser mics and we thought they were very equal, with one mic we like one and with another we like the other but both were so good it didn't matter because they both produced a great sound. After talking to some sound engineers about the Korg I decided aginst it because of the converters that they use in the unit.

The Tascam with the upgrade is half the price of the 702 so I went with it and am very happy with it.
 
Toenis said:
But how much is the Nagra LB?
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Similar to the 702 - it's cheaper than the NAGRA BB - it comes complete with battery and carrying case.

First units due late September and I will be getting one for review.

When I reviewed the NAGRA VI last month, I found it so good I bought one - and the only niggles I had I reported back to Nagra and they agreed with me and fixed them.

So it should be superb.

Somilar in price to the SD 702 I think.
 
My personal list of quality recorders is (best first):-
  • Aaton Cantar (very expensive and, I think, limited to 48kHz)
  • NAGRA VI (6-track, 24/96, and superb)
  • SD 788 (8-track, gets hot and limited to 48kHz)
  • SD 744T (4-track, 2 mic. pre-amps, gets hot)
  • NAGRA LB (2-track, top quality, Editing and Firewire included for sending files back to base)
  • SD 722
  • SD 702T
  • SD 702
  • Fostex FR-2
  • Tascam HD-P2
  • Fostex FR-2LE


Personally - I have just bought the NAGRA VI, own the Fostex FR-2 and am considering replacing teh FR-2 with the NAGRA LB.

Price:-

UK (very rough) the NAGRA VI is half the price of the Cantar and the SD 788 is slightly more expensive than the NAGRA VI.

The NAGRA LB and SD 702(T) are around the same price and less than half the price of the NAGRA VI.

The Fostex FR-2 and Tascam are about the same (less than £1,000) and the Fostex FR-2LE is about £400 (one thirst two half the price of teh Tascam and FR-2).

I hope this helps.
 
John Willett said:
There are very different quality machines - the Nagra LB will be about twice the price of the Tascam.
Click to expand...

but will be about the same price as the SD 702? can/t find much info on the nagra LB. i wonder if it has all the monitoring options as the SD 702, i.e M-S decoder, one track recording while other playing back, etc...
 
John,

You forgot one from your list that should probably be #1 or #2 - the Deva series from Zaxcom (not sure if this is available in the UK, but it is the defacto standard in the U.S.)

On the Nagra LB, am I missing any Timecode capabilities in their spec sheet? If it doesn't have TC, then it really doesn't match up to even the Tascam, with its input only TC capabilities. (BTW, same thing with the 702 - you need the 702T to get the TC capabilities).

From a pure price/performance standpoint you really can't beat the Tascam HD-P2 for a professional quality 2-track recorder. When you start getting into more tracks, clearly you go with Zaxcom, Cantar, Sound Devices or Nagra. (And maybe Sonosax if they ever ship their new recorders).

For me, it's always about value and the type of work you do. If I was working on big budget features, no question I would get a Deva or Cantar. But, I work in the low budget world, and as a friend of mine once said - I can buy a new car (almost) for what a Deva 5.8 costs and it would take me just as long to pay for it. :-)

Phil
 
ptalsky said:
John,

You forgot one from your list that should probably be #1 or #2 - the Deva series from Zaxcom (not sure if this is available in the UK, but it is the defacto standard in the U.S.)
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I left the Zaxcom off deliberately - I don't like it. A friend has one and I've seen it up close - and my friend has got so fed up with the Deva he has stopped using it and has gone over to something else - definately the Cantar and NAGRA VI are the top of the tree.


ptalsky said:
On the Nagra LB, am I missing any Timecode capabilities in their spec sheet?
Click to expand...
True, but it *does* have a time stamp (I checked).


ptalsky said:
From a pure price/performance standpoint you really can't beat the Tascam HD-P2 for a professional quality 2-track recorder.
Click to expand...
Value for money - the plastic Tascam *is* good value, I agree; though I did like the original Fostex FR-2 at a similar price, which I prefer.
 
Hi John,

How is it mentioned in the manual that you can do time stamp on the files. I assume its the RTC? Which is what I always use in my video anyway. So is the belief or fact then that the nagra lb is better than the 702t in sound quality, but obviously isn't quite as good in TC support? Thanks!

Bill
 
wbrock001 said:
Hi John,

How is it mentioned in the manual that you can do time stamp on the files. I assume its the RTC? Which is what I always use in my video anyway. So is the belief or fact then that the nagra lb is better than the 702t in sound quality, but obviously isn't quite as good in TC support? Thanks!

Bill
Click to expand...

Nagra told me it can time stamp - best to send an e-mail to Nagra Pro in Switzerland and ask them how this works.

My understanding is that the LB's mic. pres are not as good as the Nagra VI, but better than the Sound Devices 700 series (giving that the 700 series are still excellent).

No timecode on the LB (though they may bring out a timecode version in the future).

Having lived with my Nagra VI for quite a few months now, I am finding it the best recorder I have ever used, am absolutely delighted with it; the latest firmware (v2) making it even better. :)
 
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