The Best Portable Recording Solution

(According to me)I finally caved. After years of threatening to install a tape deck in my car, I broke my bank and bought an mp3 player. The journey began the fateful day my beloved MZ-R700 minidisc player fell from off top a rather tall refrigerator (long story).

Suffice it to say that I was in the market for something with advanced recording capabilities, extreme “portability,” (I do enjoy an occasional live recording) and a reasonable price tag. The contenders (after countless hours of internet research): a Hi-MD player, a Nomad Jukebox 3, an iriver H120, or a used 5th generation ipod equipped with a third party mic input.

The Verdict (in acts):

Act 1: Upon the Siren Lorelei’s misfortunate fall from the Kuhlschrank precipice, our hero finds himself instantly disenchanted with her lot, and so sets about to find a new love.

Act 2: Our hero finds himself torn between a buxom concert cellist and a lovely street musician with a lisp.

Act 3: Our hero falls hopelessly in love with the street musician notwithstanding her perceived shortcomings.

Act 4: The sweet street musician’s lisp is cured in a true act of providence, making her hopelessly irresistible. She and our hero live happily ever after.

Translation:

My list, due to a lack of funds, was instantly narrowed down to three choices: a new, used minidisk player, a Nomad Jukebox 3, or an iriver H120. The ipod was just not feasible, although I hear that some folks are getting good results with them.

Firstly, I’m altogether through with Sony (the siren). The company’s systematic withholding of features (they’re only now making it possible to digitally transfer old minidisc’s to the computer), is maddening at best. It is a true shame that the individual responsible for their marketing plan has been so short-sighted. They should have been the ipod.

Tapers really seem to dig the on the old Nomad Jukebox 3 (the cellist) for its reliability and sound quality. Coupled with a nice preamp, it’s apparently amazing. It just happens to be rather bulky. Form factor is an important issue for me, and so this became my second choice.

I was instantly intrigued with the iriver. It fit all of my criteria. There were, however, these narsty reports of a recording glitch. The original firmware apparently dropped samples very regularly. I researched this to death and finally decided to just go with the Nomad…until I found Rockbox. Rockbox is an open-source, third-party firmware project that specializes in replacing the crap firmware on otherwise sweet audio players. They fixed the h120 glitch, instantly winning my complete devotion to their cause.

A to-good-to-be-true $100 ebay purchase later, I am the proud new owner of a iriver h120.

-mixtape

~ by mixtape on November 14, 2007.