looking for a iriver replacement

[Noa Put]

My iriver died and looking for a replacement, I always used it at the groom together with a archos amplifier and a clipon microphone. I need something small enough to fit the grooms jacket inside pocket and heard good thing about the tascam recorders? Anyone any experience with a small audio recorder with a line in that can function without a separate amplifier? My zoom h1 would fit the bill but it's too bulky.

[Greg Miller]

Try the Tascam DR-03. It has mic in with "plug in power" so you won't need the separate preamp. It records to a standard WAV file, without compression. It also has record level meters so you aren't flying blind as you were with the iRivers. It's much thinner than an iRiver, so it doesn't cause as much bulge in the pocket. And it uses microSD cards. You can't go wrong.

[Noa Put]

Thx greg for the input, strangest thing is that no Belgian store seems to carry the dr-03 in stock, smallest model that is available is the dr-05 but that seems about the same size?

[Noa Put]

just saw a tascam dr05 vs zoom h1 video on youtube and the Tascam is twice the size so I have to look further.

[Chris Medico]

Hi Noa,

I hope this isn't asking the obvious here but what about grabbing another iRiver used off Ebay??

[Oren Arieli]

Olympus makes a bunch of small, efficient digital voice recorders (that have mic input capability). I had one that is discontinued. It had reasonable (not stellar) audio quality, but the AGC was the bane of my existence. Not sure if any current models have the ability to set levels manually, but that would be worth a try. Let us know if you find something promising.

[Greg Miller]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

smallest model that is available is the dr-05 but that seems about the same size?

No, the DR-03 is significantly smaller than the DR-05; that's why I recommended the -03 and not the -05. Google the specs.

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Chris:

IMHO the DR-03 is much better than the iRiver line. It's thinner, it records uncompressed WAV format, it has a recording level meter, and it uses microSD cards so you're not limited by the capacity of the internal memory. iRivers were good for their time (I have several hiding in a drawer somewhere) but they are not SOTA these days. (And a new DR-03 costs less than the iRivers cost when they were new!)

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Chris Medico

I hope this isn't asking the obvious here but what about grabbing another iRiver used off Ebay??

My father has the same as I have and the line in connection died a few months after he had it, I just want something a bit more reliable since buying a second hand Iriver makes me a bit nervous.

that's why I recommended the -03

In EU stores it's listed as discontinued? Seems its not been produced anymore.

Olympus makes a bunch of small, efficient digital voice recorders

thx, will see what Olympus is offering here.

[Noa Put]

Anyone familier with the Yamaha Pocketrak C24 (there's also a w24 version)? that seems pretty small and has a line in, not sure if I still would need a separate preamp.

[Noa Put]

Ugh.. difficult to choose, now I see the Tascam dr08 which is half the price of the Yamaha, quite small and thin but pretty high.

[Greg Miller]

My shirt pocket is 5-1/4" deep. My suit coat inside pockets are all over 6" deep. The DR-08 is 5.4" long. It shouldn't stick out of an inside pocket, but if it does... so what? It's inside, and nobody will see it. And it's much thinner than the iRiver, so it won't bulge and make it look as if the talent (groom etc.) has a growth on his chest.

Do you want the world on a platter for $70? If you think 5.4" is too long, get a hacksaw and cut off the integral (pivoting) mics. Or get a Tascam PR-10 for a few dollars more. If you've put up with an iRiver for this long, you will love the Tascam.

Any connector will fail eventually. My advice for the relatively flimsy 3.5mm jacks is this: use a right-angle plug, which lays flat to the body of the recorder. After plugging it in, secure it to the recorder using a few wraps of a rubber band... that will keep it from wiggling around and repeatedly stressing the jack.

PS: what model iRiver(s) with failed connectors do you have?

[Chris Frechette]

Have a look at the Sony PCM-M10 when looking at small recorders. I regret not buying this sooner instead of the Tascam DR-07mkII I had spent money on previously. The preamp is so much cleaner than my Tascam or my old iRiver iHP-140.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Greg Miller

Do you want the world on a platter for $70? If you think 5.4" is too long, get a hacksaw and cut off the integral (pivoting) mics.

Hehe, you' r right Greg, not about the cutting but about the price vs size. :)

The iriver model I have used the past years was the t20mx, about the Tascam PR-10, that's another one I can't find available in EU stores so I will order the DR-08 today, just need to be sure it doesn't require a separate preamp like my iriver did. And if it's good I"ll get a few more, it's very cheap and always comes in handy.

Thx all for the input so far.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Chris Frechette

Have a look at the Sony PCM-M10.

Thx for the tip Chris ,I appreciate it, I'm sure the Sony would be of superior quality but it's quite expensive, here about the same as a zoomh4 and 3 times more expensive then the Tascam dr08. I just need a somewhat clean recording that I can bump 15 to 20db if necessary without getting excessive noise from a voice and the Iriver has been good for my use, so I think the dr08 will be more then adequate. I used the iriver to pick up the voice from the bride and priest as well during the vows at a wedding and that's why I need to apply quite some gain in post somethimes.

[Greg Miller]

Noa:

There's a US music dealer called Sweetwater, Welcome to Sweetwater.com | Call Us @ 800 222 4700 who is listing the PR-10 right now for $69 USD. (Also, many listings on US eBay.) I don't know whether they will sell to Belgium or what shipping would cost.

The PR-10 is slightly shorter than the DR-08, as the mics don't protrude. The manual clearly states that it has a 3.5mm stereo mic input which supplies "plug-in power" so you do not need a preamp or an external DC supply for the mics.

BTW, some of the iRivers did NOT require an external mic preamp as the input was switchable to mic level. Which model do you have?