summary: Video, audio and conversion equipment

[Jessica Boynton]

Howdy, all,

About two weeks ago I posted a the following query:

"I'm about to embark on my first linguistic fieldtrip to collect data on Wichi,
and was wondering what I should look for when shopping for video, audio and
conversion equipment."

I'd like to start this summary of responses by thanking Matthew Toulmin, Heidi
Johnson and Doug Marmion for their helpful replies.

*There’s a really helpful site with this info at
http://bartus.org/akustyk/field.php (DM)

* The Hi-MD minidisk recorder came highly recommended.  The output is
non-compressed, it can be uploaded to a computer using the USB port, and the
audio files can be converted to wav format using Sony's free software.  This
hardware is, however, apparently less than ideal for use in hot tropical
conditions.  More information can be found at
http://www.sony.net/Products/Hi-MD/  (MT, HJ)

* Edirol R-1 also came highly recommended as a somewhat pricey option.  It has
no compression, records in wav, records onto compact flash cards (that are
expensive).  However, Heidi noted that you probably only need to buy one or two
of the cards because you'll be uploading them to your computer and burning CDs
every evening.  More information can be found at
http://www.edirol.com/products/info/r1.html (HJ, DM)

* MiniDV (with an external mic) was recommended for recording audio and video at
the same time. (MT)

* DAT didn’t come highly recommended at all, as it “seems to be a technology on
the way out.” (DM)

* The following software applications were recommended: (DM)

- Praat for playback/analysis http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/
- Transcriber for transcribing http://www.ldc.upenn.edu/mirror/Transcriber/
- Audiamus for linking text to audio
  http://www.linguistics.unimelb.edu.au/thieberger/audiamus.htm

Thanks again to the contributors for your help :)

- Jessica Boynton


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