Freesound Forums

Hi all:

I'm a newbie.

First let me thank all of you for this site the great sounds. I really appreciate your work. It makes my job much easier.

I am in the market for a small, handheld digital recorder.

Any suggestions on what I should purchase?

MD

What features do you want? If you only need a single channel, and don't mind non-CD quality, any digital voice recorder will do. If you want stereo and higher quality, look into iRiver and iAudio MP3 player/recorders, and if you need more than two channels or want to monitor the audio while you record, you'll need something more costly like the Zoom H4 or Edirol R-04.

Just bought an IKey Plus and am going to test it out at our local Linux group to get some sound samples for Freepats ( freepats.opensrc.org ). It was the least expensive option I could find that would let me use my own mic instead of a built-in one and record at CD quality. It does come with a small stereo mic. You need a compatible USB drive to record to though. My 80 Gig Passport Western Digital worked fine with the unit. You may want to check their web site and see if it has the features you need.

The Marantz PMD660 is the way to go. I am extremely pleased with mine. It's versatile, not very expensive (relatively speaking), lightweight, easy to use, and has great sound. You can plug XLR cables into it, so you can use the best mics out there that run on phantom power. One of the best things about it, is that it takes 4 AA batteries (I recommend using the rechargeable kind to save money), so you don't have to send it to the manufacturer to replace the batteries like with the typical MP3 players.

One caveat: it is handheld and light, but within those two parameters it is not particularly small. If you do buy it, I *highly* recommend getting Marantz' gig bag for it - it's worth the money. That way, you just sling it from your shoulder, and you barely notice it.

Thanks for the replies, all.

I really don't know what features I want since I am fully ignorant of the technology and I don't know what features are available. Thus, I will check out some of the suggestions. One thing is for sure, I don't want anything much bigger than an iPod.

Since the advent of digital I have lightened my photographic load. Don't want to go back.

MisDesign
One thing is for sure, I don't want anything much bigger than an iPod.

you might like the upcoming H2 portable flash recorder.