Recorder recommendations for my first Binaural Setup

MrChrisos · 7th March 2010

Hi all,

I'm on the verge of putting together my first binaural setup. I've narrowed down my budget-vs-quality search to the Shure WL183, Sennheiser MKE2 or the DPA4060, which will be fine for my initial studio experiments. But to take this into the great outdoors I need some sort of portable recorder.

In the lower end side of things all the units I'm seeing have mics built in, when I'd rather the money going into a better build with no internal mics. I've been tempted by the M-Audio Microtrak II, which seems more the sort of thing I'm looking for, but after a search on it here alarm bells were starting to ring, and I'm not finding a clear picture of the actual quality of the thing.

Any advice? Any alternatives to the Microtrak? I've never owned anything from M-Audio before.

Thanks!

Petrus · 7th March 2010

Built-on mics do not mean that the unit is unfit for binaural recording. They all (decent ones) have line and mic level inputs. Not all of them are all that good though; while amazing for the size and price, the noise figures make them "only" 16 bit recorders. Look at the real tech specs, not 24/96 claims on broshures.

MrChrisos · 8th March 2010

Thanks man, I'll watch out for that.

I just figured as I don't need the mics, I'd rather the money go into build quality over extra options.

Great news though! I found a great deal on a pair of MKE2s, so my budget on this project has gone way up for the recorder. Any recommendations around the £400 mark?

Thanks.

7th March 2010	#1
MrChrisos Gear Head Joined: Feb 2010 Posts: 32 Thread Starter	Recorder recommendations for my first Binaural Setup Hi all, I'm on the verge of putting together my first binaural setup. I've narrowed down my budget-vs-quality search to the Shure WL183, Sennheiser MKE2 or the DPA4060, which will be fine for my initial studio experiments. But to take this into the great outdoors I need some sort of portable recorder. In the lower end side of things all the units I'm seeing have mics built in, when I'd rather the money going into a better build with no internal mics. I've been tempted by the M-Audio Microtrak II, which seems more the sort of thing I'm looking for, but after a search on it here alarm bells were starting to ring, and I'm not finding a clear picture of the actual quality of the thing. Any advice? Any alternatives to the Microtrak? I've never owned anything from M-Audio before. Thanks! __________________

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Recommendations - looking for a digital recorder or mixer recorder with ...	phaseshift	Remote Possibilities in Acoustic Music & Location Recording	6	15th March 2010 04:29 PM
Recommendations for HD recorder for ADAT	Mick@itc	So much gear, so little time!	1	12th September 2007 05:58 AM
Need Recommendations on a 4 ch. Pre Setup	chrisrulesmore	High end	21	17th May 2007 02:02 AM
Digital Voice Recorder -- Any recommendations?	Open Sky	Remote Possibilities in Acoustic Music & Location Recording	5	2nd February 2007 08:54 PM
Studio setup recommendations....	loopitTOOstupid	So much gear, so little time!	8	6th June 2006 03:27 PM

7th March 2010	#2
Petrus Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2008 Location: Espoo Finland Posts: 868	Built-on mics do not mean that the unit is unfit for binaural recording. They all (decent ones) have line and mic level inputs. Not all of them are all that good though; while amazing for the size and price, the noise figures make them "only" 16 bit recorders. Look at the real tech specs, not 24/96 claims on broshures.

8th March 2010	#3
MrChrisos Gear Head Joined: Feb 2010 Posts: 32 Thread Starter	Thanks man, I'll watch out for that. I just figured as I don't need the mics, I'd rather the money go into build quality over extra options. Great news though! I found a great deal on a pair of MKE2s, so my budget on this project has gone way up for the recorder. Any recommendations around the £400 mark? Thanks.