Will someone invent a smaller recorder please?

D

DNathan

Well-known member
It's 2015, but for some reason nobody is producing a pocket sized recorder with decent sound quality. The Zoom H2 is close, but it is too fat and the stereo input pops out when it feels like it. The MemoQ is exactly what I've been looking for (an all-in-one on the lapel itself) but it sounds like crap. Is it technically possible to produce a pro MemoQ or similar all-in-one unit? (BTW, it's not the mic, but the processor that is bad.

Thoughts?
 
That one that plugs onto the end of a hand-held mic is good quality at roughly the size you're after - but it might not be the right shape and configuration for more general uses.
 
DNathan said:
It's 2015, but for some reason nobody is producing a pocket sized recorder with decent sound quality. The Zoom H2 is close, but it is too fat and the stereo input pops out when it feels like it. The MemoQ is exactly what I've been looking for (an all-in-one on the lapel itself) but it sounds like crap. Is it technically possible to produce a pro MemoQ or similar all-in-one unit? (BTW, it's not the mic, but the processor that is bad.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
They have. For example check out the Zaxcom ZFR100/ZFR200/ZFR300 mini recorders.
 
I thought the guy from JuicedLink was developing one that he showed at NAB last year. I've not heard a lot about it since.
 
These already exist. Tascam has some new ones and Zaxcom has been making this for lavs for years. The Zaxcom plug on transmitter also records. Years ago HHB actually made a handheld mic with a recorder built in.
 
Even a single channel recorder has to have a certain amount of size. It will need enough chassis space for a XLR plug and if it has phantom power, will need a few AA batteries to get any run time at all. So there are upper limits (or lower depending on your viewpoint) to size to getting that stuff into a chassis. Memory options will make a difference also. The Tascam mentioned above doesn't have phantom power, so the mic choices are limited to dynamic or one of the battery powered shotguns. Another drawback of something like the little Tascam plug-on is no ability to monitor the audio, so that is always a risk. The more common approach for this is to use a wireless rig and some type of remote recorder which has its own set of risks. In the end, anything like this is going to be a set of compromises.

At some large cost per channel, the Zaxcom unit Dave mentioned will record, and send out a wireless signal which would be optimal, but expensive.

In an adjacent thread, there was discussion of a Sennheiser wireless rig with a transmitter built into the mic.

Grant
 
ggrantly said:
Another drawback of something like the little Tascam plug-on is no ability to monitor the audio, so that is always a risk.
Grant
Click to expand...

I have the tascam plugin I use on a MKE600. I personally love it. Taking into account its extreme small size, it does have monitoring. It has a very basic level meter and it has a headphone jack. In a Juicedlink personal email Robert says they just got through compliance tests with the Little DAR.
 
mico said:
I have the tascam plugin I use on a MKE600. I personally love it. Taking into account its extreme small size, it does have monitoring. It has a very basic level meter and it has a headphone jack. In a Juicedlink personal email Robert says they just got through compliance tests with the Little DAR.
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, I think this is an interesting piece of kit, but the monitoring would always give me pause. Retakes are a hassle, and not even possible at events.

I should have been more clear in my thinking. I imagined that the OP wanted something that would take the place of a wireless rig, like something you would use on the groom at a wedding and be out of sight. In a straight interview, to monitor the audio, the Tascam needs a wire to a headphone. If that's what your going to do, you might as well run a wired lav and be sure.

Grant
 
ggrantly said:
Don't get me wrong, I think this is an interesting piece of kit, but the monitoring would always give me pause. Retakes are a hassle, and not even possible at events.

I should have been more clear in my thinking. I imagined that the OP wanted something that would take the place of a wireless rig, like something you would use on the groom at a wedding and be out of sight. In a straight interview, to monitor the audio, the Tascam needs a wire to a headphone. If that's what your going to do, you might as well run a wired lav and be sure.

Grant
Click to expand...

I'm just throwing this out there not as a definitive solution or a first solution but an option. You can always add a tiny bluetooth module if you need to monitor wirelessly like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Mpow-Bluetoot...8-8&keywords=bluetooth+headphones+transmitter

And with that bluetooth module its still smaller than any recorder. And with the ability to record a second track 6db lower you have covered a few bases at least. The tascam obviously was designed for situations where other devices can't be employed.
 
Great stuff guys. Thank you! I may hold out for the juicedLink Little DAR, but it sounds like he is adding wireless, which I don't need. Hopefully he has a recorder alone. A problem that I currently have is the stereo plug popping out and ruining the clip, so I love his lock system. The Tascam looks pretty good too. But the Tascam is already out and already cheap. Hmmm...
 
@ggrantly - One big problem with laws is wire noise, of which MemoQ has eliminated. The entire tie-clip mic is the size of a AA battery. The menu is easy. The mic is built in. Literally all you see is the back of a small clip. It houses a AAA battery. Literally the only thing that sucks is sound quality and inability to record dual tracks with differing levels. The processor is the problem, as mics that plug in sound just as bad. But theoretically they have something that could revolutionize lav work.

http://www.spytecinc.com/memoq-mr-720-mini-digital-voice-recorder.html
 
Since the sound sucks, I'll skip it for now. ��. Maybe they will revolutionize lav recording, and in fact, Zaxcom has some really small and versatile gear that is quite expensive and does sounds good. Maybe that's the difference, cheap sounds bad, expensive sounds good.

On a daily basis, plain old sennheiser wireless kits and plain old Countryman lavs, interview dynamics, and the occasional plug-on to a battery shotgun are all I usually need for none wired applications. And when I can use a wired mic, probably on a boom, ill go with that every time. While the super small gear has a place, there is only a small segment of the market that really needs it.


http://www.spytecinc.com/memoq-mr-720-mini-digital-voice-recorder.html[/QUOTE]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top