Since the beginnings of the film, radio broadcast and electrical recording of gramophone records, a need has existed for recording sound “in the field” away from a studio. This was originally taken care of by large, expensive and temperamental record cutting machines or disk cutting lathes installed in massive “sound recording vans” manned and operated by an army of technicians.

Record cutting machines were replaced with optical or magnetic sound recorders in the USA in early 1930’s (Western Electric), in Germany in the late 1930’s by magnetic recorders using paper tape (AGFA Magnetophon) and in the USA early 1940’s (Webster Wire Recorders).

These early optical and magnetic recorders were again replaced in the mid to late 1940’s with tape recorders using ¼” magnetic recording tape on an acrylic (and later vinyl) substrate, virtually identical as they are today.

These early machines were manufactured by firms such as Ampex (USA), AGFA (Germany), EMI (UK), and Lyrec (Denmark), and were so massive they generally had to be installed in a truck or van.

Things changed in the mid 1950’s when Kudelski of Switzerland developed and marketed his now legendary NAGRA battery operated portable tape recorder, closely followed by lesser quality units by UHER of Germany and AKAI of Japan.

The NAGRA brought about a technical revolution in the film industry.

Quarter-inch tape being both expensive and bulky, is now virtually extinct as a recording media, although still capable of producing superb recording quality.

Various battery operated “field recorders” are now available, and in common use by radio broadcasters and radio journalists.

Generic common “field recorder” types are divided into the categories of analogue and digital.

ANALOGUE: ¼” tape and compact cassette.

DIGITAL: Mini Disk, RDAT, digital note taker (Dictation Recorder), professional digital flash memory recorder, portable hard disk recorder, portable CD recorder and audio to USB converter adapter for PC’s.

Prior to recording, the first thing that must be considered is what do you want to record, and what do you want to achieve? Do you want to record interviews, conferences and meetings, live music, sound effects or whatever else you can imagine? The recording techniques and equipment requirements for each kind are quite different. Consider the field recorder, associated microphones and audio mixers as tools, and chose the most suitable type for the task.

¼” Tape Recorders Now almost extinct, but if you are lucky enough to own a NAGRA tape recorder in top condition (a stereo one is even better) don’t dismiss it! It may be superior to anything you can buy on todays market for less than $ 3000. They are well suited to recording interviews, live music and sound effects. Lesser makes than the NAGRA are probably not worth considering, although the UHER was also a very good recorder.

Compact Cassette A good quality compact cassette recorder in top condition is perfectly adequate for recording interviews, conferences and meetings. Quality is generally not good enough for recording live music or sound effects. Compact cassette is generally considered a poor option as “toy” cassette recorders are generally useless for serious recording, high quality cassette tape is becoming difficult to obtain and compact cassette will probably be extinct in a few years. However, the excellent professional Marantz PMD 222 and PMD 201 models are still in production.

Mini Disk Unfortunately, professional mini disk recorders are becoming increasingly rare. Domestic mini disk recorders are still available from retail shops, and are suitable for recording interviews, conferences and meetings, but due to the rather poor audio compression system used, are not suitable for quality music recording. Built in microphones tend to pick up noise from the mechanism, making use of external microphone mandatory. Generally mini disk is too fragile for field recording, while the format is heading for extinction and should not be considered for new purchases

RDAT (Rotary Head Digital Audio Tape) Similar to a Beta video recorder format. It is an excellent recording system aimed at replacing Compact Cassette, but unfortunately RDAT did not receive serious support. It is suitable for all types of professional quality recording. RDAT equipment is no longer manufactured and RDAT tapes are very difficult to obtain, and as such the format is virtually extinct

Digital Note Takers Quality varies from quite good to absolutely terrible. I personally purchased a fairly expensive Olympus DM-1 a couple of years ago which was very nice and perfectly adequate for recording interviews, but this model is no longer available. I also purchased another cheaper note taker, from a well known brand that turned out to be absolutely useless. At any rate, the Olympus DM-1 was very practical for interviews, had a good built in microphone, generated no operational noise and possessed the ability to transfer recorded material direct to PC in less than real time via a USB Port. If digital note takers are considered, check their performance carefully by recording some slow music (live piano is good) and then listening for hiss and other noise during playback. Good digital note takers are almost as expensive as the more serious Edirol R-1 (which is stereo) which is important to note before making a purchase decision.

