Korg MR1 experiences?

December 3, 2007 3:27 PM

Anyone have experience using a Korg MR1 or, in lieu of that, any mobile recording device?
posted by xmutex to technology (9 comments total)

I've used a Creative Nomad 3 for several years to do live concert recording in small venues with very loud sound. I use a pair of Sound Professionals binaural mics and an external mic pre-amp to connect them to the Nomad's line-in jack. The Nomad lets me record to a hard drive in wav format at 44.1 khz. I can pull the files off over Firewire and edit/master them to my heart's content. It has visual level meters. The battery seems good for ~3 hours of recording with a full charge. This setup is not extremely compact, but fits nicely in a small bag and is versatile and not too fragile. You could probably get a Nomad on eBay cheaply enough. If I ever get into more frequent recording, though, I will probably upgrade. I was just looking at an Edirol R-09 today.
posted by autojack at 4:16 PM on December 3, 2007

I use a Fostex MR-8 with two Shure 57 mikes. The MR-8 records to a compact flash card, as CD-quality (44100/16-bit/stereo) WAV files. The batteries are good for about two hours, and it can also be powered by the usual wall-wart AC adapter.

The MR-8 has XLR jacks, so you don't need a separate mike pre-amp. It doesn't seem to be in production any more, so there's probably a "new! improved!" version out. I paid $300 for it a couple of years ago.

I record jazz (wide dynamic range) in small settings (bookstores, coffee shops).
posted by phliar at 5:42 PM on December 3, 2007

in lieu of that, any mobile recording device?

Yes, a Zoom H2. Do you have some more specific questions? If you are just trying to decide what to get, you might be interested in this guy's reviews which cover a range of field recorders including the Korg one and are usefully comparative, organized in a similar style, and record similar things. I found them pretty helpful when buying.
posted by advil at 6:37 PM on December 3, 2007

These are good as well:

M-Audio Microtrack (prosumer)

iRiver (consumer)
posted by yoHighness at 6:47 PM on December 3, 2007

I hate the Zoom H2, it's such a worthless piece of crap and can conk out so easily. It explained so much to me when I started my current job and saw the low-rent dismay of it all. I have an M-Audio Microtrack and have also used a Roland Edirol Recorder. i recommend the Edirol, and I will be buying one this Christmas. It's easy to use, has a built-in quality mic and records to both wav and mp3 formats.
posted by parmanparman at 7:29 PM on December 3, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I've used Minidisc for many years, with microphones fabricated by Paul Istric. The sound/build quality is absolutely phenomenal, and the user experience, just awful.

I've handled an Edirol R09, Microtrack, H4, and some of the Fostex models. Nothing has made me want to buy yet, though the R09 was pretty close. (Like parmanparman, it's the obviously shitty build quality that drives me nuts) .

The MR1 looks just fucking phenomenal, but I have no experience with it. If you have a specific use in mind, we might be able to offer more useful advice.
posted by fake at 9:47 PM on December 3, 2007

Sorry, my specific uses are rather general: field recordings.
posted by xmutex at 7:03 AM on December 4, 2007

I don't know if you're still checking this thread, or if you bought anything, but I ended up replacing my MD setup with a Marantz PMD620. It's nowhere near the MR1, but it does have excellent build and sound quality and suits my needs very well. It's clearly designed for people who like to record things. Transom has a great review, as does Brad Linder.
posted by fake at 7:49 AM on April 15, 2008

And also, compared to the R09, Microtrack, and Zoom units (all of which I've now handled personally) the Marantz build quality is far superior. I really wanted 96khz recording, but I sacrificed that feature for build quality, and so far it's been worth it.
posted by fake at 7:51 AM on April 15, 2008