At 10:47 AM -0400 8/1/02, MRCarp107@xxxxxxx wrote:
consider any Sharp MiniDisc recorders... I've used the 831 model and have
found it to be much more user-friendly in the field (compared to the fiddly
Sony's). Also, I've read that the Sony mic inputs are 'pretty close to crap'
In the past (and perhaps the present) Sony MD portables have been
unable to change mic recording levels while recording and required
pausing before adjusting; I cannot think of too much worse for field
recording than this, and cannot count the times I have been recording
location sounds with my Sharp 701 and 831 MD portables (which do
allow level change while recording) and had to reset levels while
recording in order to save a recording from distortion. The Sony
models also historically have started to record in exactly the place
where playing has last been stopped and so can accidently erase what
has been already recorded unless the End Search button - easily
forgotten in the rush to capture a new sonic phenomenon in the field
- is pressed before the Record button; the Sharps always begin
recording at a new track and will not record over existing data
without one's deliberately deleting it. I notice that Chris Watson
has a Sony MD recording on one of his CDs, and indeed the sound
quality on the Sonys is quite high, as it is on the Sharps; the issue
for me is that the design of the Sharps make them better for field
work than the Sonys.
--
Joshua Maremont / Thermal - mailto:thermal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Boxman Studies Label - http://www.boxmanstudies.com/