Just having a dabble with some friends on some non commercial stuff.

Whats the latest on these field recorders out there, would ideally be able to handle pretty close mic'd stuff for sound design and for more ambient recordings of spaces/background noise.

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Squarehead Jam Jar Facebook Jam Jar

Very budget dependent... and yours is???

If you want to use external mics then I'd recommend the Fostex FR2-LE. Not TOO expensive and comes with XLRs and very good pres.

If you want one of the all-in-one handhelds then the new Olympus LS-5 looks very good.

Get a decent wind-gag though!

These guys carry a very good range:

Solid State Sound

Quote Mike Stranks:

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If you want to use external mics then I'd recommend the Fostex FR2-LE. Not TOO expensive and comes with XLRs and very good pres.

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Yes, I'd recommend it too. I've had one for quite some time, it's very easy to use and the recordings sound great. On the downside, it's a bit plasticky and the battery pack configuration is stupid and a bit fiddly, but these really are small drawbacks that should be of no concern.

A decent wind jammer is very important if you're going outdoors though, and they tend to be VERY expensive if you go for the really decent upper range stuff, like Rycote.

D.

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www.thirdfloormusic.com

For an all-in-one I love the Sony PCM-D50 (with the wind filter). Good sound, battery life, interface, 5-second pre-rec, etc. It's at the upper range of the all-in-ones, and if you want to use an external mic, I don't recommend it. The 1/8" line in sounds great though.

I love it and feel like I finally have a sound "camera" I can bring with me wherever I want!

PS if anybody's interested I can try to find the back-to-back line-in comparison I did against the Zoom H4n.

I'm still using my Zoom H4 but plan to go for a proper field recorder sometime in the next 6-12 months.

The H4 is good though the preapms are noisy at medium and high gain settings, though I gather this has been much improved with the H4n which is also far eaiser to use. As a versatile hand held recorder the H4n is hard to beat... If you want XLRs with phantom power, I believe it's the only handheld available with that feature.

I use the Rycote mini windjammer with mine...



It cost about £25-30 IIRC and as a bonus it fits fairly nicely (if a little loose) on my Rode NT3... You wouldn't use it in a gale but it's made a big improvement over the foam windsheild (which the Rycote is placed over) that comes with the H4 as standard so it's well worth the money. I consider it an essential accessory now I know how good they are.

From what I have read, the Fostex FR2 does seem rather popular with sound recordists. Hopefully though, when I upgrade, I'll be going down the Sound Devices route... But I'll always carry the H4 as a stand by.