On Friday, February 28, 2003, at 04:06 PM, One of the McKays wrote:
I would like to record accompaniments for students and performances of students and am looking for advice, please.
One thought is a digital video camera. I was knocked out by the sound quality from a Sony camera recording 2 flutes and piano with its own microphone a couple of years back.
I am also interested in Mini Disk recorders. I like the idea of being able
to take your little player anywhere and then bring it home and burn a CD
from the downloaded files.
Can anyone tell me if you can download audio only files from a digital video
camera, please? Do they use USB format, or do I need to install another
format such as Firewire?
In Australia, it would seem that a video camera would be about twice the
price of a decent mini disk player. However, I don't think mikes are
included with Mini Disk players.
A digital video camera is total overkill if you are only interested in audio. Also, extracting the audio would be more labor-intensive than with some sort of digital audio recorder, and the sound quality is definitely inferior to what you can get by other means.
The MiniDisc is popular and convenient, and the sound quality is reasonable, but IMO they are way overpriced for what you get -- a unit using an antiquated compression technology and crippled by draconian "anti-piracy" measures that make digital transfers impossible. (You have to use the *analog* out if you want to transfer a recording to your hard drive or burn it to CD.) A better but much more expensive choice would be a portable DAT recorder like the Sony PCM-M1 or TCD-D100 (basically the same unit). Here you get uncompressed CD-quality digital audio and hassle-free digital I/O -- though to take full advantage of this, you may have to purchase a sound card or box for your computer that accepts S/PDIF input (if you don't already have one).
Whatever you do, don't buy a Sony mic. They are absolute garbage. There are many better options available from proper mic manufacturers. I got mine here:
<http://www.core-sound.com/mics.html>
This same company also sells the 7-pin digital I/O cables for Sony portable DAT recorders.
<http://www.core-sound.com/7-pin-coax-blurb.html>
If you already have a laptop, you should forget all of the above and go for either a good-quality USB microphone or an external USB or Firewire mixer that accepts mic inputs. This will allow you to record digital audio directly to your hard drive -- not only the most convenient solution, but also the most bang for your buck.
What would be really great would be an iPod-like device with a line in for a mic. It wouldn't be difficult for Apple to add this feature, and it would completely destroy the market for those crappy MiniDisc recorders.
- Darcy
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