Jam recording devices

[spinynorman]

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1349790925' post='1830564']
How about [url="http://www.absolutemusic.co.uk/recording/2-track-recording/alesis-twotrack-portable-handheld-recorder.html"]this one[/url]. Simple to use and £20 off! at the moment...
[/quote]

Also on Amazon at that price, with two terrible reviews. [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alesis-Two-Track/dp/B005NFG65U"]http://www.amazon.co...k/dp/B005NFG65U[/url]

Useful US shop site [url="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Portable-Digital-Recorders/ci/14934/N/4248627700"]here[/url] that has customer reviews for a whole range of recorders. And a [url="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/indepth/audio/hands-reviews/portable-digital-recorder-roundup"]product roundup[/url] with spec summaries. Customer reviews there for the Alesis not good, but very enthusiastic for Zoom products.

Edited October 12, 2012 by spinynorman

[Westie9]

I'm having a similar problem recording rehearsals. The top and mid range record fine but the bass, well you can't hear it! Ivevtried placing the iPhone in various positions, it just seems not to like recording the bass frequencies from its on-board mic. Any ideas ?

[51m0n]

Yes its not designed to do that job, its really a dictaphone at best, it probably has built in filtering (ie in the hardware rather than software) to remove the bass as that is unhelpful for phone transmission.

The iPhone claims to be capable of doing this stuff, but it isnt designed to do it, and therefore it doesnt do it well. Buy one of the many decent devices out there designed with recording rehearsals rather thn speach and enjoy it....

[derrenleepoole]

The iPhone is certainly capable of making good quality audio recordings with an external mic like the Tascam iM2, but as 51mon states, it's not strictly designed for that task. Providing you can secure the phone to reduce vibration into the microphone you're using, remember to put the phone in to aeroplane mode to help reduce static interference, and stop the phone going to sleep mode when inactive, the phone will work well. It's certainly not a substitute for the 'real deal' when it comes to hand held recorders, but as a quick go to solution when nothing else is at hand it can work very well.

Edited October 16, 2012 by derrenleepoole

[derrenleepoole]

[quote name='Westie9' timestamp='1350363778' post='1837768']
I'm having a similar problem recording rehearsals. The top and mid range record fine but the bass, well you can't hear it! Ivevtried placing the iPhone in various positions, it just seems not to like recording the bass frequencies from its on-board mic. Any ideas ?
[/quote]

There's your problem, you're using the on board mic which is designed for phone calls only. You need to consider an external iPhone mic like the Tascam iM2 if you're going to stick to this route. It's a good solution, but for the money you'd spend on the mic you could put it towards a dedicated field recorder like the Zoom H1.

[Westie9]

That's the trade off... Do I buy a mic for the iPhone or an external recorder? I'm more inclined to go with a standalone unit such as those suggested. Cheers

[brensabre79]

[quote name='spinynorman' timestamp='1350075408' post='1834428']
Also on Amazon at that price, with two terrible reviews. [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alesis-Two-Track/dp/B005NFG65U"]http://www.amazon.co...k/dp/B005NFG65U[/url]

Useful US shop site [url="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Portable-Digital-Recorders/ci/14934/N/4248627700"]here[/url] that has customer reviews for a whole range of recorders. And a [url="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/indepth/audio/hands-reviews/portable-digital-recorder-roundup"]product roundup[/url] with spec summaries. Customer reviews there for the Alesis not good, but very enthusiastic for Zoom products.
[/quote]
I took a punt on the Alesis before I read this (well it was £30 and I had a new band gig in 2 days). I can now confirm that I agree with these reviews. It is possibly the worst piece of equipment I have ever bought, including the alarm clock I got on the market that loses 12 minutes every day and ended up getting thrown against the wall one morning for waking me up 3 hours before I asked it to. The recording quality was abismal, the bass managed to generate a load of artifacts from the back of a 25 foot room. It stopped itself recording after 3 songs, probably to save further shaming itself with the atrocious quality of what it did manage to record!

FOR SALE: Alesis Two Track recorder, used once. Totally sh*t. Not even heavy enough to be used as a paper weight!

[krysh]

[url="http://www.soundcloud.com/krysh/sets/soundport-rehearsal-121015/"]recorded [/url][url="http://www.soundcloud.com/krysh/sets/soundport-rehearsal-121015/"]with my roland r-05[/url]
[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/roland_r_05.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...roland_r_05.htm[/url]
sounds good enough for me and the menu is easy to work with.
the metal housing shows some scars after 2 years uf use, batteries last veeeery long, have to change them every 6-8 weeks or so with using it twice a week on jams and rehearsals each time running for some hours.

[i]edit: this was recorded with the roland in the middle of an 18,5 m2 studioroom on my musicstand. keys through pa speakers on stands, bass though my studiorig and drums and percusssion without any amplification. so a completely basic recordiung.[/i]

Edited October 17, 2012 by krysh