Eastern Railroad Discussion > Sound recorders

Looking for a good quality portable sound recorder while out and about chasing trains. Any good recommendations?

HOTSHOT out.

I think for the quality and value, a Sony MiniDisc recorder is hard to beat. I use an Audio Technica stereo mic with mine. That will run you as much as the recorder, which is around $200. If you've made recordings using a tape recorder before, you know overmodulation tends to be a BIG problem. I think you could stick the mic inside a horn chime and not overmodulate the MD. You might blow your ears out when you play it back, but the recording will be crisp! ;-)

Mike Derrick
Atlanta,GA
http://www.shortlinesusa.com

I agree about the Sony Mini-Disc, I have one and it is the best audio recorder I have ever used,I have been making audio recordings for over 30 years and have used many cassette recorders.
The noise reduction and gain are controlled by the MD recorder and you absolutely cannot over modulate on the loudest sounds that a train puts out,resulting in perfect digital audio recordings.
Tom Helliwell

Ive used the minidisk for LOTS of live recordings, mostly all live music for radio stations....excellent quality.

Crutchfield used to have alot of minidisk stuff. I used two seperate mics, always a Shure 835A broadcast type, couldnt destroy those things...

I wired up a special splitter, had 2 seperate plugs...

Cassette sucks! Motor noise, hiss, etc....

For RR, I would seperate the mics about 10 feet or more, should give some incredible stereo...

Actually hearing the image of a SD in run 8, moving by, left to center, then to right.....followed by the air hiss,wheels, etc....

Randy

PS Dont waste your money on the cheap Radio Shack mics, poor response! ( Ive tried them )

What is the Model Number to look For on the Sony?

An E-Bay Hunt To follow
Phil

No doubt, please share.


Ct97 wrote:

> What is the Model Number to look For on the Sony?
>
> An E-Bay Hunt To follow
> Phil
>
> [%sig%]

While mine is getting a little old compared to the newer models, I have a no longer made MZ-R700, I still admire it.

Things to remember- it's probably the least expensive STEREO recorder you'll find. It can hold about 80 mins in the least compressed format. Most (if not all) run off one AA-type battery- and have quite decent life off it too. They are small, light, but durable and quite capable units.

On the less desirable side- they will record digital, but not export it. They are noisy when writing to the disk (keep the mic well away from it). They will 'only' record the frequencies that are audible to the human ear; this might not sound like a problem- but if you're a real audiophile the recordings might sound a little flat for you (generally the little unit gives excellent results).

The mini-disc part is very nice, and the discs themselves are re-writeable and protected.

Paid $150 for mine about a year and a half ago, the newer models seem to run that for the lower end. Mine records all audio at 1x speed, so if you're into music with it you have to play four hours of music to get four hours of music on it. Newer 'net' models are better, and recognize the different formats for digital music. For recording trains- it's not necessary.

here's Sony's site- browse around and you'll get the idea:

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start;sid=IYgNRs2-GJQNT_Br6RcHTYKzZvPb0w0onkk=?CatalogCategoryID=odMrgA1D1EEAAADwTPJH0FSi&Dept=pa

---

It will cost you about $125.00,but its worth every penny.Go to Dogpile,and search for a "Sony TCS-580V".It is walkman size,and records in STEREO.

Invest another $60-$70 bucks in a Sony Mic #ESM-MS907.

The 580V isnt made anymore,but i picked one up last month from J&R Music World.


David Digney
Madison,Wi