Battery powered multi-track recorder? Is there such a thing?

[jjones1700]

I currently have a 424mkII recorder, which is wonderful. However, what I am looking for is a smaller, battery powered version..........if there is such a beast. The 414 mk series is smaller, but still AC powered. The Porta 02 is AC powered.

Basically what I want one for is to record ambient noises such as rainstorms, the surf at the beach, trains, etc. I could use my little MD recorder/player, but I would like to stick with analog. The 1/8" mic jacks are kind of prohibitive for a good mic on the MD recorder anyway.

I've read something..........somewhere.........about a Porta 01 that might have been battery powered? Any truth to that? I guess if all else fails, I'll have to spring for a Nagra E.

[Vagodeoz]

Hmmm I thought this fostex 4 track cassette was battery powered, but it seems it isn't. hmm.. if that's not portable then I have no idea :S

[analog aaron]

The 4-track Tascam porta one studio can be powered by standard "c" size batteries. I'm pretty sure it requires 10 batteries altogether.
A

[SteveM]

I have a fostex x-15, 4 track which came with a battery pack as well as the anti wallwart adapter. The battery pack takes 8 C batteries which just attaches on to the back of the machine. Look on ebay maybe one will come up with the battery pack. It's a really decent sounding recorder, even still!

[SuperGeek]

Originally Posted by jjones1700

I currently have a 424mkII recorder, which is wonderful. However, what I am looking for is a smaller, battery powered version..........if there is such a beast. The 414 mk series is smaller, but still AC powered. The Porta 02 is AC powered.

Basically what I want one for is to record ambient noises such as rainstorms, the surf at the beach, trains, etc. I could use my little MD recorder/player, but I would like to stick with analog. The 1/8" mic jacks are kind of prohibitive for a good mic on the MD recorder anyway.

I've read something..........somewhere.........about a Porta 01 that might have been battery powered? Any truth to that? I guess if all else fails, I'll have to spring for a Nagra E.

May be a bit larger then you want but why not a inverter and a battery pack power to go

[cjacek]

Originally Posted by jjones1700

what I am looking for is a smaller, battery powered version..........

Tascam Porta One and Porta Two

[jjones1700]

Originally Posted by SuperGeek

May be a bit larger then you want but why not a inverter and a battery pack power to go

Okay, this is going to sound odd, but I was looking for something small enough to put in a backpack as I am on a motorcycle as my primary means of getting around. I thought about the inverter since I was going to wire up a cigarette lighter to an (now) unused wiring connection. Trouble is, I don't know how much draw the bike could handle vs. what the recorder and inverter would require. Laugh if you will, it's the only option I've got right now.

Hey cjacek, I finally found an article stating that the P two is battery powered. I didn't find though if it has a specific battery pack or if it can simply take "C" or "D" batteries.

[Vagodeoz]

Or you could go digital. With something like this or this.

[jjones1700]

Originally Posted by Vagodeoz

Or you could go digital. With something like this or this.

Those aren't too bad, just not my cup of tea. I just like the "magic" of analog for ambient noise. I'm not really worried with the tape hiss issue on a cassette and I love the dynamics of my reel to reel, but neither are very portable...LOL I could use a "Y" adapter along with a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter if I wanted to try out the MD "discman" recorder (Sony MZ-R37). The stuff I am planning on recording will be either intro/outro or background tracks for some future acoustic guitar stuff I will lay down..............once I actually learn how to play the damned thing.

[The Ghost of FM]

Originally Posted by jjones1700

... I finally found an article stating that the P two is battery powered. I didn't find though if it has a specific battery pack or if it can simply take "C" or "D" batteries.

It takes 10 C cells! Or the PS-P2 adapter which supplies 15 volts.

8 hour battery life (Alkaline) based on continuous play or record...longer if just the mixer section is being used. The Porta One also has the same battery specs.

Cheers!

[jjones1700]

Originally Posted by The Ghost of FM

It takes 10 C cells! Or the PS-P2 adapter which supplies 15 volts.

8 hour battery life (Alkaline) based on continuous play or record...longer if just the mixer section is being used. The Porta One also has the same battery specs.

Cheers!

Dude, you just rock when it comes to this analog info. I wouldn't need to run the recording for all that long at a time anyway. For a truly interesting environment, maybe 20 or so minutes (1 side of the cassette at 3 3/4" ips). That is pretty cool and if I can find one (preferably outside of ebay) I think that would be the perfect solution. I wasn't up to spending 1k on a Nagra E anyway.....................that or trying to find the tape specifically for Nagra models.

[The Ghost of FM]

Both the Porta One and Two run at standard cassette speed only...1, 7/8 ips.

Sorry!

Cheers!

[jjones1700]

Originally Posted by The Ghost of FM

Both the Porta One and Two run at standard cassette speed only...1, 7/8 ips.

Sorry!

Cheers!

Meh, no big deal. Would be nice, but not a deal breaker.

[The Ghost of FM]

Here's the complete specs.

Cheers!

[jjones1700]

Thanks again Ghost. Looks like the Porta two will do the trick.

[The Ghost of FM]

Originally Posted by jjones1700

Thanks again Ghost. Looks like the Porta two will do the trick.

And then some! Especially for just capturing folly type stuff.

I used to use a Sony "Professional"? WM-6C which ran on 4 AA's and offered Dolby B & C NR...three heads too, if I remember correctly? It's been a few years since I sold it after my field recording project was over...wish I kept it.

http://www.webhelper.com/wholeearth/...kmanwmd6c.html

Cheers!

