Inexpensive Live Recording

[Fields]

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me. I'm looking for something that can record my band live-the purpose is basically just to hear where we might sound off so we can fix it. Thus I don't need top-of-the-line cutting edge quality-I just need to be able to hear each instrument clearly, and I need at least 4 hours worth of recording time. I would prefer to not have to bring my laptop to shows, so I'm not looking for one of those converter types, but a unit that can store the data and then I can transfer it over to my computer at home. I've found a few devices that do this, but the problem is my budget is $100 or less-maybe something like this doesn't exist yet? It only needs to be a two-track (or even 1-track) recorder, I don't need to isolate each instrument, just hear the house mix. Thanks.

[NUSound]

I'm guessing that you're planning on pulling two tracks from the RCA outs on your board? For recording purposes, this usually isn't a very good mix. If you have a spare aux send or two I'd use those instead and make a separate recording mix. You may want to even think about creating a mono full-band mix for one channel and then solo one person on the other, so that you can listen to them in context.

[basschaplain]

 

I don't need to isolate each instrument, just hear the house mix. Thanks.

 

My son's band uses a cassete tape player, works for them.

My band uses a computer connected to our mixer. The best recording is simply an SM 58 on a mic stand set up on the other side of the room; it usually comes out better than recording strait through the mixer (easier to adjust the volume of each instrument/vocal). We capture the sound using Hi-Q or maybe it's audacity. Whichever, it was, it's a free download on the internet. We do use a computer connected to our mixer for storing the recording, but it isn't any hassle at all, especially since it doesn't cost us anything extra.

Then each of us copy the session to our flash drives and work on our own stuff at home before we get back together. Total cost: $8-$22, depending on which flash drive you get.

[Mogwix]

Here.

[basschaplain]

Oh, and if you don't want to bring your good computer, find a cheapy at a garage sale or a friend that has an old one to give you.

It only has to be able to get the software and record from a mic input.

If you break it or lose it your not out anything.

[hemismith]

If you have an ipod Blue makes an adapter for recording, and I assume there are others.

 

If everything is going through the mixer (i.e. no acoustic drums), you can get a recording off of it but you'll want a separate mix. A house mic is probably your best bet otherwise.

[6Imzadi]

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me. I'm looking for something that can record my band live-the purpose is basically just to hear where we might sound off so we can fix it.

 

If you record your band from the mixer in almost all cases, you will be fixing something that may not even exist. Many times I have recorded to get a good live mix only to receive a unbalanced mess. It didn't come close to what it sounded like at the show (until the band started to play in bigger venues). The $140 hand held recorder Mogwix referred to above is your best bet. It will also help you to "fix" your mix as well.

[deMille]

The Zoom H4 works for me. Agreed that the feed direct from the board can be a problem but the crowd noise can be a problem too. I'll qualify that by saying I'm doing solo acoustic/vocals and on occasion I end up being background music while the audience goes about whatever. A "room recorder" setting does not make the distinction over music and ambient sounds. Also, the H4 has XLR inputs that are perfect for feeding from the mixer.

 

Dale

[samkokajko]

The H4 was my go to unit for everything portable recording but my H4n came in last night and it is 100 times better then I had hoped it would be. It is truly amazing.

 

So I have an H4 I need to sell.

But back to the topic for your budget I would suggest another vote for the H2, I know several guys with them who love them, check eBay and I bet you can find one for your budget.

[sailorman]

+1 on the Zoom H2. I use one to record our bar band. My bandmate has a Sony PCM recorder and the results are not audibly different for this purpose, despite the much higher price tag. I also get surprisingly decent sound from my Sony digital DCR-HC52 video camera, with the added bonus of seeing the performance. I wouldn't buy one just for that purpose, but if someone in your band already has one or something similar, you might want to give it a try.

[tele-vangelist]

Under $100, I don't know.

 

I love my Tascam DR-07. Very good sound quality for live recording from the to onboard mics. I think they're going for $169 now.

[sailorman]

Read a review of the H4n on Cnet complaining that it doesn't have an attenuator? My H2 has a switch to set mic sensitivity, plus the volume control. Does anyone with the H4n have this problem?

 

sorry if this is a thread hijack but seems to apply.

[samkokajko]

The H4n is the first one with "digitally controlled preamps". With the old ones the switch adjusted the preamp and then you had a menu adjusted level control that didnt help you. If you peaked the preamp it didnt matter where that was you would hear distortion, without necessarily seeing it on the meters.

 

You could be at -30dB and distorting.

 

With the H4n there is just one set of level controls and you select what input you want to adjust. You have levels of 1-100 that you can choose and it affects the gain of the preamp directly.

 

Meaning it is much easier to go without clipping this than the other units.

 

Also with the H4n the input button will flash if you clip that input, giving you a definate visual indicator that you may have distortion.

 

WAAAY better. Because of the way the old ones did the level adjustment it seems like this one isn't variable but the circuitry is actually far advanced from the H4 in that aspect and gives you a lot of flexibility.

 

I did my first real recording last night with it and I'll post updates once I get a chance to check it out. So far I have 1 complaint and 1 thing I need to get used to.

 

Complaint: You can't record in MP3 when in 4ch mode. I use MP3 for almost all of my recordings because they are just for reference, the encoding is pretty good and quality is close so I'd rather not have to deal with transferring huge files.

 

Get used to: On the H4 when recording you could press record again to stop. With the H4n when recording if you press record it places a track marker. You have to push stop to end the recording. So basically for the next couple weeks all of my recordings will have a track marker approx. 2 seconds before the end.