audio to USB to laptop for low-cost recording

[Doug Marmion]

One important reason for not using a laptop for recording (for me,
anyway) is a field site without power---the Edirol R-1 uses AA batteries
so it would be the ideal replacement for my ageing Sony tape recorder.

I do use an audio-to-USB device for digitising my field tapes (the
Onkyo MSE-U33HB), but price considerations aside it would be nicer ta hove
a single, small hand-held device for recording than a laptop with external
digitiser.

cheers,
doug


On Mon, 17 Jan 2005, Doug Cooper wrote:

> A recent Digital Audio Recorder thread on this list recommended
> the Edirol R-1 Portable 24-Bit WAVE Recorder & Player.
>
>   Does anybody on the list have any experience using simpler
> audio-to-USB devices to hook up existing microphones and
> laptop computers as a much cheaper alternative for fieldwork?
> It's not clear to me why there's such a persistent prejudice
> against using laptops for recording given true digital input.
>
>   For example, these devices (also from Edirol) seem to have
> the same A/D specs as the R-1, but cost well under US$200:
>
>  http://www.edirol.com/products/info/ua20.html
>  http://www.edirol.com/products/info/ua3fx.html
>
>   For that matter, has anybody seen a direct-to-digital/USB
> microphone under $200 or so (that can also be plugged directly
> into a laptop), and which might also be a reasonable alternative?
>
>    Finally, Nick T. mentioned that typical audio software loses
> data if, for some reason, the recording fails before the file is
> saved.  Can anybody suggest an app that supports direct-to-disk
> (i.e. hard drive) recording?
>
>    Thanks very much,
>    Doug Cooper
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