Has anyone here attempted to record their sets with mp3 players that have the line-in recording function. For example the Creative Zen V? How is the quality, or is it not even worth it?

btw i did a search, didn't come up with anything.

A friend of mine did this for a gig I had. It worked, but he had the line-in volume set to max so it was distorted to hell. I imagine if he had set it properly then it would've came out just fine.

I do this all the time at home on an Iriver H320.
trouble with this sort of thing it the mp3 player has no level displays or easy way to change the record level during the recording, so you have to know the levels before hand. Easy to do at home after a couple of experiments, but results will vary depending in different setups.

I do it with an old Creative Nomad Jukebox 3. I have a Creative Zen V Plus player but it only can record up to a 160kbps MP3. My Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 (from 2002) can do WAV and 320 kbps MP3s. Since I don't want to open up my old laptop computer (which doesn't have an internet connection nor a very good sound card) it's much easier using the Creative Nomad. Just not sure how I would be able to at least get the Creative Zen V to do 320s....160 doesn't cut it....

forgot to mention, iriver records up to 320kps, but has a limit to recording of 200Mb per file, so for longer sets you have to pick a lower setting.
there's another o/s for some irivers that allows recording in wav and larger files i think, rockbox?? but it mght void warranty if installed.

I know they have rockbox for ipods, I wonder if that would alow me to record with my ipod? that would be very handy...I might need to look into it...

___________________
Pioneer CDJ-200s, Sony MDR-V700DJ,ASUS M51Sn Ableton Live 8, Behringer BCF-2000, Behringer BCR-2000, Vestax VMC-004FX

MP3 players that record can work, but with limited success and limitations. Recording to an iPod specifically is not very practical.

Instead, there are a number of flash based recorders out there now. One you'll see often is the Gemini iKey, stay away from it. It apparently has bad sound quality, and has no internal storage or display.

In the $400 range, you have a few choices:
Edirol R-09
M-Audio MicroTrack II
Samson Zoom H4

In the $200 range:
Samson Zoom H2

Of all of them, the Microtrack probably has the best DJ-friendly options - pro inputs, better recording options, etc. The disadvantage is that it doesn't have a mic built-in (for live recording), and the battery is not user-replaceable.

The Edirol-R09 I've seen and used in person. It's super-tiny, so you can throw it in your pocket if you ever wanted to record something.

I now have the Zoom H2 myself. Mostly because it was half the cost of the others, it was released just this past august. It sounds great, it's relatively small, and with a $45 4-gig card you can record up to 6 hours at CD quality sound (27 hours in 320Kbps mp3). I use it at home, and have used it in a club with great results.

My one beef with it is that although it has a USB 2.0 interface, it operates at USB 1.1 speeds, so transferring files is super slow. So plan on getting a flash card reader. Would be nice to not have to take the card out, since they are so tiny... maybe an upgrade will fix the transfer rates.

you say the gemini has sound quality problems, but is that from personal experience or did you just read that from the cnet review where they amped it up 50db in order to hear it? i really want the gemini because of the price, and the external storage allowing flexibility.

http://www.skratchworx.com/reviews/ikey.php

quote:

Originally posted by stevësto you say the gemini has sound quality problems, but is that from personal experience or did you just read that from the cnet review where they amped it up 50db in order to hear it? i really want the gemini because of the price, and the external storage allowing flexibility.

I used to own the iKey and I sold that shit quick!!! STAY AWAY FROM IT... It sucks!!! Quality is bad, the way it works is horrible.

Ever since then, I just record all my sets on my laptop.

Microtrak II is fucking awesome.

___________________

quote:

Originally posted by ******** Seplling don't demonstrate intelligence and educatoin - knowing does.

I use an ikey plus. Havent run into any problems with it yet. Pretty simple to use. I would recommend it if you need a quick and easy way to record your sets. Sound quality is decent. I recorded a rap mix where the track used deep 808 bass or kicks drums. Kind of sounded weird like if it couldnt handle it.

___________________
DJ/Producer