[jjones1700]

Originally Posted by The Ghost of FM

And then some! Especially for just capturing folly type stuff.

I used to use a Sony "Professional"? WM-6C which ran on 4 AA's and offered Dolby B & C NR...three heads too, if I remember correctly? It's been a few years since I sold it after my field recording project was over...wish I kept it.

Cheers!

Something tells me I will have a house full of this stuff!! Hehe. I may not use some of it or at least not to it's full potential, but damn it this equipment is just too freakin' cool to let slip away into the abyss of landfills!

I still don't know how people can get good sounding stuff from 8 tracks on a cassette. I think I'll leave those for someone else.

Hmmmm...........field recording. I could get into it. I like doing landscape/architectural photography as well so it's a perfect combination.

[The Ghost of FM]

Originally Posted by jjones1700

I still don't know how people can get good sounding stuff from 8 tracks on a cassette. I think I'll leave those for someone else.

The trick to getting decent sound on those is not to do any bounces.

Once you bounce on those, they get ugly real quick.

Cheers!

[A Reel Person]

The dirty little secret is that the Porta 02mkII, 414mkII, MF-P01 (and comparable decks) run on 12V-DC, so actually a simple car cig-lighter adapter plug with the right polarity would do it! No inverter necessary!

Again, the true battery powered Tascams were the Porta One and Porta Two.

[jjones1700]

Originally Posted by A Reel Person

The dirty little secret is that the Porta 02mkII, 414mkII, MF-P01 (and comparable decks) run on 12V-DC, so actually a simple car cig-lighter adapter plug with the right polarity would do it! No inverter necessary!

Again, the true battery powered Tascams were the Porta One and Porta Two.

414 you say?? I can supply 12v DC direct from the battery and I can still buy a new 414mkII. Very interesting. Thanks for the tip Reel.

[The Ghost of FM]

Originally Posted by A Reel Person

The dirty little secret is that the Porta 02mkII, 414mkII, MF-P01 (and comparable decks) run on 12V-DC, so actually a simple car cig-lighter adapter plug with the right polarity would do it! No inverter necessary!

I know in the older days, motorcycle batteries and electrical systems were 6 volts, not 12. Maybe with the advent of all the electronics they put onto bikes now, the voltage has been stepped up to accommodate that?

Cheers!

[jjones1700]

Originally Posted by The Ghost of FM

I know in the older days, motorcycle batteries and electrical systems were 6 volts, not 12. Maybe with the advent of all the electronics they put onto bikes now, the voltage has been stepped up to accommodate that?

Cheers!

Yep. I've got a 12v sealed gel cell battery in mine. I should be okay if I wire up a fused direct connection to the battery.

[analog aaron]

For the cig lighter adtpr (if it wasn't the right polarity) you could always snip the wire in the middle , strip the ends and reverse crimp them back together, use a little heat shrink and yer good. This should work. Same thing as a universal wall wart..... how some have the tip you can reverse.

[ofajen]

Originally Posted by jjones1700

I currently have a 424mkII recorder, which is wonderful. However, what I am looking for is a smaller, battery powered version..........if there is such a beast. The 414 mk series is smaller, but still AC powered. The Porta 02 is AC powered.

Basically what I want one for is to record ambient noises such as rainstorms, the surf at the beach, trains, etc. I could use my little MD recorder/player, but I would like to stick with analog. The 1/8" mic jacks are kind of prohibitive for a good mic on the MD recorder anyway.

I've read something..........somewhere.........about a Porta 01 that might have been battery powered? Any truth to that? I guess if all else fails, I'll have to spring for a Nagra E.

Doesn't actually sound like you need multi-track. If not, you could use something like my Sony Walkman D6C. It's a standard stereo compact cassette machine that runs on 4 AA batteries. It has Dolby B and C and settings for normal, high bias and metal tapes. It has the 1/8" stereo mike input for little stereo mikes, including those that need about 5V power. It also has an 1/8" stereo line input, which I use with the consumer format output from my Sound Devices MixPre. However, I use my MicroTrack more often for this sort of purpose, since it has a much higher S/N ratio.

Another set of options would be the various portable cassette machines made by Marantz. I don't have the details on those, but they made mono and stereo units and some if not all had balanced mike inputs.

Cheers,

Otto

[jjones1700]

Originally Posted by ofajen

Doesn't actually sound like you need multi-track. If not, you could use something like my Sony Walkman D6C. It's a standard stereo compact cassette machine that runs on 4 AA batteries. It has Dolby B and C and settings for normal, high bias and metal tapes. It has the 1/8" stereo mike input for little stereo mikes, including those that need about 5V power. It also has an 1/8" stereo line input, which I use with the consumer format output from my Sound Devices MixPre. However, I use my MicroTrack more often for this sort of purpose, since it has a much higher S/N ratio.

Another set of options would be the various portable cassette machines made by Marantz. I don't have the details on those, but they made mono and stereo units and some if not all had balanced mike inputs.

Cheers,

Otto

I was looking for something similar to my 424 because I'm fairly comfortable with it, as far as layout and/or capabilities. Ideally I would like to have at least 1/4" inputs so I don't have to put another "break" in the audio chain by having to use an adapter on each of the mics. Faders are a must as well. I think the 414 or Porta Two will do the trick. Thanks for the suggestion though.