Looking for a sound device recorder

[Ty Ford]

Hello Bob and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

Do you have a need for more than two tracks? If so, how many?

Do you want to record .wav or mp3 files (or something else)?

What mixer do you currently have?

What mics do you use?

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Steven Childs]

Something like the Zoom H4 might be a good, inexpensive bet for you. Or you could always use a computer a motu interface.

[John Fishback]

Marantz has a few recorders PMD660 through 671. They’re more expensive than the Zoom, but not crazily so.

John

MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.8 QT7.6.4 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870, 24″ TV-Logic Monitor, ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
FCS 3 (FCP 7.0.2, Motion 4.0.2, Comp 3.5.2, DVDSP 4.2.2, Color 1.5.2)

Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO & 192 Digital I/O, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN

[Andrea Cavazzuti]

There’s many threads about this subject, just let me try also this one. I see you’re real experts.

So far I’ve tried to compare the Zoom H4N, Tascam DR-100 and Marantz PMD661. I’m a user more than an expert, therefore I need your advice.

I need the recorder to record separate audio for my videos (HD and HDSLR). I would normally feed my mixer SD302 or my receiver Lectrosonic UCR401 to the recorder. Of course it would be cool to be able, when necessary, to feed also a condenser mic which needs phatom power. The on-board mics could be useful to record some ambience sound, provided the quality is good. Anyhow, my priorities are:

1. sound quality (24bit a plus)
2. easy connectivity (each channel independent Line/mic choice and phatom switch, line out for monitoring)
3. multi channel recording which includes the built in mics
4. media used (preference for SD or CF standard cards)
4. dimensions (the smaller the better)
5. price

Any suggestion is extremely welcome