smaller alternative to Zoom H1?

I have the DR10C and love it. It's great backup and monitoring companion to a Sennheiser Wireless rig too. Super small and discrete.
 
chrisbernard said:
Juicedlink's Little Darling is the only offering comparable in the US that is reasonably priced imo. I ordered my Tascam units from the UK. I've ordered from here before and had a good experience.http://www.pinknoise-systems.co.uk/tascam-dr-10cs-for-sennheiser-mics.html
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The Little DARLink has an XLR input, as opposed to the 3.5mm input on the DR-10C. If the purpose is to attach it to a wired lav mic and tuck it into a pocket on a groom or officiant, the XLR connector tends to kill the advantage of the smaller size. Might as well stick to the Zoom H1 in that case.
 
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The Sony ICD-UX560 looks interesting. It's a little wider than the H1, but about an inch shorter and 1/2-inch thinner. It has a mic input and headphone output. MP3 bitrates run from 32kbps-320kbps, and sampling frequencies up to 48kHz. Frequency range is 50 Hz to 20,000 Hz. Built-in rechargeable 3.7v battery, USB connector, and MicroSD slot. Best Buy has it for $109.99.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-digital-voice-Hrecorder-black/5018200.p?id=bb5018200&skuId=5018200

Here are the technical specs:

http://helpguide.sony.net/icd/u56/v1/en2/contents/TP0000831089.html
 
David W. Richardson said:
The Little DARLink has an XLR input, as opposed to the 3.5mm input on the DR-10C. If the purpose is to attach it to a wired lav mic and tuck it into a pocket on a groom or officiant, the XLR connector tends to kill the advantage of the smaller size. Might as well stick to the Zoom H1 in that case.
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The juicedlink Dar does NOT have an xlr it has a locking 3.5mm for lav mics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZHM1C9ax8w
 
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I received my DR-10CS today and I'm impressed so far. The size is great, smaller than it appeared in photos. Its not much thinner than the zoom which was the most important thing to me but the more conventional shape will allow easy hiding pockets.
Surprised to see there's no hold switch as such, just the well designed record button. I'd be happy having to push an odd combination of buttons to unlock as I'm always petrified that it will unlock in a pocket. Has anyone had such issues?

I notice you have an option for sennheiser, sure, ramsa and sony in the menu. I have plugged in my mic (Axden EX-503) and it works well. Trial and error I guess to decide which of the 4 settings to have it on.

One concern is random battery dies when using rechargeable batteries. After losing a few entire wedding speeches on my H1's when using rechargable batteries I contacted zoom and they advised I use alkaline and since then (over a year) only one such occurrence but I dont think it was battery related. I wonder if I'm better using alkaline single use (pricy $$$) batteries on this unit or as it has the option to select battery type in the menu, I should try rechargable Ni-MH batteries again. Any thoughts on this?
 
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tikigod19 said:
I received my DR-10CS today and I'm impressed so far. The size is great, smaller than it appeared in photos. Its not much thinner than the zoom which was the most important thing to me but the more conventional shape will allow easy hiding pockets.
Surprised to see there's no hold switch as such, just the well designed record button. I'd be happy having to push an odd combination of buttons to unlock as I'm always petrified that it will unlock in a pocket. Has anyone had such issues?

I notice you have an option for sennheiser, sure, ramsa and sony in the menu. I have plugged in my mic (Axden EX-503) and it works well. Trial and error I guess to decide which of the 4 settings to have it on.

One concern is random battery dies when using rechargeable batteries. After losing a few entire wedding speeches on my H1's when using rechargable batteries I contacted zoom and they advised I use alkaline and since then (over a year) only one such occurrence but I dont think it was battery related. I wonder if I'm better using alkaline single use (pricy $$$) batteries on this unit or as it has the option to select battery type in the menu, I should try rechargable Ni-MH batteries again. Any thoughts on this?
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Are you using a rechargeable AAA battery? Typically, rechargeable batteries don't last as long on a charge as non-rechargeable alkaline (name brand) batteries do. They have a longer overall life due to being able to be recharged, but a shorter useful time. Try putting in a fresh Duracell alkaline battery and see if it lasts longer.
 
tikigod19 said:
Surprised to see there's no hold switch as such, just the well designed record button. I'd be happy having to push an odd combination of buttons to unlock as I'm always petrified that it will unlock in a pocket. Has anyone had such issues?
Click to expand...

