If you use iRivers for "ceremony's"....which model are you using?

How reliable has it been for you?

What mic are you using with the iRiver?

Any trouble known with "certain" models?

Much thanks in advance for your remarks!!!

ps. We currently have (3) Sennheiser EW100's w/ Tran Mics but are looking into iRivers as back-ups.

-Cheers, Joe

700 and 800 seires..but they are like dinosaurs...extinct.

look here also:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=55496&highlight=sony+mini+disc

Just picked them up on EBay a couple of weeks ago, a 1gb and a512m. Then a couple of Giant Squid mics designed just for them. So far just tested them at home and they sound really good. Will be using them at a wedding this coming Sat. I'll let you know how they work in the field. I've heard a lot of talk about not being able to get them anymore, but I had no trouble at all.

Without being able to see the recording levels or hear anything your recording, I would say there is more chance for operator error. If you forgot to set your Sennheiser right, you often notice it before anything starts and it can be fixed. It is fairly easy to hit the play rather than record button on an iriver, or plug the mic into the headphone jack, or even set the levels wrong.

As for quality, I am very happy with the sound when the levels are set properly and your only micing one person. To pick up the brides vows with a mic on the groom would be very poor compared to the Sennheiser, in my opinion, but provides excellent quality when micing a podium or officiant.

As for defects, a couple giant squid mics have known to have minor problems resulting in a minor clicking noise ever once in a while but this is rare, and you can notice it in your testing and have it fixed very quickly.

Hope that helps.

Like Patrick says, they may not have the quality to replace a good wireless system--I'll be using them in addition to my Azden dual channel system...
Vin

So......from further research, I am hearing that the newer(current) iRivers' do not have an external mic input. Is this true??? I'll get to some stores tomarrow to check out in person, but any help is greatfully appreciated!

Yes, these units will be (back-ups) to our current wireless set ups. We are audio freaks for sure and always like back ups to the back ups.

from what I recall the new ones have a mic input but don't work with the mic that everyone is using for the 700/800 seires.

So......from further research, I am hearing that the newer(current) iRivers' do not have an external mic input. Is this true??? I'll get to some stores tomarrow to check out in person, but any help is greatfully appreciated!

Yes, these units will be (back-ups) to our current wireless set ups. We are audio freaks for sure and always like back ups to the back ups.
I was looking at these to as a backup to the G1/2's and of all teh models i saw, none had mic inputs... which was a shame..

One thing i have been testing with though, is my Navman PDA. It records mp3 and even uncompressed and at 44.1, the inbuilt mic is surprisingly clean. Nice low end Freq and high end plsovies withought too much compression. im gonna give it a go at teh next job, if only for the podium readings...

Peter,

Where on the podium/pulpit will you place the device?

I ask because I used to do this with my iRivers when I just relying on the internal mic. I used to to tape the iRiver to the base of the microphone stand (wouldn't dare ask the priest if I could go higher and it would look awful!). The sound from the iRiver's mic was surprisingly good but I found that the priest/readers had a habit of rustling any form of paper lying on the podium. If there wasn't any paper or such they would resort to tapping/scratching the podium surface, etc... these factors often rendered the audio as useless.

Mossy

I have a couple of iRivers, and I have been very happy with them. Couppled with the Giant Squids, the sound is quite good....but take this with a caveat....the recording is highly compressed, and therefore may be very limited in its scope, but I find that for vows and other spoken word audio, it is quite acceptable.

I have two 790's (I think only 256 MB), but with ample time for all I need as backup for weddings and such, this has worked very well for me. I expect that I will soon get a few more (just to have) and I may go for 512 or 1 gb. These are quite easy to find on ebay, though used or reconditioned is the norm. One of my 790's was brand new (not reconditioned) and the other was used but it very good shape.

You can go for the brand new models iRiver sells, but you can't use these with the same mic that is used for the 700 and 800 series. Instead you will need a powered mic to achieve the correct input level. You can get the GS and add on an in-line battery pack, but these add a little bulk to the kit and my not end up quite as diminutive as one would wish.

Mic placement and recording settings are important when using the iRiver for great audio, but there are many threads in the forums that offer great tips, so run a search and you will find a bounty of info.

As far as podium/ambo/pulpit setups, one thread has included a tip about hiding an iRiver in a eye-glass case. I have done this with great results. Many priests won't allow additional objects near this space, but generally, no-one messes with an eyeglass case, especially if they assume that the glasses belong to whoever might be reading or speaking after them, so if there is enough room to place this someplace that it will pick up a good signal without being a hindrance, it might be a great idea. I use a slightly roomier eye-glass case that looks a little more distinguished but might appear as though it belongs to an older person...in othe words, don't go down to the sunglass hut and buy the snazziest chic eyeglass case you can find, it defeats the purpose.

