We're upgrading our church sound system and would like to implement a
better method for recording services to post as podcasts.

Currently, we hook up a laptop, use it to capture audio output from the
sound board, and then edit and upload the file.

I'm thinking that an MP3 recorder or some other option might be easier.
One of our local radio station engineers suggested a mini-disk
recorder. After a little research, it looks like the MD recorders use a
proprietary format that cannot be transferred directly to the computer
-- getting the sound off the MD recorder requires playing it back in
real time and recapturing the audio. Since we're looking at 60-minute
blocks of audio, that's not very efficient.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Excelsior! -Cloy

"Cloy" wrote in message
ups.com...
We're upgrading our church sound system and would like to implement a
better method for recording services to post as podcasts.

Currently, we hook up a laptop, use it to capture audio output from the
sound board, and then edit and upload the file.

Depending on the audio input of the laptop (the built-in is not, but there
are a number of good options) this is actually considered a good option.

I'm thinking that an MP3 recorder or some other option might be easier.

It would probably be easier, but unless you spend a lot of money it won't be
the same quality. If you want to go this route the common low-end of the
semi-pro recording market is pretty much occupied by devices like the Edirol
R-1, and M-Audio Microtrack 2496, a small step up in the low-end Marantz
gear. The problem is that these start at about $500, where a touch of
hardware for the laptop can be had for $35 (Behringer UCA202) to deliver
(for your purposes) the same quality. If you go with the laptop one, I'd
suggest Audacity for the software, it may not have the most features, but
it's free and for what you're doing it should perform like a champ. Also the
complexity of doing a recording with Audacity is fairly low, you start up
audacity, and hit record, come back later and trim white noise, no need to
transfer things from one device to another..

One of our local radio station engineers suggested a mini-disk
recorder.

Minidisks are widely used for recording of audio in reasonably professional
environments because for the price they are extremely high quality.

After a little research, it looks like the MD recorders use a
proprietary format that cannot be transferred directly to the computer
-- getting the sound off the MD recorder requires playing it back in
real time and recapturing the audio. Since we're looking at 60-minute
blocks of audio, that's not very efficient.

I thought the software now includes a better way? Not sure since I don't use
them.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

I think you're on the right track with using a laptop.
Joe

I'd suggest a desktop computer right there at the sound board. Better
soundcard performance.

"Cloy" wrote in message
ups.com

We're upgrading our church sound system and would like to
implement a better method for recording services to post
as podcasts.

Currently, we hook up a laptop, use it to capture audio
output from the sound board, and then edit and upload the
file.

Not a bad way to go.

I'm thinking that an MP3 recorder or some other option
might be easier.

Been there, done that. I have a portable hard drive recorder (a Nomad
Jukebox) that does just about everything about as well as one could hope
for. It records both MP3 files and .wav files with almost true 16 bit
resolution. I even use it from time to time.

Your editing options are pretty poor compared to even a mediocre PC-based
audio editor.

How are you going to upload directly from the MP3 recorder to your web site?
I think you're going to first upload it to a PC.

One of our local radio station engineers
suggested a mini-disk recorder. After a little research,
it looks like the MD recorders use a proprietary format
that cannot be transferred directly to the computer --
getting the sound off the MD recorder requires playing it
back in real time and recapturing the audio.

Good call. MD is legacy technology that everybody who can is trying to leave
in the dust.

Since we're looking at 60-minute blocks of audio, that's not very
efficient.

Agreed. You're better off with the MP3 recorder, or better yet the PC.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

I've also got experience with using a professional-grade CD recorder, as
well as using a DVD recorder. What you're doing right now with a PC has a
lot going for it.

"Joseph Ashwood" wrote...
"Cloy" wrote...
We're upgrading our church sound system and would like to implement a
better method for recording services to post as podcasts.

Currently, we hook up a laptop, use it to capture audio output from the
sound board, and then edit and upload the file.

Depending on the audio input of the laptop (the built-in is not, but there
are a number of good options) this is actually considered a good option.

Agreed. It means one fewer transfers, at least. I bought the cheapest
laptop I could find about a year ago, added a gigabyte of RAM and a PreSonus
Firebox, and it works a treat for just this sort of thing.

