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[forrest]

Too much compression? If you export to mp3 you can click on 'options' to set the compression rate. Use at least something like 128 kbps for quality. Lower means smaller files but less quality.

  Thanks Simon, I'll try it!

[Anahata]

Edirol R-09 user here. The Zoom H2 didn't exist when I bought the Edirol but does the equivalent job cheaper and is what I'd recommend now, though the Edirol is perfectly competent.

Batteries : I strongly recommend getting some "low self discharge" rechargeables like the Ansmann Max-E from Battery Force which hold their charge for months, and in practice don't need recharging nearly so much as a result. I can just pick up the Edirol any time and use it, whereas with the older, supposedly higher capacity cells, if I hadn't charged the batteries before use they'd be flat. My 2 x 2300mAH AA's have completely revolutionised my faith in rechargeable batteries!

[Chris Ryall]

Sounds fine advice.   The batteries plus charger packages sound best value http://www.battery-force.co.uk/show_Battery_Chargers.html  i'm tempted by the MaxE AA Speed Set 4xAA MaxE w/Charger - but would a practicing electrical engineer make the same choice?

Says here too that chargers are now intelligent - and will presumably plug themselves in should you forget (or be intoxicated). 

[Kautilya]

[edit] sez here http://www1.duracell.com/Procell/pdf/MN1500_US_CT.pdf that Duracell AA's are good for about 2700 mAh so those rechargables look good!

Chris - Dont forget the tip someone just gave elsewhere- the H2 also has a metronome and a full chromatic tuner in its menu.....

rechargeable batteries can just give up without warning.
I now use Ikea AAA alkali all the time - cheap, better than duracell and i buy a dozen or more packs (10 in each - 300.947.14) each time as well same IKEA  AA size to power a big flash gun for the camera.

[Anahata]

The batteries plus charger packages sound best value http://www.battery-force.co.uk/show_Battery_Chargers.html  i'm tempted by the MaxE AA Speed Set 4xAA MaxE w/Charger - but would a practicing electrical engineer make the same choice?

Wot  me? ... If I didn't already have a charger, probably yes.

Passing a high current through a battery is OK if it needs charging, but rapidly heats it causing damage if it's fully charged. The "intelligent charger" is a bit clever about deciding when a battery is fully charged, so it can charge fast and safely, stopping when the battery is fully charged.

[tedrick]

for something a little more flexible, I'm thinking of getting a Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera -

http://www.amazon.com/Kodak-Pocket-Video-Camera-Black/dp/B002HOPUPC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1272665452&sr=1-3

The neat thing about this little recorder is you can connect a mike to it -

[Lester]

Er, yes. But here's an 'Audacious' question....I load in files that sound just wonderful in wav. format, and after conversion, the come out with distortion and odd growley noises. Have been wanting to make mp3's to post to Omvoice, but they convert terribly.

What bit rate are you selecting when exporting to mp3, in my opinion anything less with 192k is fraught with disappointment.

[Ebor_fiddler]

My Silly Ericsson pushes out somehting called "AMR" files which are unreadable by Audacity, but the conversion software is easily downloadable (and FREE!  ) and it produces a good mp3 file as well.

Just for information to us meanies. 

Chris

[forrest]

Er, yes. But here's an 'Audacious' question....I load in files that sound just wonderful in wav. format, and after conversion, the come out with distortion and odd growley noises. Have been wanting to make mp3's to post to Omvoice, but they convert terribly.

What bit rate are you selecting when exporting to mp3, in my opinion anything less with 192k is fraught with disappointment.

Are you talking about the sampling rate in kHz or bit rate? my version only allows for 32k bit  and 100khz rate. Am I missing something? Can't seem to find any other levers or buttons to push....

[Chris Ryall]

Chris - Dont forget the tip someone just gave elsewhere- the H2 also has a metronome and a full chromatic tuner in its menu.....  rechargeable batteries can just give up without warning.  I now use Ikea AAA alkali all the time [.. snip]

Bitten the AA rechargable bullet now but I promise to use disposables till it comes. Not sure what I'll use the metronome for - I rarely switch on the one I have - and I suspect the 'tuner' might be more useful to the guitarist next door.