I don't rely soley on the iRivers or even use them as a main source, however..especially since it can't be monitored live for ajustment and so forth. I also use a Senn G2 system, an AT897 shotgun, and several on-board camera mics (to get room audio wherever the cams are setup). I also use a Sony minidisc recorder, but generally not as a body pack because it is a little heavy. It works well placed near musicians and such for pretty good live music audio for choirs or string quartets, etc., as well as audio dump from a sound system.

i got three 799 (1 gig), that are really nice for the all purpose recording.
whatever sound you need to get, you can set up one in few second to pick sound from a conference table, a line out mixing table...etc.
it is pretty nice , like launch and forget , because the huge recording capacity, so you can leave them unnatended for a very long time without worrying for tape change or battery exhausted.

Giroud, what mic are you using with the 799s? I have found a couple on eBay.

thanks

Thanks everyone for all your input. I'm not sure where we would place the iRivers because we use 3 Senn EW100's right now. Have to think about this one.

Thanks again for your advice!

-cheers , Joe

i got a giant squid for lavalier takes, some cheap tabletop conference microphone (from sony).
in the case of the iriver, the quality of microphone is not really important since mp3 will not anyway give you the best you can get from a professional mic.
placement of mic is more important, and the big advantage of the iriver is you can leave it almost anywhere because it is so small.
and you do not have to worry about pushing the rec button at the right moment , since you can start recording hours before if necessary.

I feel stupid but I do not know what a giant squid lavalier mic is. Is this a brand name or a type? Thanks so much for your help. Also, I found the 799 on eBay for $159.99 plus 17.99 shipping in like new condition. Is this a reasonable price?

Giant Squid is a brand. Just do a search for Giant Squd microphone. I think that price is a little high.

Mike

I feel stupid but I do not know what a giant squid lavalier mic is. Is this a brand name or a type? Thanks so much for your help. Also, I found the 799 on eBay for $159.99 plus 17.99 shipping in like new condition. Is this a reasonable price?

You can get the Giant Squid mic's from here:
http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-mono1.htm

Be sure to get the ones designed specifically for the iRiver since the mic input on the iRiver is unique. This allows you to record mono (all voice is mono anyway) thereby doubling the amount of time you can record on an iRiver.


Here's an Ebay link for someone I am told is reputable - don't take my word for it though:
http://cgi.ebay.com/iRIVER-iFP-795-512MB-MP3-Player-iFP795-Sealed-Warranty_W0QQitemZ9725821501QQcategoryZ114623QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Regards

Jeremy

If you use iRivers for "ceremony's"....which model are you using?

How reliable has it been for you?

What mic are you using with the iRiver?

Any trouble known with "certain" models?

Much thanks in advance for your remarks!!!

ps. We currently have (3) Sennheiser EW100's w/ Tran Mics but are looking into iRivers as back-ups.

-Cheers, Joe

Joe, I use the iRivers for ceremony's and have never yet had a problem. The audio quality is good and is clean.

Use in conjuction with a Giant Squid omni, you can't go wrong. The units are extremely small and will easily fit into any shirt or jcket pocket.

You start the record, "lock" the record and you're set to go. A iRiver 795 will give you about seven hours recording in mono which is more than sufficient for ceremony's.

I mic the officiant and groom about 15min to 1/2 hour before the event and don't worry about them till after the event.

I sometimes also place one on the podium. I started using these specifically after encountering freq problems with venue equipment and if I do, I can kill the Senny and have still got my audio on the iRiver and from my shotgun

you can get the 799 for less than 100$ here
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9709664214

while 60$ for the 795 is even better if you do not need more than 10 hours of recording.

just check the firmeare version when you receive it.
The UMS firmware is great because it lets you use the iriver like an USB key, but unfortunately it limits the recording to very low quality.
You can revert to the non-ums firmware at any time to get back full recording capability.

additionally, you can store some piece of music on it so, sometime you can provide some song (national anthems , well known wedding music, ambiance music) to the party if needed.

In light of all the options into recording audio...just remember...would you like to have your wedding vows and speaches (weddings aren't do over events) be captured on a iriver or by a high grade wireless system....just something to ponder on.

the wireless system is a lot better and should be the first solution( i use the sony UWPC-1), but you would feel a lot better if you know there is a backup system (anyhow cheap it is) somewhere.

you can get the 799 for less than 100$ here

just check the firmeare version when you receive it.
The UMS firmware is great because it lets you use the iriver like an USB key, but unfortunately it limits the recording to very low quality.
You can revert to the non-ums firmware at any time to get back full recording capability.
I'm curious to know about this UMS firmware:

1. What exactly is UMS firmware?

2. I saw that the website has firmware upgrades -- so would it be a mistake to upgrade?

Thanks for any info you can give me.

rgb

Rob--Check and see what improvements, if any, you'll be getting with the firmware updates. Personally, I would NOT go with the UMS firmware if it limits the sound quality choices because using the highest bitrate in mono (160kbps) gives you recordings good enough to use as additional inputs to a good wireless system. Any lower would bring it down into an unacceptable range, at least to me. Wedding I did on Saturday--Azden UHF channel one wireless lav on groom, second channel handheld for speakers and singer, one iriver/giant squid combo on each pastor (they had two). At 44khz,160kbps settings the iriver mp3s sounded really good. Don't think I'd care to go much lower. Besides, the IRiver Manager software works perfectly well for transferring and converting the files onto your hdd. What would be the reason to downgrade the sound quality just to use it as a usb key? If you need a usb key, pick up a 1gig for next to nothing...if you wanted to, you could use the IRiver to store any kind of files with the Manager software.

