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Really small flash recorders


Philip Perkins

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I'm looking for a really small Olympus-style stereo flash recorder w/ both internal mics and external mic jacks as well as HP jacks and USB i/o for use by a military jet pilot while doing fairly extreme aerobatics.  He wants something smaller (and more g-resistant) than the D8 DAT he's been using (and has now broken).  I've looked into this on the web but there are so many models of these things at so many price points that I wondered if anyone had a recommendation.  The pilot can have his tech crew make anything required to interface the recorder to the plane's com system, and he is really in love with the small size and no moving parts aspects of these recorders.

Philip Perkins

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Philip,

I haven't actually seen it (or even specs on it) yet, but the new recorder from Zaxcom looks like a winner (from John's movie, anyway).  Actually, Dave Fisk was working in the Zaxcom booth at NAB and said good things about it (including his feeling that it is fairly close to shipping). 

If you need something that is available today (you didn't mention price point) there is that new Sony recorder, as well as the new Edirol and the M-audio.  I haven't used any of these, and of course if you ask people about them you will probably get a 50-50 mix of "loves it/hates it".

Phil

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I'm looking for a really small Olympus-style stereo flash recorder w/ both internal mics and external mic jacks as well as HP jacks and USB i/o for use by a military jet pilot while doing fairly extreme aerobatics.Philip Perkins

I have not had any extensive personal experience with any of these sorts of devices but after spending about an hour or so at Coffey Sound and looking over many of these, I would seriously consider the M-Audio Microtrac recorder. The SONY PCM-D1 is a beautiful machine but is somewhat overpriced. The only downside to the M-Aduio is the use of a rechargeable battery that when depleted must be charged within the unit. External powering is available via an AC wall wart and USB connection to the recorder. Others who have been using the machine I know have worked on external battery powering schemes via USB, and I don't know if they have come up with anyhting.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

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Guest Glenn

I think our ZFR100 would do a good job here. It does not have an internal mic but it does have time code and is available in mono and stereo configurations. It is a very operator independent box. It can go into record on power up and can record about 12 hours of mono. The stereo version has 2 balanced inputs and will run off external 12V input. The balanced inputs should advoid that airplane whine I get when I plug into commercial aircraft. I think you could pull 20g or better and it would not care. Full product release should be within 60 days.(Don't quote me on the delivery)

Glenn

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All of these are too big.  What this guy wants (has seen) are recorders less than 2 inches wide by about 4 inches long and about 1/2 inch think.  The Zax is too expensive by a factor of about 4 at least.  I know all about the Edirol and Microtrack stuff, to big, too fussy, too fragile.  I want to know about the smaller Olympus type machines, please.  The plane interior is very noisy and the recorder will be recording the com, so hifi is not needed.

Philip Perkins

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Philip,

Within the past week or so, Fry's has had the Olympus dictation type recorders in their advertisement (I didn't really look because I'm not in the market for one...)  You might check at Fry's...buy one, test it and if it doesn't work, return it.  I think they're pretty reasonable, price-wise.  (BTW, the Fry's in Sunnyvale usually has the best selection of stuff...maybe the Fremont store, but I don't go to that one as often).

Phil

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The reason I asked about record time is I bought an I-River T30 for my mp3's, ( it supports Rhapsody subscription service)  It has an internal mic and a line in with variable record rates, 20 hours of playback with 1 aaa, with 1 gig of storage and usb.

Maybe not what you are looking for but it's dirt cheap and works. 99 bucks at B&H.

http://www.iriveramerica.com/prod/ultra/t30/T30-1GB.aspx

Larry Long

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The reason I asked about record time is I bought an I-River T30 for my mp3's, ( it supports Rhapsody subscription service)  It has an internal mic and a line in with variable record rates, 20 hours of playback with 1 aaa, with 1 gig of storage and usb.

Maybe not what you are looking for but it's dirt cheap and works. 99 bucks at B&H.

http://www.iriveramerica.com/prod/ultra/t30/T30-1GB.aspx

Larry Long

Will check it.  I still use iRiver H120s all the time (wav file recorder, 20GB HD) as a backup machine--I like their stuff.

Philip Perkins

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I have used the Olympus DS2 for similar applications.  The sound quality is great, battery life is terrible.  It effectively needs a new set of AAA's every time you use it.  I hope your friend can tap into the com line directly, it will be worth the custom cable.

Alan Barker

All of these are too big.  What this guy wants (has seen) are recorders less than 2 inches wide by about 4 inches long and about 1/2 inch think.  The Zax is too expensive by a factor of about 4 at least.  I know all about the Edirol and Microtrack stuff, to big, too fussy, too fragile.  I want to know about the smaller Olympus type machines, please.  The plane interior is very noisy and the recorder will be recording the com, so hifi is not needed.

Philip Perkins

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  • 3 months later...

How about the M-Audio Micro Track? The dimensions are as follows:

Width: 61mm or 2.4”

Height: 109.5mm or 4.3”

Thickness: 28.5mm or 1.12” over the LCD.

Weight: 4.9oz or 138.9 grams without CF card; 5.2oz or 147.4 grams with CF card

Check it out at <a href="http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MicroTrack2496-main.html">The official site</a>

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