H
B
billisa
New member
It's a professional field recorder for on-location interviews or sound effects acquisition.
T
thouston
New member
Fostex FR-2 is not a bad little recorder.
I just received the FR-2 and I'm a little disappointed in the build quality of the unit. Plastic and more plastic pretty much sums it up. It wouldn't be so bad but the LCD display behind the little lexan window on the front panel isn't centered with the front window. It's a little cocked. Not a big deal but for $1300 you'd expect Fostex QA would have caught this. Then again I couldn't afford any of the other top end field recorders.
The audio recording quality is top notch on the unit and I'm using a Rode NT4 mike with it and they work very well together. I've transferred some old MD files from my Sony MZ-1 to the FR-2 via Toslink into a M-Audio CO3 and then into the digital input of the FR-2. The copies are perfect as they should be. Files transfer quickly to my computer via USB and the menu system is very intuitive. I am also able to review (listen to) files directly from the FR-2 without copying them to my PC first. One other thing that annoys me though is the inability to jump from recorded track to recorded track and listen to what you have just recorded. I'm not sure if this is a limitation of the FR-2 or if I'm just not doing something right. I’ve tried all of the logical ways to make it happen without luck. I'm using a SanDisk 512MB flash card and the recommended Toshiba PCMCIA drive to record to. The drive is very efficient and shuts down automatically when not being written to. Also, the little audio monitor speaker is barely usable but is ok for monitoring purposes.
All in all, I just wish they'd put the electronics in an aluminum/titanium case and cut down on some of the plastic on the unit.
I just received the FR-2 and I'm a little disappointed in the build quality of the unit. Plastic and more plastic pretty much sums it up. It wouldn't be so bad but the LCD display behind the little lexan window on the front panel isn't centered with the front window. It's a little cocked. Not a big deal but for $1300 you'd expect Fostex QA would have caught this. Then again I couldn't afford any of the other top end field recorders.
The audio recording quality is top notch on the unit and I'm using a Rode NT4 mike with it and they work very well together. I've transferred some old MD files from my Sony MZ-1 to the FR-2 via Toslink into a M-Audio CO3 and then into the digital input of the FR-2. The copies are perfect as they should be. Files transfer quickly to my computer via USB and the menu system is very intuitive. I am also able to review (listen to) files directly from the FR-2 without copying them to my PC first. One other thing that annoys me though is the inability to jump from recorded track to recorded track and listen to what you have just recorded. I'm not sure if this is a limitation of the FR-2 or if I'm just not doing something right. I’ve tried all of the logical ways to make it happen without luck. I'm using a SanDisk 512MB flash card and the recommended Toshiba PCMCIA drive to record to. The drive is very efficient and shuts down automatically when not being written to. Also, the little audio monitor speaker is barely usable but is ok for monitoring purposes.
All in all, I just wish they'd put the electronics in an aluminum/titanium case and cut down on some of the plastic on the unit.
B
billisa
New member
thouston said:
If it came inside a titanium case how much do you think the final price would be? $2,000? My sense of the Fostex products I've used is that the entire emphasis is on sound quality and reliability. Very well thought out designs as far as operational things go. As it happens, my first VF160 also had an LCD display that was a tad off line, so I sent it back to get another, which is perfect. Actually, Matt at Fostex said I should send it back. If you can, I'd do the same. For $1,300 you should have an aligned display.
D
dave in toledo
New member
quality
billisa is right id send it back and get one that has no flaws , especially for that price....
billisa is right id send it back and get one that has no flaws , especially for that price....
T
thouston
New member
Yeah I'll be sending it back alright...
I TRIED to record my first live performance tonight at a local bar and what a disaster. The recorder stopped recording three different times after about 15 min. of record time. All I got was "Disk Error" "Please Push Enter". I was recording at 96K-24Bit to the PCMCIA HDD. I have no idea why it crapped out. Very sad. After the second failure I formatted the HDD to see if there was some issue with the drive but it didn't help and it took a shit for a third time and I packed up and left. I guess I'll send an email to Fostex after the holiday and see what they say. I'm 99% sure the FR-2 is going back to where it came from. I have zero time to play with a recorder that’s in beta still. DAT won't give me a problem like this thing. I had very high hopes for the FR-2 and now I am disappointed...
I TRIED to record my first live performance tonight at a local bar and what a disaster. The recorder stopped recording three different times after about 15 min. of record time. All I got was "Disk Error" "Please Push Enter". I was recording at 96K-24Bit to the PCMCIA HDD. I have no idea why it crapped out. Very sad. After the second failure I formatted the HDD to see if there was some issue with the drive but it didn't help and it took a shit for a third time and I packed up and left. I guess I'll send an email to Fostex after the holiday and see what they say. I'm 99% sure the FR-2 is going back to where it came from. I have zero time to play with a recorder that’s in beta still. DAT won't give me a problem like this thing. I had very high hopes for the FR-2 and now I am disappointed...
T
thouston
New member
Update:
I've been doing some testing today and here is what I have found. The recorder records a TV set at standard volume flawlessly. If I overload the L/R inputs the FR-2 freezes and "Disk Error" "Please Push Enter" message comes. It seems I had the Trim and level input incorrectly adjusted last night and that is why the FR-2 kept quitting. I spoke with an EE and from what I understand, I overloaded the L/R mic inputs which caused the A/D's to saturate which I guess meant the recording wasn't worth having and the recorder quit.
The "Disk Error" "Please Push Enter" is like most of the error messages you get on equipment these days. It wasn't related to the HDD but the overload of the L/R channels - A/D. It would be nice if Fostex would put a little note in their manual that states that this is "Possibly" the issue when you see this error message.
Sorry for the false alarm... I'm back out tonight for another show and hopefully better results.
I've been doing some testing today and here is what I have found. The recorder records a TV set at standard volume flawlessly. If I overload the L/R inputs the FR-2 freezes and "Disk Error" "Please Push Enter" message comes. It seems I had the Trim and level input incorrectly adjusted last night and that is why the FR-2 kept quitting. I spoke with an EE and from what I understand, I overloaded the L/R mic inputs which caused the A/D's to saturate which I guess meant the recording wasn't worth having and the recorder quit.
The "Disk Error" "Please Push Enter" is like most of the error messages you get on equipment these days. It wasn't related to the HDD but the overload of the L/R channels - A/D. It would be nice if Fostex would put a little note in their manual that states that this is "Possibly" the issue when you see this error message.
Sorry for the false alarm... I'm back out tonight for another show and hopefully better results.
Reggaesoldier
New member
How did it work out?thouston said: