summary: Video, audio and conversion equipment

[Nicholas Thieberger]

Just to pick up on a point here that is worth reiterating. The archives of this list are available on Linguistlist, and on 26/7/04, I forwarded a message about HiMD for those that are interested in finding out why it is not a good recording medium for the sort of work we do.

The advice for anyone doing archival recording is not to use minidisk (normal or HiMD).

This has been said many times, but it is amazing how portability of the recording device can outweigh considerations of the longevity or quality of the recording. Minidisk uses a proprietary compression format that loses part of the signal as soon as it is recorded. In most instances the unit has no digital output and so the signal is redigitised to storage devices, losing yet more quality.

If we want our recordings to persist in the longterm then we should use the best quality recording media we can, and not set out on fieldwork with only minidisk recorders.

Jessica's list didn't mention solid state or flash ram recorders (except the Edirol) which are also good current options.

Nick


At 4:24 PM -0500 21/3/05, Jessica Boynton wrote:
>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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