Prelude to "A Comparison of Recorders at an Instrument Workshop"
Update Note
The material in the sections below is somewhat out of date in that advances have been made in small portable recording equipment since the text was last updated. I haven't had the time and inclination to do a full update of the material in this section, but I feel it's important to note that as of March of 2008, several new recorders based on memory chips (with no moving parts) are now on the market. I see a lot of people using small digital "dictation" style recorders as well as some using high-end and high-quality professional grade equipment at camps and workshops in recent months.
If one is looking to purchase a small recorder for such purposes (especially on a budget), I suggest a digital "dictation" style recorder that has the ability to playback at different speeds without changing the pitch of the recorded material. The audio quality of such a recorder using its built-in microphone won't be confused with something done on more expensive equipment, but such recorders are quite capable of providing playback of sufficient quality that it is suitable for workshop and class work. In addition, most such recorders now offer the ability to connect to a computer via USB and transfer files digitally so that one has the freedom to then modify the sounds within the limitations of the software they have available on the computer and their own computer proficiency.
That said, my favorite sound gathering apparatus for music classes is still a minidisc recorder. On the negative side, the minidisc format is a "dying" technology and very few models are offered these days; about the only place one can be purchased now is on the Internet or from a prior owner. The recording media is also just about as difficult to come by, though some stores still have it in stock and are willing to offer it at a reduced price to clear out their inventory.
On the positive side, a mindisc recorder is the only device I know of that offers one the ability to edit (selectively delete, move, combine or otherwise restructure) material from within a single recording session or from many recording sessions on the same disc without the need to have a computer at hand. Want to harvest ten minutes of material distributed in multiple segments across one or more recording sessions totaling perhaps several hours and then delete the rest of the recorded material? Maybe change the order of the segments once they've been isolated and then recombine them into one or more new continuous recordings of whatever length you desire? Name or rename the segments with something other than a number (maybe assign them individual tune names)? Loop any portion of a recording so that you don't have to keep restarting it to hear a portion repeated? Reduce the speed as much as 50% or double it to as much as 200% without changing the pitch.? Some models of mindisc recorder (such as the Sony RH-1or MZ-M200) offer all these capabilities and most older minidisc recorders offer all but the speed change ability.
In addition, minidisc recorders permit you to stretch out the recording time on a single disk to perhaps ten hours or more and still maintain good sound quality, and some models permit you to record at near CD quality (using an appropriate microphone) for up to an hour on a single disc. You can also move your minidisc recordings to a computer using a USB connection and maintain digital quality.
To be clear, minidisc recorders are getting harder to find, but they are still available. If you are looking for one, try the Internet, and for used units try friends and eBay. I only have experience with Sony units, but I know that they will readily interface with a PC using Sony software. Some models will also interface with Mac computers, but in a more limited fashion and not having tried one with a Mac, I don't know how well that interface works out for folks. If you find a recorder that you are interested in purchasing (new or used), I suggest that you go to the manufacturers website and download a copy of the operating manual. Review it in sufficient detail that you know exactly what the unit is capable of before you purchase it.
This closes out this update text, the material below was written in 2006 as noted, but I've left it for the time being because I think it may still offer some useful insights...
(Content updated in June of 2006)
I took my 20 Gig Hard-drive-based iRiver recorder and a Sony minidisc recorder to a Noel Hill school in August of 2004, determined to do a comparison.
I was inclined to think that it might be my last time there with a minidisc recorder because the iRiver was my new favorite toy. I liked the small size and long recording capability of the iRiver, not to mention that it allowed the selection of .wav or various levels of mp3 format for recording, plus it would transfer files via USB 2.0. Things didn't work out quite the way I'd expected, but I still got some useful insights.
The iRiver captures each recording as a separate file, and once captured, they can't be edited, combined or re-sequenced on the unit. Without a computer handy one is limited to working with the resulting recordings on a file basis during the week of class. While that might not sound too bad on the surface, making multiple recordings during class creates individual files and since they don't link such that you can play them all in sequence, each must be individually selected for playback and I found that inconvenient, even tedious.