Professional Digital Flash Memory Recorders The recording system of the future! Several makes and models now available, with features like no mechanical noise, fast transfer of recorded material to PC via USB port for editing, and the ability to select different recording formats. Professional digital flash memory recorders are the way to go for most applications. (Please refer to the different makes and models at the end of this article)

Portable CD Recorders Suitable for most field recording applications and excellent for live music, but probably a little cumbersome for interviews. The Marantz CDR 300 is the only model available in Australia, with the CDR 420 with hard disk drive and CD burner expected mid 2006.

Portable Hard Disk Recorders The CDR 420 is probably the safer option when recording important concerts. It is suitable for most field recording applications and excellent for live music, but unfortunately also a little cumbersome for interviews. The Marantz CDR 420 is in effect a hard disk recorder with a built-in CD burner and worth considering when it becomes available. Also, the EDIROL R-4 is a 4 channel hard disk recorder worth considering for complex music recordings.

Audio to USB converter adapter for PC’s Excellent and interesting concept for field recording solution for live music, but obviously requires a PC or laptop. This format is typified by the EDIROL UA-25, capable of 24 Bit 96 KHz stereo wave recording with XLR inputs and 48V phantom power. Best results if used direct with high quality condenser microphones or an external mixer. Costs less than $500.

Microphones

Choice of microphone for “field recording” is largely dictated by what you want to record.

For interviews using a high quality digital note taker, the built in microphone may be perfectly adequate. Just handle the note-taker as a normal microphone, or use a good quality dynamic microphone (such as the AKG D 770 II) instead.

The microphones built into the EDIROL R-1 are quite good and may be suitable for your recording, or you can make up special microphone cables for recording in mono or stereo.
For serious music recording, we recommend the AKG C 1000 condenser microphone, which has provision for an internal battery and better performance than most dynamic microphones.

The built in microphones in the Marantz PMD 660 are not particularly impressive, and we suggest you always use external ones.

The PMD 660, like other digital recorders and systems discussed here has XLR microphone input sockets, and provides 48 V Phantom Power allowing the use of virtually any type of standard broadcast microphone.

For critical recording of very low-level sounds and effects (eg. bird calls or ambience) we suggest using the unique and rather expensive Sennheiser MKH 418 S FM condenser shot gun microphone, which has noticeable lower self noise than other types.

For music recording in stereo, you can either use a crossed pair of AKG C 1000, or a suitable stage type PA mixer and as many microphones as you need. Suitable PA mixers are mass produced and quite inexpensive to buy if your station does not already own one.

Use the highest bit rate and sampling rate possible for the best quality recording.

Here are some basic guidelines.
Mono interviews and meetings: minimum MP3 64 Kbit at 44.1 KHz.
Non critical stereo music: minimum MP3 160 Kbit at 44.1 KHz.
Critical music: standard CD quality 16 Bit Linear Wave at 44.1 KHz (or better).

Edirol R-1:Least expensive professional digital flash memory recorder with excellent built-in microphone. Requires gentle handling, but provides excellent performance.
Specifications: stereo – compact flash media – 2 x AA batteries or plug pack – USB port – 3.5 mm mic inputs

Marantz PMD 66: Mid priced professional digital flash memory recorder. It is easy to use, moderately sized, robust and performs superbly.
Specifications: Stereo – Compact Flash Media – Built-In Microphones – 4 x AA Batteries or Plug Pack – USB Port – XLR Mic Inputs – 48 V Phantom Power

Edirol UA-25: Inexpensive audio to USB adapter (requires PC or laptop for operation), moderately sized, performs superbly and is worth considering for serious music recording.
Specifications: Stereo – USB port – Powered via USB port from PC –XLR Mic Inputs – 48 V Phantom Power - Capable of 24 Bit 96 KHz Linear Wave Recording - external audio mixer

For full details on the above items, as well as the Edirol R-4 Hard Disk, 4 channel recorder, Marantz PMD 670, PMD 671 and PMD 570 Compact Flash Recorders, Marantz CDR 300 and CDR 420 CD Recorders, Marantz PMD 222 and PMD 201 Compact Cassette Recorders and much more contact Elan Audio on www.elan.com.au.

By Poul Kirk - Elan Audio