Recommend Me An MP3 Player With A Mic Jack?

WetDaddy

Sooooo I'm in a band. And we practice. And we like to record our practice sessions.

At the moment, I'm using a Sony Net MD and a Sony stereo mic (a pretty damn good one) to record the sessions. The sound is great, the minidisc is reliable so all is well. The only problem is that, as has been much lamented before, I have no way of *digitally* getting the recordings FROM the minidisc TO my PC.

I really want to be able to do this so that I can run off CDs of our practice sessions for the other members of the band. Also so I can arrange the 10's of hours of stuff we acrue.

So, my question is this: Can anyone recommend an MP3 player with a MIC socket (and, obviously, a USB / Firewire port)? I already have a Creative Zen Micro, so I wouldn't be looking for anything other than a dictaphone style thing. Also, it wouldn't have to have very large capacity at all since I'd be backing up all the stuff onto CD anyway.

Suggestions?

Thanks,
Seán

xyz100

I had the same problem with the mini disc to pc transfer !!!

So i bought an iriver H120 it a 20 gig mp3 player with line in/out and usb 2.0 transfer i bought it through ebay for around 250 euro including posting and packing charges

WetDaddy

That's actually the same one I was thinking of getting. My housemate has that...

But the line-in jack: Can you use a mic with that? Surely it's... what's the word... "regulated" (?)... you know, it doesn't have a pre-amp for a mic...? Or does it?

Thanks!

RicardoSmith

You mean plug-in power? I don't think it does.

The new HiMD allow you to copy your analog recordings via USB 1.1 (why not USB2 Sony?) to the PC one time only (why once Sony?). If it fails then trying a second time deletes the recording. (Why sony?). Other than that they are great at recording. But...

So for pure convience I'd go with a iRiver too. Though it lacks a level display so you can get clipping unless you are very careful.

Some more info here...
http://www.misticriver.net/boards/showthread.php?t=4980
http://forums.minidisc.org/lofiversion/index.php/t10974.html
http://www.audioslaved.com/ftopicp-128668.html

WetDaddy

Cheers Ricardo!

I didn't mean plug-in power (the mic is powered by a single AA battery), I meant the actual low-level of input associated with line-in's vs. mic-in's.

The clipping shouldn't be a problem, the mic is very good at avoiding that and after so much recording (groan... ) we've found the "sweet spot" in the practice room!

Thanks for the links though, I'll definitely check them out.

Soundman

Well you shouldn't have to worry about the clipping aspect of it anyway as mic level is a lot lower than line level. So that might be a problem, the level you record at being too low. The difference between the two levels is approximately 20dB which is quite considerable when it comes to audio.

RicardoSmith

I know squat about live recording. On my MD I just adjust the levels so that none of the levels hit max I just bring the levels down just beneath that and it seems to work ok. Thats with a line in from another audio source or with a dire non powered mic if I'm recording a meeting or lecture etc. If the levels are above that I get distorsion, but if its too low the volume is too low on the recording.

WetDaddy

Yeah, it's that happy medium we all strive for

My housemate has a h120 and the mic I have is powered, so tomorrow I'm gonna give it a shot (using the line in) and see if it's a total disaster or not.

I'll let ye know how it sounds. I'm sure you're all riveted to your seats at the prospect of that.

RicardoSmith

I'd love to hear the practise. What kinda music is it?