When you change the batteries some of the settings resetted themselves, at least on my machine. The file naming was reset to the default instead of the date as the filename. But the second time i changed the battery my settings were preserved. Strange but since i did not use the machine for some time, the internal? battery or capacitor ran out of power? But i could be wrong.The first time i started using the recorder i had to set the time. The second time when chancing the batteries i was not asked to set the time.

The remote control worked nicely, but i got some problems with the reception. Earlier (in some review video during a convention) it was mentioned this remote worked by radio. Well it does not. It used a infrared LED. So you really need a good line of sight to control the recorder from a distance.

Lastly this recorder can not stand “up”. The bottom is too rounded and the recorder will fall over when you try to set it upright. Too bad, but that’s probably why Roland is selling this thing.

Overal i am very impressed with the responsiveness, menu usability and built quality. It is worth each and every penny.

When i plugged it in (windows) for the first time two screens popped up. One screen was the “cannot find a driver” -screen. And they other was the “Smartware screen”. And in the windows explorer screen 2! new devices were installed. The hard drive itself and a new CD drive…???. After some digging around i found out that this “Smartware” automatically installs the CD drive everytime! you plug it into your computer. And it is NOT REMOVABLE!!! Shame on you Western Digital

So since i cant remove this annoying smartware i cannot use the drive… Thanks WD….. Goodbye WD…

So be warned and buy the older models!!!!!

Read some more :

• http://superuser.com/questions/44318/how-do-i-remove-a-mybooks-wd-smartware-virtual-cd-from-my-desktop
• http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10351853

Here are some of my experiences:

1) USB connection

When you plug the USB cable into the Zoom when it is not switched On then something funny happens.

First windows recognizes it, but than later will say that this hardware is not working properly. Switching on the Zoom will not help at this moment.

So you need to switch the zoom off and take the USB cable out. Then turn the Zoom On and go into the menu. Find the USB menu item and choose “Storage”. Then you can connect the USB cable and windows will recognize the Zoom properly.

2) Copying files to/from the Zoom

When you want to copy files from the Zoom then remember this is slooooow. It still uses a USB 1.0 connection… Saving money here SamsonTech ???

3) Responsiveness of the machine

I found that switching between menus and tracks can be painfully slow. Also starting recording and stopping is also quite slow. I am comparing it against the Edirol R09 and the edirol seems much more quicker in responding to the buttons.

4) Recording quality

Although this is very user interpretable i found that the microphones are less noisy then the Edirol R09. I dont know if the noise issue was resolved in the new Edirol R09HR. I will report on that when i have worked with this new gadget.

Concluding i can say that you certainly get what you pay for. The Zoom H2 can be found for around $120-150. The new Edirol start from $330. But the Edirol comes of course with a nice remote control, slicker design and overall more responsive user experience. So the Edirol stays my favorite, but if you are on a budget and dont mind the shortcomings the Zoom is an excellent choice.

First, what I like about the recorder:

• Records to Compact Flash
• XLR Inputs
• Analog level adjustments
• Powered by AA batteries
• Bright LED level meters

What I don’t like about the recorder:

• A bit bulky
• Record time could be longer
• Built-in Microphones are useless
• Left and Right levels are hard to adjust independently.

This recorder has very good quality MIC Pre-amplifiers through the XLR inputs.  I hear very little noise when the levels are cranked way up.  I will go into more detail on XLR inputs when I cover microphones, but almost all good microphones use XLR connectors.  You can convert to mini-jacks used by other recorders, but the resulting quality probably is not as good as using a good pre-amplifier like one that is built into the Marantz.  The recorder also supports built-in phantom power which can be used to power condenser microphones.

You can also record line-in through a 1/8″ jack — might be useful if you want to hook up through the temple’s PA system or a mixing board. 

The analog level adjustment feature is very important.  Most recorders (including this one) support some sort of automatic gain control.  This feature will allow the recorder automatically adjust the levels as the speaker or bhajan becomes louder and softer.  This may seem like a good feature at first, but the end result will often end up with a recording that is not natural sounding.  Instead, one should disable the automatic gain control and use the manual control.  Many of the smaller recorders bury the level controls pretty deep in the menu system.  Better recorders provide a nice analog knob or slider that can be used to adjust the level.  In combination with the bright LED level meters, one can ensure that the recording isn’t too loud (distortion) or too quiet.  This unit allows you to adjust the left/right levels independently.  This is useful to record the speaker with one microphone and to have another microphone for recording questions from the audience.

The recorder has many options that I really don’t bother using.  I always record in WAV format at 48Khz (to match the sampling done by my video camera).  This gives me about 6 hours on a 4 gig card if recording in stereo or 12 hours if recording in mono.  It does support recording as MP3, but only at 128Kbps.  If you plan on doing any post processing of the audio, just record in WAV format.

Record time is about 4 hours on 4 AA batteries.  I use rechargeable and tend to change them out at the 3hr mark.  One severe flaw in this device is that if you are actively recording and the battery runs out then it is likely that the track that is being recorded will be lost.  This hasn’t been an issue since I normally recharge after every use and don’t generally record for longer than 2hrs at a run anyway.

Alternatives:

I highly recommend this Marantz PMD660, but it is a bit bulky compared to some other recorders.  If you are looking for something smaller and are not going to use nice microphones, there are other alternatives.

I have generally recommended the Roland R-09HR ($350).  This is a small recorder that has good built-in microphones.  You can also use an external microphone that uses 1/8″ jacks. 

Another recorder that looks promising is the Tascam DR-1 ($250).  A friend of mine just took it to the New York Rathayatra and it seems to have worked out for him.

