Is the MZ-RH910 a good place to start?

[woulfer]

I'm looking to get into md for recording purposes, mainly stealthing and mixer recordings. My budget is low, and will be slowly piecing together a rig. Would you recomend the rh910 for this purpose?

Thanks,

[greenmachine]

Absolutely - if you don't mind a non-backlit display...

[woulfer]

I think I can deal with that. Just scored one from Ebay new in box for $134.59, so for that price, I'll make it work. I will probably use it more for general recording than stealthing anyway, but it will be nice to have options.

thanks for your reply

[A440]

For stealth, I never understood why you'd want a backlit display on the unit. Save your pennies and get an RM-MC40ELK remote, which has backlit level controls, volume control and track marking.

[greenshank]

For stealth, I never understood why you'd want a backlit display on the unit. Save your pennies and get an RM-MC40ELK remote, which has backlit level controls, volume control and track marking.

Can you record using the remote? Are there any remotes that let you record? The remotes review doesn't mention it.

For stealth, although you would think that a backlit display would be a bad thing, chances are that you might be bootlegging a concert in unreliable lighting conditions which would make an unbacklit display useless, so you would have to do it by touch... and then how would you adjust the recording volume level?

[The Low Volta]

Can you record using the remote? Are there any remotes that let you record?

hm, not sure I understand completely what you mean with this question, but I'll give some quick info anyway...

- there is no remote with a 'rec button', you still have to press 'rec' on the player. But this is no problem as you can press 'rec+pause', put the player on hold and later at the correct moment release hold on the remote and start recording by pressing 'play/pause'

- onle remotes with an 'E' are backlit and of extra use in dark venues

- AFAIK only the RM-MC40ELK (which I use in combo with my NH900) shows rec levels. Other remotes do allow you to change them, but as you cannot monitor them it is no better than doing this on touch on the player itself.

- the RM-MC40ELK will only stay backlit continuously with the NH1 and NH900 (and perhaps with other 1st gen machines) but definitely not with the RH10/910. this is no big problem as one click with the scroll-wheel will light it up without changing the rec levels (be careful though, two clicks do cause a change in rec levels)

- recording with a remote attached is only useful for loud(er) environments. the remote connection and mic/line in ports are too close so each renewal of screen info on the remote causes funny but irritating staticy sounds in the recording. These sounds are not distinguishable when recording rock concerts etc.

so in short...

if you want to record in dark venues:

- you can use any model + small ledlight, but that isn't really stealthy

- you can use the RH10 which OLED works wonders in a dark venue, but this also could be slightly un-stealthy

- you can use any model + RM-MC40ELK (which is the ultimate rec-gadget and honestly the only useful remote for stealth rec'ing as it shows the rec levels and looks like a mobile phone screen with it's black on blue backlit LCD)

[greenshank]

hm, not sure I understand completely what you mean with this question, but I'll give some quick info anyway...

A delightfully comprehensive reply!

- there is no remote with a 'rec button'

Thanks, that was really partly what I meant. That and being able to monitor the levels.

you still have to press 'rec' on the player. But this is no problem as you can press 'rec+pause', put the player on hold and later at the correct moment release hold on the remote and start recording by pressing 'play/pause'

True enough.

so in short...

if you want to record in dark venues:

- you can use any model + small ledlight, but that isn't really stealthy

- you can use the RH10 which OLED works wonders in a dark venue, but this also could be slightly un-stealthy

- you can use any model + RM-MC40ELK (which is the ultimate rec-gadget and honestly the only useful remote for stealth rec'ing as it shows the rec levels and looks like a mobile phone screen with it's black on blue backlit LCD)

Except that as you say you'll get noise from the remote's display changes. That really sucks! It's something that really hadn't occurred to me as a potential problem, and my primary reason for preferring MD was to record low-level stuff (not rock concerts!) although probably in daylight so I won't need the remote, but still it's annoying to have to avoid using it. I'll have to see what it's like in practice.

Thanks for all the info!