Nityananda_SCSM
New member
Hi everyone.
I do field recording in very crowded, noisy, unpredictable and equipment-dangerous environments. I need a good portable 2channel XLR recorder ideally with analog limiters.
There are three options under $1000.
Tascam DR-100 Portable recorder ($430 street)
Marantz PMD661 Portable recorder ($600 street)
Edirol R-44 Portable Recorder (4 XLR inputs, $995 street)
The Zoom H4n does'nt seem to be very consistent sync wise, making it a bad choice for people who want to sync their audio up to video later on like me.
I previously had the Edirol R-44, and I liked it and recommend it. It was just too big for me (not handheld) and the onboard mics seemed kind of inferior, although I never tested that out. I sold it thinking I could find a good handheld one with limiters and now I see the market is very sparse.
The new Marantaz PMD661 looks perfect in every way, except NO LIMTERS! What an oversight on Marantz's part, lame.
So now I'm looking to buy the only handheld XLR recorder with analog limiters under $1k, the DR-100. Can anyone give me some feedback on it? Do the limiters work well? Is the audio quality OK? I know it doesn't have XLR or TRS line inputs but I can live without it if I have to. Should I try to go with the PMD661 and just go crazy watching my levels? DR-100 Pros and Cons...?
Thanks for the input
-Chris
I do field recording in very crowded, noisy, unpredictable and equipment-dangerous environments. I need a good portable 2channel XLR recorder ideally with analog limiters.
There are three options under $1000.
Tascam DR-100 Portable recorder ($430 street)
Marantz PMD661 Portable recorder ($600 street)
Edirol R-44 Portable Recorder (4 XLR inputs, $995 street)
The Zoom H4n does'nt seem to be very consistent sync wise, making it a bad choice for people who want to sync their audio up to video later on like me.
I previously had the Edirol R-44, and I liked it and recommend it. It was just too big for me (not handheld) and the onboard mics seemed kind of inferior, although I never tested that out. I sold it thinking I could find a good handheld one with limiters and now I see the market is very sparse.
The new Marantaz PMD661 looks perfect in every way, except NO LIMTERS! What an oversight on Marantz's part, lame.
So now I'm looking to buy the only handheld XLR recorder with analog limiters under $1k, the DR-100. Can anyone give me some feedback on it? Do the limiters work well? Is the audio quality OK? I know it doesn't have XLR or TRS line inputs but I can live without it if I have to. Should I try to go with the PMD661 and just go crazy watching my levels? DR-100 Pros and Cons...?
Thanks for the input
-Chris