Hi Donnie, I'm replying to MD-L in case this is of general interest. Donnie Whitaker writes: >I have started to think about buying equipment to tape concerts. My >problem is that I dont know where to start. What all equipment would >I need? Basically a portable MD recorder and some microphones. What you get depends upon your budget. You can get an older Sony MZ-R50 used on ebay or the MD classifieds for probably $150 or less, which is a good deal if it's in reasonable (unabused) condition (this is actually a classic machine and a lot of people think it may be the best Sony's ever made. See last week's news for a repairman's comments about one). The modern Sharp gear (MS702/MS722/ST821/ST831/ST50/ST15) are all fine. I actually like the Aiwa AM-F70 and F80 units a lot too, though they don't have as great a reputation as Sony or Sharp. Some folks have complained about the Sony MZ-R90/91's editing and handling sluggishness, and now that the MZ-R900 is out I'd go for that if you were going for the latest Sony. (You'll have to wait a month before it's in the Japanese shops and the various importers have started to bring it in though). Mind you you'll pay a premium to have Sony's hottest machine in your hands. As for microphones, you can build some decent ones out of $2 Panasonic electret microphone capsules, available at Radio Shack. See the Hacking section under Construction Projects/Microphones for several sets of plans. If you want to buy some, Sound Professionals or Core Sound have good sets for under $100, made with the stealth taper in mind. As far as I can tell, a lot of what you're paying for in these ready made microphones are the battery box, the tidy cabling, and the microphone mountings/housings (forgive me Len and Chris!). If all you want is to record sound, those little Panasonic capsules actually have the potential to do a respectable job. If you're good at handiwork you can build a fine little set of microphones for yourself. Best of luck, I think you'll have a lot of fun with live recording! Regards, Rick ----------------------------------------------------------------- To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
