Self-recording, comparing R-44, FR-2LE, PCM-D50

[Justinasia]

Hi
I am hoping for some advice. I am a musician, but not a recordist. but I would like to try to record myself for my CD, as the location and timing is too unpredictable to organise hiring people to record me.

I want to record solos and duets on flutes, for making a CD to sell commercially. (Japanese bamboo flute, which has quite sensitive sounds and complex tone colour). I want to record in temples (in Japan) so I need to bring all the gear myself. I want the sound to be of proper quality for a marketable CD. But I need gear which is portable, can run on batteries if needed, and not overly expensive.

I am thinking that I need
1)Mics which I will either buy or rent
2)Recorder to capture the data
3)Depending on what the recorder lacks, some extras?

So for 2) RECORDER
From what I have read, these three seem good: Edirol R-44 , Fostex FR-2LE and Sony PCM D50. I have the microtrack and it is noisy, and also the batteries are terrible. Will these 3 above be good enough for a commercial music CD? How do they compare in terms of sound quality (with external mics)? My feeling is towards the Sony which people seem to say has good preamps and good battery life + easy to change.


Then for 1) MICS
Do you think I can make good recordings for duets with only a stereo mic or 2 mics? Or is it really worth having the 4 inputs? This effects my choice of recorder too. Or, if I need 4, could I use my microtrack for 2 and a new better 2 input recorder for the other 2?
And what would be the right mic/mics to be using for this project? I have the SONY ECM-MS957. Do you suppose that would be good enough? Or someone is recommending me DPA 4060 pair. What do you think about that? Or any other recommendation? If both of these are unacceptable I think I should better hire some mics rather than spend too much.

3)EXTRAS?
Depending on what you recommend for the above, are there other things I will need, such as adapter to fit XLR into the recorder inputs, or phantom power etc?

Many thanks
Justin

[videoteque]

If you will always record duets, a stereo recorder and a couple of mics should sort you out...

I would add the Korg MR1 to your selection. Connect a stereo mic and there you go!!!

[Shadow_7]

Or the Korg MR-1000 over the MR-1. I mean how much phantom power / battery life are you gonna get out of 4x AA's on the Fostex? Compared to the 8x AA's on the Korg. Plus the Fostex doesn't even come with recording media. The Korg MR-1000 comes with a 40GB HDD, so no need to stop mid-session to offload to the laptop to make room for more. Although all of those options are good options in their own special way. What works best might depend more on the mics you choose, or other factors like battery life, weight, versatility, reliability, .......

[videoteque]

The other recorders he mention are more or less 400$, but if you can arrive to the MR-1000 you can even live the preamps for a while! Just don't buy dynamics/ribbon mics...

[Thomas W. Bethe]

The Fostex FR-2LE is a very good recorder with GREAT mic preamps and it can do 96KHz at 24 bits.

We bought one when they first came out and have been very pleased with the results.

[Neil M]

The Fostex FR 2LE is a very good option for the price - a few hundred pounds cheaper than the Korg MR1000 . I've used one for a while and it's served me well, though it's true I wouldn't use it with the 4 x AA's as they don't last very long. I use a 3800mAh battery with a 'Tamiya' style connector that lasts about 7 hours though which is pretty good.

[Justinasia]

OK, so it seems now to be between the Korg MR-1 (MR-1000 is over my budget), Fostex FR-2LE and Sony PCM D50. I hear good things about them all, but can anyone tell me how they actually compare to each other, in terms of sound quality? Can you rank them in order?

Also can you tell me, even if the Sony PCM D50 turns out not to be the best of the 3, is the sound quality good enough to produce a CD properly? I ask because I really don't know. I am just a musician so this is all new to me, but I really want to buy something soon.

Also, it seems you are saying a stereo mi will be sufficient. That's good news. Could anyone respond to this part of my original post? "I have the SONY ECM-MS957. Do you suppose that would be good enough (for making a proper CD)? Or someone is recommending me DPA 4060 pair. What do you think about that? Or any other recommendation?"

Many thanks for all your advice. My source of wisdom without which I would be blind!

Justin

[Pohaku]

You might also peruse the "tapers section" site. Taperssection.com - Index


Lots of folks using this type of equipment over there and lots of info on different recording units and mics. I'm looking at an R-44 myself, but I want 4 tracks. My issue is whether to get a modded unit or not.

[Shadow_7]

Originally Posted by Justinasia

(MR-1000 is over my budget)

I wouldn't rule it out if you can get a good deal on a used one. I figured that a fostex would run me $700 or $800 once you add up the media costs. I got my used Korg MR-1000 for roughly that same amount. Although media costs were much higher at that time. And I need the higher quality and extra battery life, which most of the cheaper ones lack. I don't regret my choice at all, even though my unit spends most of the week on mp3 player duty. Being a weekend warrior and all.

[David.H]

I have used the Fostex for some time now for concert recording backups. The machine has worked very well and has some a very useful cue button. During recording, every time there is a break in the music I press the cue key. This puts a marker on the CF card. When the takes are loaded into the computer, all the cue's can be seen on the waveform, very usefull. Other than that the machine has taken over from my DAT, I can find nothing wrong with the sound. My only quible the the small mike gains on the front. I also use the Tamia battery which lasts a long time as quoted above.