This comes from a VideoGuys review of the DR-10CS....

"Hold function prevents accidentally switching off the recorder (All keys cannot operate during recordin)"

Does it not have that function?
 
So the best buy link is interesting. It looks like a better version of this.

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-ICD-UX5...F8&qid=1466095310&sr=8-1&keywords=ICDUX560BLK

I bought and heavily tested the Amazon version and though it sucked. I went back to the Z1 before I got the Tascam units. I just didn't think the audio sounded very good and you could not really manually set levels. If the new one enables that that could be super interesting and be a good cheap option. The utility and form factor of the unit was great, not being able to manually set levels was the big problem.

One huge advantage of the Little Darling and the Tascam is that you can record a -12db track. Super helpful when you can't monitor.
 
chrisbernard said:
So the best buy link is interesting. It looks like a better version of this.

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-ICD-UX5...F8&qid=1466095310&sr=8-1&keywords=ICDUX560BLK

I bought and heavily tested the Amazon version and though it sucked. I went back to the Z1 before I got the Tascam units. I just didn't think the audio sounded very good and you could not really manually set levels. If the new one enables that that could be super interesting and be a good cheap option. The utility and form factor of the unit was great, not being able to manually set levels was the big problem.

One huge advantage of the Little Darling and the Tascam is that you can record a -12db track. Super helpful when you can't monitor.
Click to expand...

I know that through the menus you can set the 'Mic Sensitivity', which I would call 'gain' -- Low, Mid or High.

You can also create a custom 'Recording Scene' -- "You can customize the recording settings, including the recording mode and the sensitivity level of the built-in microphones, to make your own recording scene."

Not as good as full manual control, of course. But then again, it's only $110.

Actually, I see now that the Amazon model had pretty much those same features.
 
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chrisbernard said:
So the best buy link is interesting. It looks like a better version of this.

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-ICD-UX5...F8&qid=1466095310&sr=8-1&keywords=ICDUX560BLK

I bought and heavily tested the Amazon version and though it sucked. I went back to the Z1 before I got the Tascam units. I just didn't think the audio sounded very good and you could not really manually set levels. If the new one enables that that could be super interesting and be a good cheap option. The utility and form factor of the unit was great, not being able to manually set levels was the big problem.

One huge advantage of the Little Darling and the Tascam is that you can record a -12db track. Super helpful when you can't monitor.
Click to expand...

I think it's -6dB on the Tascam from what I've seen. Still a handy feature I agree. edit: just seen this has already been pointed out

The best buy sony looks similar to the ICD-SX1000 (I think thats the right model but from googling it looks like it's now defunct) that I bought when trying to replace my H1's a while ago. Good sound quality but I could not get on with the built in rechargeable battery that you could only charge via the USB. Just not practical for me when I have multiple of them.
 
David W. Richardson said:
This comes from a VideoGuys review of the DR-10CS....

"Hold function prevents accidentally switching off the recorder (All keys cannot operate during recordin)"

Does it not have that function?
Click to expand...

It does have a hold function, I guess this kind of recorder would be useless without but I can't see it being 100% reliable as with a hand fumbling around in a pocket you only have to slide the sprung button up or down for 1 second to stop recording. I'd have preferred it if it were 5 seconds or something but I guess it's just as "safe" as a conventional slide up hold like the zoom's if not safer.
 
tikigod19 said:
I think it's -6dB on the Tascam from what I've seen. Still a handy feature I agree. edit: just seen this has already been pointed out

The best buy sony looks similar to the ICD-SX1000 (I think thats the right model but from googling it looks like it's now defunct) that I bought when trying to replace my H1's a while ago. Good sound quality but I could not get on with the built in rechargeable battery that you could only charge via the USB. Just not practical for me when I have multiple of them.
Click to expand...

According to these specs, a fully charged battery on the Best Buy Sony unit can record for between 23 and 27 hours. That's enough for me. :-)

http://helpguide.sony.net/icd/u56/v1/en2/contents/TP0000831085.html
 
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