26
Sep
Author: DJEquip // Category:
Yamaha Mixing Console
Just bought this device over the weekend so I could practice my music and be able to reference it later. I found the device pretty easy to use. Only took a minute to figure out how to get it recording. This thing however will take a little bit of a learning curve to get a handle on its features (the manual is a little vague). The built-in stereo mic is decent sounding. If you’re not totally satisfied with it you can plug in an external mic as well. Records up to three hours of .wav audio. It indexes files easily too. The only down side really is it’s so light weight and plastic that it has a cheap feeling to it (made in china). I’d say be very careful with the tilt mic as well. It seems easily breakable too. All in all it does what I need it to do.
Tags: China, External Mic, Indexes, Keyword, Learning Curve, Little Bit, Music, Pamphlets, Well Records, Yamaha Mixer
September 26th, 2010 at 8:27 am
I bought this in December 2008, when the price was almost $300. Now that it’s less than $200, I’d say the price is excellent.
This thing is surprisingly light and small, so I always have it on me.
My main use is recording our band’s rehearsals and song ideas. We mic all our instruments and run them through a mixer, and I just run a line-out into the mic port on the 2G recorder.
If you do this according to the manual’s directions, you will be instructed to select “line” under the mic setting. You can do this, but then the highest recording quality is mp3. I found that I can run my 500W mixer into the mic port, and select “mic” as the input option; however, to prevent clipping, you will want to set the 2G mic level to “1″ and keep the mixer output fairly low.
The recording quality is very good this way.
September 26th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
I really haven’t found anything negative about this little recorder. The only thing i wish is that you could add more memory cause recording in the highest quality will only giv eyou roughly 3 hrs of recordings so if you go to a festival where there are bands playing for 3 days you can only record a few of your favorites. What you would have to do is have a laptop around so you can dump the recordings then continue to record more bands. however, the recorder is easy to use and the sound quality sounds amazing. I love how you can hear the bass drum/s perfectly. i havn’t tried it w/ my full band yet but i’m sure it will sound great and thanks for the the advice about recording from you board into the mic input and recording low, i’m sure that will help big time. I was going to get the roland r-09 but i think i’ll keep this bad boy.
September 27th, 2010 at 8:07 am
I like Yamaha gear, and I wanted to believe in this little recorder. But after trying it out for over an hour, I was unable to access the actual recorded files. You’re supposed to just be able to plug it into the USB drive and access them, but you can’t. They are hidden. Just as hidden as answers in the manual. I can see two folders on the “drive,” but neither of the folders contain the recorded files. Also, many of the folders the manual says should be on the “drive” are nonexistent. The manual also fails to even mention several features of the recorder. The “divide” feature, for example, is still a mystery to me.
This unit is small and cool looking, but it just plain doesn’t work as advertised. The manual is horrible (it looks thick and impressive until you realize that it’s in several languages and the English manual is only a few pages). Yamaha also brags about the recording time, but make sure to read the fine print: When you record in the best audio possible on this unit, the recording time drops down to two or three hours, and if you use the “S” folder (the only folder you can access through USB), the recording time is EIGHTEEN MINUTES. Nice try Yamaha, but this little recorder is an epic fail.
September 27th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
This recorder allows you to record 3 hours of 16 bit PCM, or four hundred short memo messages. Yamaha is shooting itself in the foot by trying to make this recorder appeal to too many markets. They provide a line-in, but for copy-protection reasons, only allow you to record from line-in with the 128Kbps MP3 mode. (UPDATE – You can download the 2.01a Firmware from YamahaSynth.com and upgrade the XHQ and Line recording bitrate to 160Kbps MP3). Yet the mic preamp is very good, low noise, and wide dynamic range. With an input volume setting of 6 (out of 30 levels) the recorder spectral noise-floor is more than 110dB below the overload level at the external microphone jack. And overload is smooth, no saturation distortion (such as the Zoom H2 gives when over-driven). A very nicely engineered recorder, at least partly hobbled by the Yamaha marketing department. Distortion is essentially zero. I tested the analog chain from -40dB to -3dB at several frequencies, and never found a 2nd harmonic above -64dB (better than 0.1% distortion). For what I need – a tiny 16-bit recorder for high-quality lapel microphones, this slips into an inside suit-pocket and gives superb quality PCM recordings with an excellent dynamic range. Runs 9 hours on a single AAA Eneloop, but has no SD card slot, so is limited by internal memory to 3 hours of PCM or 25 hours of 160Kbps MP3 recording. The internal microphone is a little colored, probably due to the excessive use of ‘chrome’ plating around the microphone housing, rather than a wire-open-mesh design. Sigh… Marketing dept again, no doubt…