I have been using the Marantz PMD660 Handheld CompactFlash Recorder ($450) for about a year now to record classes and bhajans.  It is a little bit larger than the new crop of portable recorders, but that size comes with some features that are lacking in nearly all recorders I’ve seen.

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.

Today we have introduced Paypal shopping cart and email ordering in the shop.
You can now easily order items in our shop.

If you have an paypal account you can click this button :

If you want to order by email click this button:

When you order by email we will send you instructions on how to transfer money to our bank account to pay for your order.

At O’Reilly.com they are doing a piece on Digital Home Recording. What is needed to make a great recording in your own home and how to sound professional.

One of the most common questions posed by beginning and intermediate recordists is “How do I get rid of background noise in my recording?” It’s all too easy for 60-cycle hum, air conditioner drone, mic cable crackle, traffic noise, and many other ugly artifacts of modern life to sneak into our pure audio signals.

You can read part 1 here.

Join Us

Many users already registered at the site and were are inviting you also to join us.
If you register you can also contribute to this site!.
We would like to hear from you…

Updates

• Added the Seminar media page for Kadamba Kanana Swami
• Added the Bhajan media page.
• Corrected the seminar pages.

Hare Krishna! My name is Rupa Madhurya das and I’ll be posting a series of articles on the equipment I use to produce my “Classes and Bhajans” podcast. I post both audio and video recordings of Classes, Bhajans, and other events that I have the opportunity to attend. Since I currently live in Dallas, much of the content is of the Dallas area.

While it is certainly possible to record classes in a quick and easy manner, the results will often be lower quality than desired. It takes an investment in time and equipment to produce high quality content.

Ok, so where do we go from here? This post is a quick introduction of myself and what I intend to cover. I’ll first write an article on each piece (or category) of equipment that I use and then wrap up with a series of how-to articles.

So, without further introduction:

Recording equipment:

• Marantz PMD 660 2-track digital recorder
• Microphones
  • Audio Technica Pro-70 Lavalier / Instrument Microphone
  • Audio Technica 1800 Series Wireless microphone System
  • Audio Technica AT831R Lavalier microphone for wireless system
  • AUDIX i5 Instrument Dynamic
  • Sennheiser e825S Vocal dynamic
  • Sony ECM-MS957 Stereo
• Behringer Eurorack UBB1002 portable mixer
• Sony HDR-SR12 Camcorder
• Square Perfect SP2700 Light kit

Software:

• Sony Vegas Video Pro (will discuss free alternatives for audio only)
• Wave Arts Power Suite 5 VST Plug-in
• dBpoweramp music converter
• DiVX Pro

Ok, that looks like a lot doesn’t it? Future articles will cover each item, why I use it and possible alternatives. Also, keep in mind that recording a class is much easier than a bhajan and requires less equipment. If you are doing audio only then some of this will also not be relevant.

Next week? In depth coverage on the Marantz PMD 660 as well as some alternatives.