Who uses digital audio recorders?

radi0j0hn

New member
In my world of audio for radio broadcasting, I use a couple of different digital recorders with either XLR connections or mini-plug in. I then copy the files to my PC and edit them, mix in needed bumper music, etc.

I'm curious as to why acoustic musicians are working with PCs/Macs and their fan noise, etc.? I realize that MIDI is a whole different situation.

Just curious for my own benefit.
 
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Track count, effects and editing (including multiple takes and punch ins) are all much easier on a computer, and it's much more convenient to record straight to the computer if you're going to do your mixing on it anyway.
 
Fan noise? I suppose if you use an office PC with a spitfire propeller to keep it cool, maybe - but I have a number of Carillon computers - 19" rack mount and they're quiet? I've got a number of battery operated recorders, and I'd never use them in my studio because they are limited in facilities, limited in ease of operation and limited in options. On the other hand, you can't do a street interview with a rack mount computer. Right tool for the right job!
 
You perhaps John have forgotten something that many "newbs" do and that is the D to A part of an audio interface?

The home recordist needs to hear the results of their labours and of course have the means to monitor whilst recording electric guitar say, not to mention any backing tracks.

You may have a quality monitoring system to "plug into" that you are so familiar with you cease to think about it. The bedroom jockey does not have that luxury!

Dave.
 
I still use my dat recorders quite a bit. I got two. One in the studio and one in my home stereo.
I put mixes on dat, as well as my computer. Its nice being able to listen to something without having to boot up my whole recording setup.
:D
 
With an SSD in the computer and my project drives in the closet my computer is dead silent. And I can leave everything set up and don’t have to copy any files. Creating a comp from multiple takes, punching in, etc. are just not comparable to what that requires on my H6.

The H6 is what I do 98% of my field recording on but is not really comparable to working directly within the DAW.
 
With an SSD in the computer and my project drives in the closet my computer is dead silent. And I can leave everything set up and don’t have to copy any files. Creating a comp from multiple takes, punching in, etc. are just not comparable to what that requires on my H6.

The H6 is what I do 98% of my field recording on but is not really comparable to working directly within the DAW.

Yeah, My next laptop will have an SSD and no fan. More than 15 years ago I had a screaming 550MB AV certified SCSI drive tht cost $1,000 in a PC. I had to put it on the other side of the wall and put cables though a hole for the monitor and keyboard/mouse. But it sure beat splicing tape!
 
I've used a Tascam DR40 in the past for youtube videos and the like, but the reason was more portability and convenience than it was noise.
I wouldn't hesitate to grab the macbook pro and mobile interface for any session, even an intimate acoustic+vocal.

Before that (I had another macbook pro but before that) I had a core2duo dell and the same was true. I can't imagine fan noise from it ever really being a problem.
 
Yeah, My next laptop will have an SSD and no fan. ...
Mine has a fan, but it just doesn't run very often at all since I swapped out the HDD for an SSD. Same thing with the Mac Mini. It's probably related to the SSD size, because just like RAM, more will generate more heat, but I'm sure that technology is getting a lot more energy efficient too.

Not having a fan means it has to have some throttling of the components to keep things from overheating, I'd suspect almost all laptops have a fan. If you don't demand the thinnest possible configuration and keep your SSD size smaller it will probably run cooler. (I still put my projects on external drives in a closet.)
 
Is this really still a problem in 2018, though?
I'm asking sincerely. Do you some of you have laptops with fans loud enough to make recording prohibitive?
 
Is this really still a problem in 2018, though?
I'm asking sincerely. Do you some of you have laptops with fans loud enough to make recording prohibitive?

Don't know about 2018 S but my 6yrs+ HP g6 i3 laptop is effectively silent. About a mtr away my el cheapo SPL meter reads 25dBC now. One inch above the QWERTY, fan side. STILL 25dBC (if I put it by the fan exit port it leaps to 75dBC but you don't DO that!) Now, 25dB is I suspect the lower limit for the meter but a finger snap at arm's length (I am 6') blips it to 33dBC so it IS working!

I do know however that this mark of HP had a bad name for overheating so maybe the fan is not as strong as it should be? The lappy does get quite hot sometimes but I ram my Dyson against the port for a minute or two. Sorted. I also vac the bottom slots from t2t.

Dave.
 
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