If you need something that supports more than two tracks, Roland just came out with the Roland R-44 ($895).  It can be linked with another unit for synchronized 8 track recording.  This would be great for recording live bhajans.

Next week?  A quick review of microphones.

Western Digital is releasing some interesting new models with lots of space. These USB (2.0) hard disk do not need a power supply and are nice and small. They fit in your pocket and are easy to take on travelling. So if you are a travelling preacher then go for it :

• Product page at Western Digital, Passport Elite 320 GB
• A review of the Passport Elite at notebookreview.com
• Another review at laptopmag.com
• Buy this hard disk at newegg.com

In a month or so this passport will be available in 500 GB. Current models have a storage space of 80, 120, 160, 200, 250 or 320 GB. I would recommend buying the biggest possible if you have the money.

If you need to upgrade your internal laptop hard disk then you can read my post with some guidelines on how to do this.

• Guide to upgrading your internal laptop hard disk

Now it is the time to upgrade!!!

Depending on your laptop brand & type you can (easily) replace the internal hard disk. Mind you that this is not a quick nor easy process. Putting in a new hard disk means you will have to reinstall Windows/OS X/Linux and all your programs. Upgrades are a pain.

So i suggest to find yourself a computer expert to do this. If you are willing to experiment then i will try to point you in the right directions for further guidelines.

I recently replaced the hard disk of a MacBook Pro (2007 model) with a new 320 GB hard disk. So i got some experience with Apple computers.

Hard disk ? GB ? what are you talking about?

If you ever saw this message :

You are running out of space on drive C: …. Click here to delete temporary files

then you would need to think about a bigger hard disk (which every computer has). It is on this hard disk that your Windows and other programs are stored. So it is possible to exchange this hard disk for a bigger model.

For example, if you have a IBM (Lenovo) laptop, type T43 then the storage size of your internal hard disk could be 60, or 80 GB. (Depending on your choice of model). Hard disk sizes are given in GB, or Gigabytes. The more the better i would say. At the moment a size of 320GB is available, and in a month or so we will be seeing 500 GB models…

So what hard disk should i buy and where to buy it ?

Laptop hard disk have a standard physical size. They are categorized as 2.5″. The height of the hard disk should be 9.5 mm otherwise it will not always fit in your laptop. (unless you have a huge laptop)
The hard disk inside newer latop models is a SATA harddisk. SATA is the name of the special plug that connects the hard disk to your laptop. Older laptop models (before 2005) have a different plug called IDE. So find out in the manual what hard disk type you have.

Speed ?
Then you can choose the speed. There are three options at the moment : 4200, 5400 and 7200 rpm. If you are a heavy user then you should buy a 7200 speed model. If not then 5200 is a good choice. I would not buy 4200 anymore.

Storage size?
After this you have to choose the size of the storage. You want 120, 160, 200, 250, 320 or 500 GB??? It is up to you.

Brand?
Last but not least, what brand ? It does not really matter anymore because all drives are generally of good quality. I would suggest to stick with the brand of the old model. But if you need some brand names : Samsung Spinpoint, Western Digital Scorpio, Fujitsu, Hitachi travelstar.
 
Abacadabra
So when we put it all together on one line you would need this :
500GB, 2.5″, sata (3.0), 7200 rpm hard disk. 9.5 mm.
There you have it… hocus pocus

Some online links :

• 320 GB Laptop drives at Newegg.com
• Article about the new 500GB hard disks
• More hard disks at Tigerdirect.com

OK, Show me the Way to do it!

Here are some quick guidelines and suggestion for a few brands of computers. By no means is this complete. Please consult some friends with computer knowlegde if in doubt.

* MacBook Pro (2007 model, Core Duo 2, 15 inch screen)

The Mac was out of warranty and getting service in the local Apple shop would have cost me € 50-80 so i decided to do it myself. There are some detailed guidelines available on the net so it was quite easy. After the upgrade i reinstalled Max OS X (Leopard) again and all my programs. It is running like a baby without problems.

Warning ! There were some problems with the 120GB Scorpio model and a Mac. But the 320 GB model seems not to have these problems as it is sold online for the Mac. Since Apple generally uses Seagate hard disks, it might be good to stick with this brand.

• Guide for exchanging your mac drive
• Another excellent guide for upgrading your drive
• Software to clone your hard disk

* Lenovo or IBM (T43 or T61 models)

I upgraded the harddisk recently for Kadamba Kanana Swami’s new laptop to a faster model. The old model had a speed of 5400 rpm. I put in a faster model of 7200 rpm. This will definitively improve the overal speed of your programs. Exchanging the harddisk is very easy on the T61 model. The hard disk is user replaceable and behind a little piece of plastic. You just unscrew and take of the plastic door, pull out the hard disk and put in the new one. Right? Well almost…

Lenovo installs your Windows software on a special place on the hard disk in the factory. So when you buy it is ready to go. And with the big blue button you can easily get access to this special software where you can reinstall your computer. Sounds good he? But when you exchange the hard disk you will loose the special software and the blue button will not work fully anymore. There are always two sides to a coin i guess.

There is a solution to this and that is to copy (or clone) all the data that was on the old hard disk to your new drive. But this is not an easy process.

• Lenovo T61 hardware Guide (pdf)
• Software to Copy (clone) your harddisk (did not try this myself)

* Other Laptops 

I did not try other laptops at the moment, so i dont want to give suggestion when i dont have experience. But in general it should not be too difficult. But you can always find a computer friend somewhere?

• How to setup a Webcam @ krishna.com

And here are some quick links from temples around the world

• Webcam from Mayapur, India
• Webcam from Alachua, Florida, US
• Webcam from Radha-Gopinatha Temple, Chowpatty, Mumbai, India

Big brother is watching…….. Krishna.