Posted by Joseph Ashwood on 10/25/05 11:32

"Paul Hill" <dj@shortpaul.com> wrote in message
news:djj0c3$95v$1@nwrdmz02.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...
> Hi
>
> I don't know anything about mp3 players but I want something to record
> that's portable. I work as a DJ and need something that I can plug a
> line-in
> into that will record for 5 hours at 128kbps or better.
>
> Do any have this function that are fairly cheap?

As far as cost and quality you'd be better off if you happen to have a
laptop. From there you can pick up any external system (M-Audio and PreSonus
both have ones that look good, as does E-Mu) and use that to record 24/96,
from there you'll have to actually lower quality to fit in an MP3, but it
appears that Audacity probably offers everything you're looking for
(http://audacity.sourceforge.net/), and may run on a PDA if you have one.

As for the standard run of the mill iPod-esque stuff, IIRC (and I could very
well be wrong on this) iRiver supports recording at 128kbps, but it is
probably only 16/32 input. iAudio appears to go to 128kbps, but it as well
is probably only 16/32. Either of these may be 16/44.1, I'd love to be wrong
about that, but I do know that the iAudio for PCM can only handle 32KHz, so
the limit is probably also there for MP3. I don't know about the power
consumption of either of these during recording.

If you want something higher-end the M-Audio MicroTrack is designed for very
much your situation, and offers 24/96 PCM recording, and MP3 up to 16/48
(MP3 only does 16-bit) at up to 48KHz and 320kbps, it will set you back
more, but they actually give recording capability (4+ hours via line-in),
and you will get better recordings with a -100dB S:N.

I hope you find one that fits exactly what you need, and if I happen to find
an MP3 in my inbox from you I wouldn't mind (although a link is more likely
to actually get here).
Joe

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