Recording an entire class on a single file, I quickly discovered that rapidly locating specific segments within the file wasn't easy. There are no 'track marks' as there are with minidisc recordings, so I couldn't quickly or easily jump from one thing to another and had to use the FastForward, FastReverse to move to each portion of interest. I had of course noted the time reference for each point of interest within the file, but I still had to search out that point each time I wanted to listen to it.
With a minidisc recorder, you can use track marks to flag, edit and (and if desired) rearrange segments of your recordings and any marked point can be accessed in a few seconds. While the effect of track deletion is final, track definitions (track marks) and relocations are not. If you're not familiar with the concept of minidisc tracks, think of them like tracks on a CD. Once tracks have been marked (which only takes a button push), they can be individually selected, moved and redefined at a whim. You can even undo relocations and remove track marks to eliminate the track divisions you've added. There may be a limit on the number of track marks you can have on a disk, but if there is I suspect it's something like 999. From a practical standpoint I consider it unlimited.
As with some other recorders such as the iRiver, most minidisc recorders can be set to loop a segment repeatedly via an "A/B" function and that's handy when learning tunes. The iRiver's A/B function can only be used within a single recorded segment but a minidisc recorder permits you to span multiple tracks if you wish.
When using the iRivers built-in microphone to record during quieter moments, the motor could be heard all too clearly on the recording whenever the internal disk drive spun up to move accumulated data from the buffer to the drive. No doubt that could have been avoided by using the external mike and positioning it away from the unit, but using the external mike requires one to manually set the recording gain (there is no automatic gain available for this) which required a few extra steps that I didn't want to deal with at the start of each class. I typically use my minidisc recorder with a microphone on a short cord and locate it several inches to a foot away from the unit to eliminate motor noise, and with the automatic gain I don't have to worry about levels.
Since I used the minidisc recorder in parallel with the iRiver, I still ended up with satisfactory recordings of all events. Though I recorded everything on both, after the first day of class I used the minidisc exclusively for my review and study. After returning home and listening to the class files I'd transferred to my computer, I deleted everything I'd recorded on the iRiver. Some of it was just fine, but I'd already done preliminary editing of the material on the minidisc during the week of class and didn't want to repeat the effort again.
Here's something else worth considering on the subject of recorders. Noel has become accustomed to people having minidisc recorders in his class and he automatically says "Track Mark" to cue people making minidisc recordings that he's going to change the topic or what he's playing. Adding a Track Mark on his cue saves time later trying to hunt up the spot on the recording to insert it after the fact. If you're using a minidisc recorder, with a single button push you've added the reference mark and there's no break in the recording. If you were several seconds late in adding the mark or just want to more precisely adjust the location of the mark later, it can easily be done. Use the existing mark to find the material, then remove it, locate exactly where you'd like a mark to be and add a new one. The whole process could be done in under a minute.
If you're using something like my iRiver and want to flag a change, the best you can do is to stop the current recording and start a new one (but it takes a few seconds as it closes out the one file and opens a fresh one). Aside from what you may have missed capturing in those few seconds, you now have two separate files that can't be linked until they're moved to a PC and processed with appropriate sound editing software. Of course you can always leave the recorder run and just note the time log indicator, but then you deal with the problem of having to search out the spot each time you want to access it as discussed above.
I've decided that while I like the iRiver for it's mp3 music playing capability, using it as a recorder for a class like Noel's isn't any handier than having a simple cassette tape recorder, and I believe that applies to most other digital hard-drive and 'chip-based' recorders too. Having a PC handy would make it easier to work with the files created on such devices, but a minidisc recorder gives you great file adjusting flexibility on it's own and it's quick and easy to use. When I'm attending a class/workshop, I want to be able to focus on the music, the people and the event, not sit in front of a computer.