Back to business - the little H2D2 machine is ever so willing and offers mp3s at many bit  rates. I'm going to try out 128 in upton. But should that be 192? Or even stick to .wav files?

[Lester]

Er, yes. But here's an 'Audacious' question....I load in files that sound just wonderful in wav. format, and after conversion, the come out with distortion and odd growley noises. Have been wanting to make mp3's to post to Omvoice, but they convert terribly.

What bit rate are you selecting when exporting to mp3, in my opinion anything less with 192k is fraught with disappointment.

Are you talking about the sampling rate in kHz or bit rate? my version only allows for 32k bit  and 100khz rate. Am I missing something? Can't seem to find any other levers or buttons to push....

I'm using 1.3.11 Beta.
In the bottom left of the window is the Project Rate which is the sample rate used by Auaicity for its work I usually leave this at the default of 44100Hz.
When exporting to mp3 the Export File dialogue has an options button which reveals a selector labeled Quality where you can select the mp3 bit rate, I usually use 192kbs

[Kautilya]

Chris - Dont forget the tip someone just gave elsewhere- the H2 also has a metronome and a full chromatic tuner in its menu.....  rechargeable batteries can just give up without warning.  I now use Ikea AAA alkali all the time [.. snip]

Bitten the AA rechargable bullet now but I promise to use disposables till it comes. Not sure what I'll use the metronome for - I rarely switch on the one I have - and I suspect the 'tuner' might be more useful to the guitarist next door.

Back to business - the little H2D2 machine is ever so willing and offers mp3s at many bit  rates. I'm going to try out 128 in upton. But should that be 192? Or even stick to .wav files?

Whoops - as u point out Chris AA for the H2 (I use AAAs for my sony icd ms515) but IKEA principle still applies on cost and durability - the packs are yellow and often at pay exit so u do not have to tour the store, just go straight from 1.99 breakfast....).
Memory space costs comparative peanuts - ALWAYS record at highest quality (same for photos!!). you can always reduce quality, BUT you can never increase it after thE event...

[folkypete]

Just a quick question - Can you multitrack on the H2 or do I need to buy the H4?  Cheers Pete

[Lester]

Just a quick question - Can you multitrack on the H2 or do I need to buy the H4?  Cheers Pete

Don't quite get the question, I multitrack using an H2 but the multitracking is done in Audacity not in the H2

[Simon]

Just a quick question - Can you multitrack on the H2 or do I need to buy the H4?  Cheers Pete

Not on the H2; you'd need an H4 for that. You can use the H2 as a USB microphone and do multitracking on your pc of course, if the pc doesn't make too much noise. Another possibility is to copy the recorded tracks to another mp3-player for playback while recording the new track on the H2 and mix it later on a pc.

[mikesamwild]

On the Zoom Q3 the menu lets you select sound quality.  It ranges from PCM 44.1 kHz 24 bit then also gives eg MP3 48kbps kHz 16 bit  upwards.


I says can't select PCM 96kHz when in video mode. Why should that be?.

None of this makes any sense to me and there is no more info in the leaflet (Bring back a good instruction leaflet I say


Any help welcome or good learning links, I'm open to PMs about this too.

Thanks
Mike

[ladydetemps]

My Silly Ericsson pushes out somehting called "AMR" files which are unreadable by Audacity, but the conversion software is easily downloadable (and FREE!  ) and it produces a good mp3 file as well.

Just for information to us meanies. 

Chris

my sony ericsson phone randomly switches itself off for no aparent reason

[Simon]

I says can't select PCM 96kHz when in video mode. Why should that be?.

My guess is that it can't handle that much sound data when it also has to process and store the video.

[Anahata]

I says can't select PCM 96kHz when in video mode. Why should that be?.

Probably because the data rate is too high when combined with the video. I doubt if there are any digital video standards (or combinations of standards) in use that use 96kHz sampling rate audio. If you can afford to use that much storage, you're better off using those extra bits for improving the quality of the video instead.

Anyway, if 44.1 kHz is good enough for CD, it's good enough for video!

[forrest]

I'm using 1.3.11 Beta..........

   I owe you one, my friend......having checked, I realized I had version 1.2.6, so I upgraded, found the bells and whistles, and problem solved, mp3's sound much better!  Many thanks!