Portable sound recorder recommendation

[hotmitts]

So I'm running a small music group in my local town, and thinking of recording some of the stuff we do, but I don't think my mobile phone is going to be good enough.
I've no idea what's around these days, I remember a friend having a DAT recorder which was amazing quality back in the day.
Any thoughts or recommendations appreciated.

[bmanic]

You can buy stereo mic accessories for a phone and most seem quite good for simple review recordings. There are options available for both Android and iPhones.

Otherwise the most popular one I've seen people use in various rehearsing spaces and just for fun are the Zoom Hxxx series of recorders. For instance the Zoom H4n which is really popular (or it's older sibling the Zoom H4).

[Harry_HH]

If you need quality, one of the best mic pres are in Zoom F6.
I just purchased one.

(I have previously purchased Zoom H-series recorder, its more a toy compared to the F-series. Good gadget but not for pro-quality music recordings.

[Michael L]

Zoom "Q" video/audio recorders are specifically for musical performance

[Harry_HH]

Zoom "Q" video/audio recorders are specifically for musical performance

Q has the same quality mic preamps than F-series.

[hotmitts]

Thanks for the answers, I'll look into them

EDIT: I was looking at the ZOOM H1n, it might be the right price range

https://www.amazon.co.uk/H-1n-220GE-H1n ... th=1&psc=1

[Harry_HH]

Thanks for the answers, I'll look into them

EDIT: I was looking at the ZOOM H1n, it might be the right price range

https://www.amazon.co.uk/H-1n-220GE-H1n ... th=1&psc=1

Yeah, its a nice - toy.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

i need 24bit/48khz affordable,any recommendations?

[seafire]

Define affordable

[mjudge55]

So I'm running a small music group in my local town, and thinking of recording some of the stuff we do, but I don't think my mobile phone is going to be good enough.
I've no idea what's around these days, I remember a friend having a DAT recorder which was amazing quality back in the day.
Any thoughts or recommendations appreciated.

Not too long ago I was in a band and we recorded practices using a Zoom R24. The R16 would probably do just as well and can be pretty cheap second hand. You can record 8 mic channels at once, so we'd mic the kick, snare and overheads, guitars bass and drums.

[kidslow]

If you need quality, one of the best mic pres are in Zoom F6.

Seconded.

I've used a lot of field recorders in my days, Nagra, Sound Devices, on down to early M-AUDIO handheld, and any number of phone/tablet accessories. The F6 is easily best of all I've owned ... for combination of price, PREs, portability, and 32-bit float is a lifesaver. But you need your own microphones, and well those can get expensive. Or cheap. Picked up an Audix i5 today for $30.

For the OP I would start by answering how many channels are needed and do you want integrated mics, phantom power, and other important distinctions. How many instruments in the small music group? How do you plan to mic them? Do you have mics? How far down the rabbit hole do you care to go?

[mcbpete]

Just get any Zoom H recorder with the number of inputs you need (or just grab the '1' model if you're happy to use the [amazing] in built mic). Zooms are great !

[whyterabbyt]

Just get any Zoom H recorder with the number of inputs you need (or just grab the '1' model if you're happy to use the [amazing] in built mic). Zooms are great !

Not sure if its worth pointing out, but the 'H' series are the 'handy' recorders so have built-in mics (though they might be implemented as replaceable 'plug-in' mics eg on H5 and H6), and the 'F' series are 'field recorder that dont.
Though some of the 'F' series (F-1 and F-8nPro?) can use some of the plug-in mics that some of the 'H' series can use.

Confused yet?

Also, most of the F series are doing 32-bit float recording, where only the new H4 Essentials and H6 Essentials are 32-bit float, and I dont think either of them support the plug-in mics.

Sigh.

If you dont have mics, you'll need to factor them into your cost if you're going for an F-series.
If you want built-in mics, the F-series doesnt have them... Except for the F1, which is the only one that isnt 32-bit, which comes in a couple of packages with external (lav) or plugin (shotgun) mic included.

Double-sigh.

If you want to make the most of the 32-bit F-series, I suspect you need to invest at least the cost of the F-6 on a mic that makes it worth it.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Size/Portability? Budget? Quality? Source material?

[hotmitts]

I'm a volunteer so I don't get paid at the music group ! I was hoping for something under £100, ideally even half that. I don't need multi tracking so I'd prefer a built-in mic, a very portable thing, just better than my shitty phone mic. Would be good to transfer the files to PC but doesn't have to be optimum quality at all.

I mean, when I heard a DAT recorder years back, it was great quality with it's built in mic, I was impressed. I was hoping for something like that but budget, if that's possible nowadays