cheap substitute for a portable dat...?

Cephalectomy

Cephalectomy

Active member
Hello, I was just wondering if anyone knew of a cheap substitute for recording sound to, instead of using a portable dat. I can use the DVX itself if I have to but I don't like the idea of having those extra wires when trying to film handheld. I know a dat would be ideal but it's just out of my price range at the moment. I was wondering maybe if some of those cheaper voice recorders would work or something similar? Anyways, thanks for any help in advance :)
 
there are lots of compact flash, and hard drive options, just search google. you can also use minidisc.

i shoot dvx handheld with cabling running to and from it - as long as you keep it all neat, and use belt clips or somthing to provide a strain relief, its no big deal shooting straight to the camera.
 
m-audio mt or edirol r-9 looks to me as a good solution for non tc capturing - if you use external mixer
 
yeah, the r-9 looks good, and also the micro track. but george sure is right - you need a mixer to amplify the audio cleanly so you can just use the recorder as an a/d converter basically.
 
DAT is the last thing I would buy at this point, and I own two. A CF recorder is a MUCH better alternative for a huge number of reasons not the least of which is that you may not be able to buy DAT tapes five years from now. MD is also an alternative, though in both cases if your going "cheap" you probably need a decent mixer/preamp to get a good recording, and then your not "cheap" anymore.
The PMD660 is probably the cheapest quality alternative, since any MD cheaper than that will absolutely need a preamp.
SK
 
DAT is NOT ideal anymore, CF recorders are the way to go. Better quality, no moving parts, fast file transfers to PC.

MD is the cheap alternative, quality is fine, but most recorders have lousy manual levels, or not at all, no limitters, no XLR connections etc. And if something happens to power during the recording they do not make TOC and the recording is gone... MD is more or less also a dinosaur (which newer grew up in the first place)
 
Noiz2 said:
The PMD660 is probably the cheapest quality alternative, since any MD cheaper than that will absolutely need a preamp.
SK
Click to expand...
Additionally, it will record uncompressed sound which is required in FCP, I don't know the sound requirements for other NLEs.
 
Blaine said:
Additionally, it will record uncompressed sound which is required in FCP, I don't know the sound requirements for other NLEs.
Click to expand...

That is actually not much of an issue. First because you are going to transfer from the MD to something else anyway and no computer is ever going to see the file on the MD. After the transfer the sound will be "uncompressed".

Personally I hate the term because it means two different things in the audio world and the one that you are referring to (data compression) can be very misleading.
All recordings are "compressed". Sounds stupid, right? Well compared to your ear and actual sound pressure in the air all recordings are a compressed version. Digital "uncompressed" recordings use "stupid" compression. They just look every so often at the sound and record what they see. MD and MP3 and a whole bunch of other "lossy" compressors look at the sound and look closer at what they think is important and less at what they think isn't. Both miss stuff. In theory a well designed "compressed" format should sound better than an "uncompressed" of the same size. And sound as good as at a much smaller size. This doesn't happen too often so the general rule that "uncompressed" is better is pretty much true.
And for those old "analog" holdouts, that is a "sampled" sound also. Magnetic particles have a finite resolution so analog tape is actually (at the lowest level) a binary recording. It happens to have a very highly and somewhat random sample rate that is read by an averaging reader and so it seams continuous but that is an illusion similar to what a digital recorder does.

Sory long post.
Point is anything you record you can get into the NLE.
SK
 
You can check out the listing I have in the marketplace for my old (but loved) Marantz PMD670... ;-) (shameless plug off)

Phil
 
Perhaps I should have used the terms .aif or .wav . Yes, everything can be converted. My point was I could take it straight into FCP from the Compact Flash WITHOUT the need to convert. You CANNOT take MP3 or AAC into FCP without first converting it to AIF or WAV.
 
True but FCP actually has problems with some files like bwave so you may well have to convert the files. MD would be a real time transfer as would DAT, and that is a pain. And I believe you can import MP3 into FCP? but maybe I'm wrong.
SK
 
ok, seems like there's no real good cheap substitude, so i guess i'll stick to using the camera for the time being and once i can afford something a little nicer, aim for that :) Thanks for your help! :)
 
the tascam compact flash recorder is about the best thing out there for under $1,000.

it takes xlr, uses compact flash and runs on batteries.

it even does timecode.

hard to beat it in that price range.

i think the xlr is a big dividing point.

but the one thing i have found is that if you ever get a chance to use any of the higher end or "best of" in any category it is hard to go back to using something lesser...

matthew
 
Noiz2 said:
And I believe you can import MP3 into FCP? but maybe I'm wrong.
SK
Click to expand...
Nope. It's gotta be converted. It can be converted in iTunes, QuickTime Pro or DVDSP3.
 
Hey Matthewd5-

I'm sure you know how much I love the Tascam (and I do...) but be careful in saying it does timecode for under $1,000. It doesn't, really. You have to have a TC generator to jam it to get external timecode, since it doesn't generate TC. Pretty much all of the TC generators would put the price point above $1,000 (for example, my solution, the Tascam + a Denecke TS2-SB TC slate came in at about $1,600 (I got a good deal on the slate).

But, again, the Tascam (IMHO) is the best value for the performance level out there today. Including all of the TC recorders (the next closest is the FR2 from Fostex, but once you add the TC option, it pushes the price to close to $2,000.) Then you start looking at a 744 as the next option. So, I still highly recommend the Tascam, but only the TC capabilities in context.

As a side note, does anyone know if you can jam the HVX?

Phil
 
I have the Tascame and use it for everything. It is the best HD resalouthin recorder out there. But I do use a Denecke TS-3 so my whole package was 2,200. Well worth it thought. This is what I would buy. Again and Again it is very flexable. The only thing I would recomended is getting 4gb CF cards for it.
 
Blaine said:
Nope. It's gotta be converted. It can be converted in iTunes, QuickTime Pro or DVDSP3.
Click to expand...
That's interesting I just booted FCP HD4.5 and was able to import two MP3 files no problem. Maybe your thinking of an older version?
SK
 
ptalsky said:
Hey Matthewd5-
....
But, again, the Tascam (IMHO) is the best value for the performance level out there today. Including all of the TC recorders (the next closest is the FR2 from Fostex, but once you add the TC option, it pushes the price to close to $2,000.) Then you start looking at a 744 as the next option. So, I still highly recommend the Tascam, but only the TC capabilities in context.

...
Phil
Click to expand...


And I would add the 671 to the list and above the FR2 which I think has too many downsides, unless you NEED TC.
SK
 
matthewd5 said:
the tascam compact flash recorder is about the best thing out there for under $1,000.

it takes xlr, uses compact flash and runs on batteries.

it even does timecode.

hard to beat it in that price range.

i think the xlr is a big dividing point.

but the one thing i have found is that if you ever get a chance to use any of the higher end or "best of" in any category it is hard to go back to using something lesser...

matthew
Click to expand...

Not to sound like a Marantz rep but even the 660 has XLR and the MicroTrac gets honorable mention with the TRS to XLR cables. If cheap means under $400 then your sort of SOL with quality. If it's under $1,000 then there are quite a few good options out there depending on your needs. Phil and I have to get together and play so I'm not sure if I would put the Tascam or the PMD671 at the top, but they are both in the same ballpark. Then you slide down to 670, or 660 , MicroTrack. Somewhere at the bottom (because of features and ease of use) I would put the MD recorders. They can sound great IF recorded properly and IF transfered well but those are two big IF's
SK
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top