henris94 Posted November 25, 2004 Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 I am a band director, and own an old MZR-909 that I use to record my band rehearsals. I was initially interested in Hi-MD, especially because of the PCM recording option and I gig disks. However, I know there are several problems with sonicstage that I want to avoid. Many HDD players didn't have a decent preamp or level monitors. Neuros supposedly has level monitors and the like. Any info on this player? Has anyone taken any terrific recording (uncompressed) with the Hi-MD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linzq Posted November 25, 2004 Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 I have taken amazing, uncompressed (PCM) recordings with my Hi-MD. It's all been of classical singing with piano, but it's been better than what I've gotten out of recording studios in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmilovan Posted November 25, 2004 Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 Many HDD players didn't have a decent preamp or level monitors. Neuros supposedly has level monitors and the like. Any info on this player? Has anyone taken any terrific recording (uncompressed) with the Hi-MD?Well, I've decided to buy HiMD, despite offer for Neuros (right it has level meters ans looks interesting). I've read ton of messages (on Neuros forum) complaining about two things: short span battery life or errors produced with battery supply and hard disc failure! Apart from this, it is great thing, but having known negative facts about those vital characteristics described above, it simply turned me to SONY (despite copy protection scheme, slow HiMD unit for copying non-musical files, only ATRAC uploading, very hard obtainable new HiMD disks and SS program-at least I'm in hope that Sonic Stage will be fixed in the future, copy protection scheme will be abandoned, more new HiMD discs will be produced - we're waiting for TDK or other giants to chime in, and we're hoping for firmware update - but, what can someone expect from bad constructed harddisc or battery package). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted November 25, 2004 Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 When I hear people refer to serious portable recording, it's either DAT, Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 or Hi-MD [never neuros, but I've heard it's a fantastic device in other aspects]. I'd go with Hi-MD, but obviously my opinion is a bit tainted. :happy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeriyn Posted November 25, 2004 Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 Record in analog! :laugh: How about that Edirol CF recorder? It looked interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henris94 Posted November 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 Thanks for the replies, everyone. I am aware of the high $$ equipment: DAT, Alesis Masterlink, etc. with the $2,000 mics and $1,000 pre-amp (None of which my school can afford right now). Also, I have explored the CF-based recorders, too. I want to purchase a personal system that can record my band well while still giving me freedom to listen to my music and possible double as a storage device. My old college band director uses DAT for pro recordings and an IRiver 140 for personal recordings. I recently heard about the Neuros, and it sounded really good. I will check up on any suggestions, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmilovan Posted November 25, 2004 Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 Well, really this one is real cool (it uses CF cards in, uninterupted array, so there is no delay while recording, all can be done in one take): http://www.mayah.com/index.php?id=19 but, as far as i know, its price is around 1K EUR... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmilovan Posted November 25, 2004 Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 How about that Edirol CF recorder? It looked interesting.Quite! :cool: (Oh, but overall design of that particular gear,... looks like 1st generation TV remote control...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted November 25, 2004 Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 So what's your max budget, henris? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henris94 Posted November 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2004 Well, since it is a personal purchase (rather than a school one), I think I would be willing to spend around $350. Already have a mic and battery box from Sound Professionals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeriyn Posted November 26, 2004 Report Share Posted November 26, 2004 I'll speak for Chris and suggest an NH900 since you already have the battery box and mic. For the very specific needs of a device that doubles as a high-quality recording unit AND a digital audio player, Hi-MD is probably impossible to beat. However... you will learn to despise UselessStage. Trust me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henris94 Posted November 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2004 Since Hi-MD and the others can all record in PCM format, would the sound be indistinguishable from each other? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted November 27, 2004 Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 I've read in neurosaudio.com forums that vibrations caused by putting the Neuros on a hard surface during recording can cause drop out and noise. Additionally, you are limited to about 4gb of recording data. On taperssection.org forums, where a lot of recording is done to Creative Nomad JB3s, I've been reading why those are so popular for recording. Apparently they have internal battery bays that you can poplulate to get 6hours of recording time to wav. With a Neuros, you will need to build an external battery box from Rat Shack for $20 and plug it into the Neuros. But the big draw of the NJB3 is that it has optical inputs in addition to analog Line In. By using optical inputs, you can put an external ADC between the JB3 and the mics. The internal ADC on the JB3 and the Neuros are understandably not professional grade. And finally, the JB3 has a 1394 firewire port, so you can connect two JB3s together after the show and transfer the tracks from one to the other in about 5 minutes. You can't do that with a Neuros, and a Neuros has no Line Out to run an analog daisy chain. AND, the Neuros is USB 1.1. Hi-MD is USB 1.1. NJB3 supports USB 1.1 but has firewire, which is what I'd delve into if you employ the proper i/o on your computer. I can keep citing facts and opinions on both of these models, but this summation will suffice [or rather, the answer to your question]: If you want the closest thing to DAT it's the Creative NJB3 [would sound the best recording wise and would have less hassle]. Neuros is out of the picture, but with a little time they will be respected [they have a good open source community]. Hi-MD is a close second, is much more portable and has a bit more flexibility. Run google searches and find out more. NJB3 has the best recording potential and the best sound, easily outdoing the iPod. Yes, I've heard both, no I haven't owned both but I have no doubts someone who has owned both would agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henris94 Posted November 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 Thanks a lot, Kurisu. Very informative! Henris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmilovan Posted November 27, 2004 Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 NJB3 has the best recording potential and the best sound, easily outdoing the iPod. Haven't they stopped producing Creative JB3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted November 27, 2004 Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 Perhaps, but they're easy to find. btw Henris, I've been doing some more reading and it looks like the ease of use of Hi-MD in the recording sense makes it a more versatile option than the CNJB3 - this seems to be a common sentiment. Go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rirsa Posted November 28, 2004 Report Share Posted November 28, 2004 There are other new CF card recorders coming out aside from the recently announced Edirol R-1. Edirol also annouced the R-4 (a four channel pro version). And Marantz is coming out with the PMD-660, a smaller, simplier and cheaper version of the PMD-670. They are also apparently updatding the PMD-670. The new PMD-671 will support uncompressed recording at sample rates up to 96kHz at 24 bits. Not much official info on the 660. Unofficial info here: http://www.easternelectronics.co.uk/pmd660.htm My guess is that it will have a similar street price to that of the Editol R-1, maybe a little more. probably around $450 to $500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henris94 Posted November 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2004 Thanks for all the leads, people! The 670 was something I was looking into, and the 671 looks even better. That can be a school purchase, for sure. Still wondering for a portable. The JB3 is so large compared to a minidisc, though, and still needs a good preamp for quality sound (kills portability). Maybe a 671 for school (with preamp and good mics) and a Hi-MD for portable setup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rirsa Posted November 28, 2004 Report Share Posted November 28, 2004 I don't know when the 671 is appearing. There is even less information about it than the 660 and no official mention from Marantz yet. Search using Google. There's a nice review of the 670 here: http://sldghamr.faithweb.com/PMD670.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henris94 Posted November 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2004 Thanks, everyone! Mahalo for all your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted November 28, 2004 Report Share Posted November 28, 2004 Maybe a 671 for school (with preamp and good mics) and a Hi-MD for portable setup?Sounds damn good to me, even if you end up getting a 670. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rirsa Posted November 30, 2004 Report Share Posted November 30, 2004 FYI: http://www.niehoff.nl/marantz/pmd660.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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