While I was a little annoyed by the manager aspect, no, I don't think it's worth sacrificing sound quality for convenience.

Where on the podium/pulpit will you place the device?
I will use a short 2 foot squid lav mic and scotch tape it all the way up the podium mic . It doesn't pick up the rustling papers.

This may be helpful: Something I downloaded many moons ago. I did not realize at the time I had not copied the author;'s name.


Upon initial use, hold down the record button (far right of top three buttons) until you get the 4 selections to choose from (Mp3-Radio-Voice-Line in). Select "Line In"

Timer (manual section 5-17)

- Sleep power off - OFF / Beep OFF
- Stop Power off - 60 min

Control - (manual section 5-22)

- Line in recording mode:
Mono
44.1KHz
160 Kbps

Stereo
44.1 KHz
320 Kbps

- Line In Rec Volume: 45 (Giant Squid Mic) 50 (MT830 mic) 50-55 (Azden 503)

- Line In Auto Sync: OFF

- Line In / Ext Mic: EXT MIC

***SETUP***

1. Connect mic to line-in jack
2. Set line in rec mode as above (SETTINGS)
3. Press and HOLD "Mode/Rec" button
4. Select Line-In mode
5. Press "Nav/Menu" button to go to PAUSED record mode
6. Press REC
7. Engage the LOCK!

***STOPPING***

1. Unlock
2. Press "Mode/Rec" button
3. Press and HOLD the STOP button

Expected record times based on 512 Mb model (256 will be half...1Gb will be double the record time below)
In mono:
44hz 32kbps = 35 hours: 31 minutes
" " 40kbps = 28 Hours: 25 minutes
" "" 48kbps = 23 hours: 21 minutes
" " 56kbps = 20 hours: 18 minutes
" " 64kbps = 17 hours: 45 minutes
" " 80kbps = 14 hours: 12 minutes
" " 96kbps = 11 hours: 50 minutes
" " 112kbps = 10 hours: 09 minutes
" " 128kbps = 8 hours: 52 minutes
" " 160kbps = 7 hours: 06 minutes

In Stereo:
44hz 64kbps = 17 hours: 45 minutes
" " 80kbps = 14 Hours: 12 minutes
" "" 96kbps = 11 hours: 50 minutes
" " 112kbps = 10 hours: 09 minutes
" " 128kbps = 8 hours: 52 minutes
" " 160kbps = 7 hours: 06 minutes
" " 192kbps = 5 hours: 55 minutes
" " 224kbps = 5 hours: 05 minutes
" " 256kbps = 4 hours: 26 minutes
" " 320kbps = 3 hours: 33 minutes

Links to external microphones for the iRiver:

Giant Squid
MT830
Azden 503
Sennheiser e604


The Sennheiser e604 has been successfully used by many to capture audio from the DJ's PA stack. This cardoid instrument mic is designed to handle very high sound pressure levels. To connect to the iRiver, you may use a Mono XLR to Dual Mono 1/8 and record in stereo or XLR to 1/8" male with the "+" of the mic connected to the the ring to record in mono

This may be helpful: Something I downloaded many moons ago. I did not realize at the time I had not copied the author;'s name.The source of this information would be Mark Foley and Doug Graham, both artful wedding videographers who know their stuff:

http://videouniversity.com/iriver.shtml

The source of this information would be Mark Foley and Doug Graham, both artful wedding videographers who know their stuff:


Actually, the source (except the section on the recording times) is me, in a post from August 6th 2005:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=48918&highlight=dummies

But, of course, the source is really the iRiver manual which I used to make my little cheat sheet for a wedding.

:-)

Actually, the source (except the section on the recording times) is me, in a post from August 6th 2005:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=48918&highlight=dummies

But, of course, the source is really the iRiver manual which I used to make my little cheat sheet for a wedding.

:-)Then a personal thank you to you John for delving into the iRivers. They work perfectly for me with all this info.

I have a couple of iRivers I currently use for back-ups for my Senn G2 and for podium recording. I've been wanting to try them out on the church or DJ's sound board but, frankly, have no clue on how to do this correctly.

If anyone is successfully using an iRiver to capture sound from a mixer board, please share your settings/technique and how you do the hook up.

My apologies in advance if this has been covered elsewhere. Thanks for any help.

Kevin

Actually, the source (except the section on the recording times) is me, in a post from August 6th 2005:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=48918&highlight=dummies

But, of course, the source is really the iRiver manual which I used to make my little cheat sheet for a wedding.

:-)


Finally I know the author's name. Thank you for the information, and the willingness to share.