Olympus recorders dying - need replacements

[Peter Rush]

Hi All - I've been using Olympus WS311M recorders for well over 5 years and 2 of them are failing (I have 4 in all) so I need to pension them off but what to replace them with? I have Zoom H1 recorders but they are too bulky to fit in a jacket pocket, so am currently looking at the Sony ICDUX533B as it seems the right size and also records WAV (the Olympus only records WMA that drifts). I had a look at the Tascam DR-07 but again it looks a little bulky.

Anyone care to weight in with their thoughts?

[Adrian Tan]

If you can hold off a little bit, until the product is released, it might be perfect timing to buy a Juiced Link Little DARling.

[Roger Gunkel]

Hi Peter,
I have 3 of the Sony ICD PX-312 recorders, to use where I want something smaller than my Zoom H1. The 312 doesn't have the wav facility, being just mp3 and it also has 2Gb built in memory rather than 4Gb. They both take a micro sd card for more recording time, although I have never needed it as I can get several hours of recording on the 2Gb onboard.

I prefer using mp3 to wav anyway for weddings, as the higher selectable levels of mp3 are indistinguishable in quality from wav for wedding sound. It also uses up less memory. Unlike the Zoom, there is no variable input volume, just 5 selectable levels, but I have never found that a problem, as I invariably leave it on the same one anyway. Battery life is way better than the zoom and a pair of duracells that I put in 5 weddings ago are still showing as full on the screen.

The Sony is much smaller and less bulky than the Zoom, and goes in the groom's inside pocket very comfortably. It doesn't have a mic stand thread, but if you need one, it is very easy to superglue a suitably threaded nut to the back.

To sum up, I use the Sony in preference to the Zoom in all situations where I need a lav or external mic, but I prefer the Zoom if i want to use the onboard Zoom stereo mics. Either Sony would be a very good buy in my opinion, with the 312 being cheaper if you don't need wav files.

Roger

[Roger Gunkel]

I've added a quick pic of the Sony and Zoom H1 together to show relative sizes.

Roger

[Peter Rush]

Thanks Roger - I thought the Sony might be a good one - have you experienced time drift at all with the MP3 files? I have 4 Zoom H1 recorders and H2 - they are really good but I do use my Olympus for groom ceremony and any potential wandering speakers at the wedding breakfast so they need to be slimline!

That little darling also looks intersting but I need to buy pretty soon.

http://www.juicedlink.com/blogs/news...audio-recorder

Pete

[Bob Drummond]

The little darling looks great, but I can't find any info about when it is coming out. Does anyone know?

[Noa Put]

I read that it would be around 200dollar? A bit pricey but would get one anyway, it's not listed on their site yet.

[Roger Gunkel]

Pete, the Sony will drift a few frames over a long uninterrupted recording, but I use them for stage productions up to 90 minutes and the drift is never more than a few frames. Unless you are using only one camera, then resynching on a shot change is a matter of seconds. I just lay down the audio track and if I detect any drift, I shift a video clip by a couple of frames to re synch or just use the auto synch in the NLE. I find the same with the Zoom, and it is unlikely that any non genlocked source, audio or video is going to remain in perfect sync for long recordings.

The LittleDARling looks moderately interesting, but I don't see much that would be helpful to me for weddings to justify the likely price. Audio bracketing may have its uses, but with digital audio having such a low operating noise level, it is no great problem keeping safe levels and bringing up in post. If it was that important to me, I would simply use a pair of cheap Sony's for a fraction of the price and set them at different levels.

Roger

[John Estcourt]

I've been using the Sony recorders all this year and I haven't had to change the batteries yet. They have been one of my best purchases as they have simplified capturing audio at weddings. I now have 5 of them and use them for the service and for speeches. It's one less worry. Turn them on, press record and forget about them. One of the recorders drifts slightly but that is easy to correct in Sony Vegas. The others seam pretty accurate with no discernable drift in normal use. I do have a yamaha wav recorder but that doesn't get as much use. I also have radio microphones that I used to use. They are due to be sold. Too much hassle.
John.

[Jeff Harper]

Little DARlings look really good, am waiting their release.

I find the Zoom bulky and have complained about it before, but I gave up complaining and the truth is it works almost everytime. Only with a fitted jacket is it an issue and the quality is so good. For the money it's awesome.

My slim toshiba is not manufactured anymore but it's as good as the zoom and much smaller, I love it. I strongly prefer wav files as they just don't drift like MP3.

[Adrian Tan]

Originally Posted by Bob Drummond

The little darling looks great, but I can't find any info about when it is coming out. Does anyone know?

Hi Bob, I sent Robert, who I think is the owner or the company, or at least the engineer of the device, an email last night. Response was:

"The Little DARling is making good progress. I'm really pleased with it. All updates regarding the project will be posted on our blog. Please make sure you are subscribed to get notified on program release, pricing, etc ..."

By the way, he seems to be open to feature requests. The main one I've asked for is that there be a clip on the back, so it can clip to the belt of a celebrant wearing a pocketless dress. Robert's confirmed there will be a clip, and also other optional accessories.

I think I sent him an email around NAB time with other suggestions. Can't remember what I said! But I do remember worrying about the positive/negative bias thing. I don't know anything about audio, but I'm pretty sure you have to choose the right polarity mic for the recorder. I wonder if it's possible to design a recorder that is compatible, or can be made to be compatible, with any bias. I'll send him another email and see what he says.

[Adrian Tan]

So, just for the record, it looks like this will be "positive bias".

I'm very ignorant about all things audio, and don't know which devices are positive and which are negative. I think Roland R-05, Zoom H1, Sennheiser transmitters are positive bias, and Sony UWP and some Lectronics devices are negative. No idea about Olympus, Yamaha, Tascam... Upshot, anyway, is if you want to use your lapel microphone from Sony/Lectronics with the Little DARling, you may need to rewire it, or else purchase a new one.

[Jeff Harper]

I think most mainstream recorders are the same. The Sony's you refer to are wireless units, of course, not voice recorders.

Rode, for example, never mentions the polarity thing and only sell one version of their lapel mic, so obviously it will work with virtually all voice recorders.

I strongly suspect the juiced link recorder will come with a mic, but who knows. Since that is it's main purpose, I would be very surprised if they did not offer a mic option at least.

[Peter Riding]

These new Tascams referred to in the Audio Room look interesting:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/all-thin...recorders.html

I would probably prefer a device that can be a standalone recorder as well as take a wire but I may get one for grooms.

Pete

[D.R. Gates]

Originally Posted by Peter Rush

I need to buy pretty soon.

What did you end up buying, Peter?

I just bought 3 Olympus recorders to replace my aging iRivers. The model is DM-620 (Might be different in the UK). A couple other videographers I know are using them and really like the units. You can record in WAV and they are 1/2 inch thick. Very petite. $110 US.