Portable sound recording device

[jitspoe]

Hey, I'm looking for some kind of portable sound recording device that I can use for recording various high-quality sound effects for games. I tried a minidisc recorder and it was great... until I went to transfer the data to my computer and realized it's NOT POSSIBLE. The PC link thing it came with only transferred one way (and it was optical, so it was really only one way). I wasn't satisfied with the headphone jack to soundcard method either, and I don't have the money to invest in a new, high-quality recording sound card, so I sent it back. Now I'm looking for something that can record and digitally transfer TO the computer. I have a decent mic already, but it needs to be powered (the MD recorder could power it fine). I've been looking around and haven't found quite what I'm looking for. Everything seems to be a) aimed at holding/transferring mp3's, b) insanely expensive (I don't have $3,000 to spend on a 'lil tape recorder), or c) low quality -- designed to record long lectures and such using an internal mic.

There are a bazillion different recorders out there. I'm sure there's something I could use, but I need a little help finding it. Oh, and I'm looking for something in the price range of a MD recorder - ~$200 or so.

 

[jitspoe]

Perhaps this is the wrong forum to ask in? Where should I go to find information on this topic?

 

[Adrian Tung]

Just curious, what MD recorder are you using? If you have a unit with line out (such as the MZ-R900/MZ-R909/MZ-N1), you can get a high quality patch cable to plug in to your sound card and IMHO it's better than headphone out. The quality of your sound card will also affect quality in this case, though.


atwl

 

[jitspoe]

I don't remember which model it was -- I sent it back a while ago (it was a Christmas present). It only had headphone out :\

 

[Adrian Tung]

Well, as far as I know, I don't think you can get or even find anything that will give you digital transfers to PC at the kind of price range that you're budgeting for.

I would suggest that you stick to a MiniDisc solution - a Sony MZ-R900/MZ-R909/MZ-N1 that has line-out capability. Line-out has lower noise than headphone-out, which should give you better sounds. Also get a high quality patch cable for that purpose. This would be a little over budget, I'm afraid (around $250-300 and above, depending on where you look).


Hope that helps,
atwl