Whats the prefered small device to record audio footage

[Conn6orsuper117]

Title says all, I wanna attempt to record audio, for the archive, when they come to san francisco.
I dont wanna use my phone like the other 99% of the crowd plus the fact that Its not good at capturing audio nor video.

Specs needed:
- small enough to fit in my pocket or to tape to my chest
- can record 2+ hours
- I can plug into a computer
- good/HQ audio recording
- Battery life of at least +4 hours
- Not a Phone/Ipod
- Under 50 USD

any suggestions?

[Csar]

Hi Connor, we had a similar discussion a while back:
https://forum.thechembase.com/index.php/topic,249.msg2190.html#msg2190

I'm afraid, you won't find a decent recorder for under 50 bucks. Maybe you can find an used Nokia Lumina? (forgot the model name) smartphone at that price, because I believe Benji once used it and had some amazing results for a phone.

As for field recorders, the cheapest I found so far is the Tascam DR-05 V2 for around 80 bucks.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/portable_recorders.html?ref=intl&shp=eyJjb3VudHJ5IjoiZ2IiLCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6IjIiLCJsYW5ndWFnZSI6ImVuIn0%3D#

I believe I used a Tascam, too, in 2016 and the quality was alright, however lacking a bit in the low-end frequencies. But it was quite handy to use since it's about the size of a modern cell.

[WhiteNoise]

Tascam DR-05 is the way to do it. Look for a used one?

[Ben_j]

Maybe you can find an used Nokia Lumina? (forgot the model name) smartphone at that price, because I believe Benji once used it and had some amazing results for a phone.

Yes, don't overlook smartphones as the Lumia (not Lumina) series has crazy good microphones. The best one is the Lumia 950. It seems to be more expensive than 50$ (but like the others said, for that price you're not likely to get anything good).

Then you have the Lumia 930, that still has pretty excellent sound, and the 920, which I remember was pretty impressive too.


With the Lumia 950 :

Spoiler

Recorded with the Lumia 930 :

Spoiler

This one is pretty extreme. If you know the track you'll know it's pretty intense on the bass, and any other smartphone would saturate like crazy :

With the 920 :

Spoiler

EDIT: also, this whole set was recorded using a 950:
https://www.mixcloud.com/amontobinsets/amon-tobin-we-love-green-paris-04062016/

I also did record The Chems at Lyon but the sound was pretty bad because of the venue (a warehouse), it had way too much reverb, while We Love Green was an open air festival

[ThePumisher]

I liked the recorded audio from my old Lumia 1020 more than the audio from my current Lumia 950. Both had some fucking excellent cameras, with the 1020 having an incredible lossless digital zoom (thanks to the 41mp-sensor) and the 950 showing it's powers in sharpness and nightshot.