CF recorder opinions

G

ggrantly

Veteran
I would value any opinions about field cf recorders. The following units all offer some combination of features; price, size, quality, TC or ???

Tascam HD P2
M-Audio MicroTrak
Marantz pmd 660
Marantz pmd 670

I would anticipate using this for foley, interviews off cam, Sound for distant shots, recording audio from a band mixer while I cruise with a cam, or other as yet to be determined tasks.

TC is not important to me yet, but I don't know what I don't know.

If I was doing more of the music or studio stuff, I might look at the mobil traveler and a mac.

The smaller units have appeal for the sake of improved field portability.

I would value any opinions from the brain trust. I have told many of my customers, "we'll get along great if you drink your bourbon straight, if you like strawberry daquiries, I might not be your guy".
 
hi! ggrantly

I was thinking about this yesterday actually, about buying myself a backup recorder. and had a look at some pictures of some of these. theres a zoom one somewhere in there too.

I don't know much about the models, but I know there are some considerations when choosing one.

firstly, how am i going to use it.
I would need mine to record in 48k 16bit, not too bothered about higher rates or bits, but I saw one that only recorded in 44.1... so that one was out.

I woudn't trust the preamps in any of these things, so I would pretty much resign myself to buying the dedicated preamp with phantom seperately - so then that means that just line in would do for me.

If however you want to use this as a standalone recorder, and you want to use a condenser mic, then one with phantom and mic level in may be the answer,
The Marantz 's and tascams can do this - not very well though.
Although the microtrack only has line in that doesn't matter if you buy a dedicated preamp, most of which will be better than the ones in those marantz's or the tascam
 
I have the 671 and it's pretty darn clean... the mic-in on the 671 was improved a lot over the 670.

If I were buying today I'd take a hard look at the Tascam... would somebody like to clear up the TC issue on the Tascam? Could you jam a DVX100b to it for instance?

Otherwise I'd consider an Oade modified marantz. Back when I was trying to decide on a CF recorder my final two came down to an Oade modified 670 or a stock 671... as it turns out I NEVER use 24/96... the 671 has much better SN specs then the 670... and I took the gamble that there'd be a small difference between the improved 671 at 16/48 or the modded 670 at 16/48... I'd love to hook up with somebody who has a modded 670 or the smaller marantz and do a side-by-side comparison.

Bottom line... I'm really happy with the 671... but real time-code is a BIG deal and I wish I had it.
 
MattinSTL said:
... but real time-code is a BIG deal and I wish I had it.
Click to expand...
Why is it such a big deal when you can't jam the DVX100 with anything? (Except if it's a DVX100B. Then you can at least jam with another DVX100B, but not with anything else as far as I know.)
 
YOU DON'T NEED JAM DVX TO GET AUTOMATIC FILE LOADING ON NLE .
to buy non tc recorder work with tc (free run capability camera) , is to waist your time for nothing , on the set and in the editing= waisting your money

tascam hd would not give you this solution with out external tc generator of some sort ( horrita is the cheapest solution if you dont buy used slate in remarkable price ).
by the way - dvx 100 is not the only camera in the world
there is about 2 dozens which had tc in out solution
for some one who just recording out of sync the hd pr 671 would be good as the build much better way then the others and give more flexibility to their users
if it was my call i was looking for tc recorder only since you dont know when you will be really need it and i guess you will .
so nothing less then zaxcom sd recorder if you already have dedicated small mixer
fr-2 that at least you will be able upgrade to tc in the future or sd 702t
 
Oleg 2 said:
YOU DON'T NEED JAM DVX TO GET AUTOMATIC FILE LOADING ON NLE .
Click to expand...

I understand that TC makes life easier even if you can't jam. And that is why I bought the 702t. I'm just wondering if I'm missing something when MattinSTL writes that it's such a BIG deal.
 
