[Imc-newsroom] Re: [Imc-tech] various things

[Paul Riismandel]

Actually, Clint, I agree with you, from the standpoint of the IMC's 
equipment not being up to the task.  But I don't actually think going 
cassette, DAT or HD recorder necessarily solves the problem in the long 
term.

Believe it or not, when the IMC was first starting up, I frequently 
encouraged people to get started with cassette recorders rather than 
minidisc, specifically because they were easier to use and super cheap.

But do not mistake -- cassette and recorders are not less prone to 
breakage. They just break in different ways.  And if not 
catastrophically broken, the cassettes themselves can often be repaired 
for one last play.

DAT is actually pretty fragile, too, unless you get the high-end $1000+ 
recorders.  Read around on Grateful Dead tapers lists to hear about the 
horror stories.  Only that happens with $600 recorders (not $150 
recorders like with MD).

Our problem is less about minidisc than about wear-and-tear and abuse. 
 We're using consumer gear in a "professional" manner.  So, as long was 
we submit inexpensive consumer gear to this kind of wear and tear at 
multiple hands, we are going to have problems.

Instead, what I'd suggest is that we save up for pro gear.  Sony makes a 
swank pro minidisc recorder for about $400 that has built in mics and is 
much sturdier than the consumer stuff we use.  WEFT has had an older one 
for years that has sustained a shitload of abuse. MD recorders in the 
$1000 range have strong XLR mic connections (as do DAT ones in that range).

My guess is that if we were to have HD recorders we'd see the same 
incidence of failure, if not more catastrophic.  The weak points would 
again be things like the 1/8" input jacks--which suck, by the way--and 
the hard disk itself.

Our set of gear has gotten us through almost two years of reporting -- 
that's pretty good considering that most of it wasn't new and how many 
different people have used it.  Perhaps we need to be thinking very 
seriously of replacing much of it with better stuff.

--Paul

Clint Popetz wrote:

>Techies and Radio News People,
>
>	I took field bag #2 and field bag #3 out of commision.  The
>MD in one will no longer function at all unless you put physical
>pressure against the case, and the MD in the other will not write a
>TOC, hence you can't save changes when turning off the unit.  Also the
>mic (a behringer) in the second is full of snap-crackle-pop.  
>
>	Can I take a moment to rail on minidiscs?  I have now missed
>approximately one half of all my planned recording events to date due
>to MD failure.  I missed another today.  I hear horror stories daily.
>Dan Chambers' audio from Jello Biafra was mostly unusable, Mark
>Enslin's MD of the Palestinian Truth Tour was missing a track, etc.
>Add to this that most people coming into the news group can't figure
>out how to work the things, and that they seem to have a field life of
>about 6 months...
>
>	I'd like to propose something semi-radical.  I'd like to ditch
>MDs in favor of analog cassette recorders.  Reasons include:
>
>1) Cheaper
>2) Ability to find non-consumer "professional" units at reasonable prices
>3) Familiarity and ease of use to almost anyone
>4) Cheap media
>5) Most people don't use the on-unit editing that MD's offer anyway
>6) Less error prone, i.e. keep the heads clean and they last a long time.
>7) Units with built in mics are available, eliminating the need to
>manage a mic for recording events.  (Mics still have there place, of
>course.)
>8) Failure modes are predictable.
>
>The _only_ drawback I see is analog hiss, and given the audio I hear
>on WEFT even on syndicated programs like Democracy Now, this is not an
>issue.  People are taking 64 kbps MP3s and unencoding them, editing
>them, and re-encoding them.  The hiss isn't going to hurt us for FM
>broadcast, or even web MP3s.  And SoundForge knows how to remove hiss.
>
>Thoughts?  Personally, MD's have failed me for the last time.  I'm
>going to get myself either an analog tape, DAT, Hard Disk, or Solid
>State recorder and take really good care of it.  But I don't think the
>IMC can afford to do any of those except tape due to cost.
>
>I know Paul R. will have a lot to say on this topic, so fire away :)
>
>Also, my new-and-improved tech meeting time (7:30) will be un-makeable
>for me this week as I have to go to WEFT for the second airshifter
>class.  (Despite 6 months on the Courier, I am only now becoming
>official.  Shh.)
>
>		-Clint
>
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