I do a lot of voice recording (sermons) on MD but I'm interested in trying a DAP with 16-bit PCM recording capability. I usually record off the mixer's line out but sometimes I record small group situations using an external stereo mike (electret so no phantom powering required).
Has anyone had experiece with:
1. the input noise performance of any 5-20 GB DAPs in this mode? I don't expect the ADC to be off great quality but hopefully an improvement on MD.
2. Input metering; no AVC or the ability to switch it off; Peak Limiter functions?
3. Robustness of input connectors?
4. High-speed USB transfer to PC?
Battery powering is sometimes handy but usually I can usually run off a power brick.
Thanks, Dan.
Input connectors will generally be minijack. You have a preamp presumably for the condenser mic? (Here's a DAP with a preamp: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Micr...2496-main.html) (http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MicroTrack2496-main.html))
I use a Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 for recording. I don't use the ADCs but they are said to be reasonable. It has input metering. Transfer to PC is only fast if you can get firewire to work; the drivers are not great.
CSMR,
The link you posted pulls a 404 error for me...
Input connectors will generally be minijack. You have a preamp presumably for the condenser mic? (Here's a DAP with a preamp: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Micr...2496-main.html) (http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MicroTrack2496-main.html))
I use a Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 for recording. I don't use the ADCs but they are said to be reasonable. It has input metering. Transfer to PC is only fast if you can get firewire to work; the drivers are not great.
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My MD has a mike preamp so I supposed HDD-equipped DAPs of this type would have low-level as well as high-level analog inputs. I can whip up a low-noise mike preamp, but that would another module and powe supply to carry.
Delete the last bracket. DAPs rarely have microphone preamps. You have to pay more to get something as compact as minidisc.
There's also:
http://www.edirol.com/products/info/r1.html (http://www.edirol.com/products/info/r1.html)
which uses compactflash
$500 USD without a microdrive is outside my budget. I don't need studio quality for this. Most times I'm using line-input so I can build an battery-power external stereo mike preamp for the times I operate independantly. So it comes down to these two questions for %-20 GB HDD DAPs:
1. Is their line-input S/N OK for medium-hi? I'm looking at 16-bit .wav recording?
2. If they are operating soley on battery-power, how long do the stock batteries last in recording as opposed to playback mode?