TC really depends on the types of projects that you do. I have the Tascam, and I picked up a used Denecke slate which is my TC master - used to jam both the Tascam and BoomRecorder. In my case, TC keeps my backup in synch with my master recorder (BR is my primary recorder now, Tascam backup and primary for bag-based work). I've used both the line-in and mic-in on the Tascam, and they work very well, and are very clean. Matt, as someone said above, you can't jam a DVX100 and you cannot jam an HVX200 (big oversight in Panasonic's part, or good marketing, take your pick). But, using a TC slate also gives you another way to make sure the right audio files go with the right video files. And, once you get up into the larger camera world (video and dare I say it - Film), TC is a requirement. So, whichever way you go, I strongly recommend TC - and I see used TC slates all the time for reasonable prices. A Tascam + used slate will probably be less than the Fostex FR-2 with the TC upgrade and you get a slate.

(As a reminder - the Tascam can generate TC and be jammed and hold accurate TC, but it does not have TC out capability, so it can never be the master TC for you. This is why you need something (a TC slate or other TC generator) that can be your master.)

Phil
 
I shoot with a lot more then the DVX... I try my best to make purchases that will stay with me along the upgrade path... and in my post I stated DVX100b specifically anyway... and the B jams with other cams. The more tools you have that work with real time-code the better off you will be in the long run.
 
Something that might be of interest to this discussion: http://www.zeitx.com/

I love my Ambient slate but a fellow mixer recent got this Zeitx slate and he let me use give a run. For the money ($450) it is a really well built TC slate. The battery door was flimsy but from what I have read on RAMPS they have fixed that. The one possible downside is the company in the UK is small and apparently it might take a while to fill your order.

They also made this Lanc-lump device which pulls TC from the LANC off some DV cameras (Canon and Sony). I am told it doesn't work for the DVX but perhaps there is hope in the future for a device that will be able to pull TC off the DVX.

If that happens the HD-P2 becomes a pretty attractive backup recorder for the DVX.

Cheers
 
Wabbit, I too am liking the look of the Zeitx slates, especially for the price. Last report I read on RAMPS was that they were still having serious fulfillment problems (i.e. people not getting their slates after waiting weeks for it). I've considered ordering one to have as a backup slate, and am glad to hear your first-hand report using one.

Phil
 
Yeah, like I said the battery door was crap but it's fixed now (the picture on the website is not the battery door I used, so it must be the new one). The one other negative is the mini-plug connecter for the TC. If you are just jamming it a couple times a day no biggie but if you want to run a wireless connection I would like to see a locking plug.

Cheers
 
ptalsky said:
Last report I read on RAMPS was that they were still having serious fulfillment problems (i.e. people not getting their slates after waiting weeks for it).
Click to expand...

What is RAMPS?
 
why is everyone talking about timecode when the guy says he wasn't bothered about having timecode. poor chaps not even come back to his own thread.
 
Actually Scooby, what s/he said was "TC is not important to me yet, but I don't know what I don't know" so I think that a discussion around TC is warranted. And, I do think it is important for us to discuss options so that people don't make short-sighted decisions in their equipment purchases. I have piles of equipment at home that I purchased in a short-sighted way, and now I never use it. Anyone want an Azden 2 channel mixer? I have two of them. ;-)

Phil
 
Not to start a camera discussion in the audio forum, but say with the differences between the Canon A1 and G1 (with/without TC, among other things for $3k) if you were purchasing your audio equipment to work solely with one of those cameras, would that affect whether you purchased a TC field recorder/ slate? And from an audio postproduction perspective, would the savings in time be worth a camera with TC in/out?
 
shawnmaddock said:
Not to start a camera discussion in the audio forum, but say with the differences between the Canon A1 and G1 (with/without TC, among other things for $3k) if you were purchasing your audio equipment to work solely with one of those cameras, would that affect whether you purchased a TC field recorder/ slate? And from an audio postproduction perspective, would the savings in time be worth a camera with TC in/out?
Click to expand...
no for your first
yes for your second
 
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