I'm thinking that an MP3 recorder or some other option might be easier.

It might mean a less-skilled operator could do the recording, if that's a
concern.

One of our local radio station engineers suggested a mini-disk
recorder.

Minidisks are widely used for recording of audio in reasonably
professional environments because for the price they are extremely high
quality.

My wife has done many church service recordings with an older minidisk and a
Sony MS microphone, and got very acceptable results with minimum effort
(plug things in, hit Record, dump to computer, trim, compress, normalize,
and burn CD).

After a little research, it looks like the MD recorders use a
proprietary format that cannot be transferred directly to the computer

I thought the software now includes a better way? Not sure since I don't
use them.

Older versions of the minidisk were quite restricted, but the current crop
of Sony minidisks (I have one) can be connected to the computer via USB 2.0
and transfer at high speed. They also permit quite long recordings (seven
and a bit hours, I'm not sure exactly, but longer than I've ever needed) at
a recording quality similar to a high-rate MP3, or an hour and a bit at CD
datarate.

Now, whether you want to give Sony any money is another question entirely...

Dave O'Heare
oheareATmagmaDOTca

"Cloy" wrote in message
ups.com...
We're upgrading our church sound system and would like to implement a
better method for recording services to post as podcasts.

Currently, we hook up a laptop, use it to capture audio output from the
sound board, and then edit and upload the file.

I'm thinking that an MP3 recorder or some other option might be easier.
One of our local radio station engineers suggested a mini-disk
recorder. After a little research, it looks like the MD recorders use a
proprietary format that cannot be transferred directly to the computer
-- getting the sound off the MD recorder requires playing it back in
real time and recapturing the audio. Since we're looking at 60-minute
blocks of audio, that's not very efficient.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Excelsior! -Cloy

I have to agree with the others. You are going to have to get the recording
back onto a computer at some stage. I have been down the same road as you.
I recorded our band practices with a laptop, then thought minidisk would be
easier - it wasn't. Usually there is some editing you want/need to do
before you put the recording out there. This is trivial on a PC, but time
consuming and difficult on other products.

You can pick up USB solutions fairly cheaply if you want to upgrade the
quality of your recordings.

Bill.

"Cloy" wrote ...
We're upgrading our church sound system and would
like to implement a better method for recording services
to post as podcasts.

Currently, we hook up a laptop, use it to capture audio
output from the sound board, and then edit and upload
the file.

Assuming you have operators that know how to run the
computer to record properly, this actually IS the BKM
(Best Known Method) according to many of us who
have been there.

A lower cost solution than a laptop may be a donated
hand-me-down computer from one of your parishoners
who are upgrading. It doesn't take much of a computer
to reliably record 1 or 2 channels of audio.

I'm thinking that an MP3 recorder or some other option
might be easier.

Great if you are releasing only in MP3. Problematic if
you have other uses (like making audio CDs, etc.) or if
you are releasing in other compressed formats (RA,
WMA, Ogg, etc. etc. etc.) Even if you are releasing in
MP3, it makes editing (just trimming begining and end)
more problematic than editing uncompressed format like
WAV, etc.

One of our local radio station engineers suggested a
mini-disk recorder. After a little research, it looks
like the MD recorders use a proprietary format that
cannot be transferred directly to the computer --
getting the sound off the MD recorder requires playing
it back in real time and recapturing the audio. Since
we're looking at 60-minute blocks of audio, that's not
very efficient.

Indeed. And besides, the media are relatively expensive,
(10-20x more than CDRs) and I'm not convinced that MD
has a really good expected lifespan. Sony could loose
interest next week and the format will die. I'd almost bet
on it.

If you are looking for a simple to operate standalone
solution, I think that a CDR recorder is likely the best
solution. It uses very cheap (~25 cents) media, small
to store, very high quality, and very fast to "rip" into
any computer. Directly playable media on any player,
and you can throw the disc directly into a duplicator
if necessary. Can't hardly beat that combination.

If you choose a "pro" model, it will likely be simpler
to operate (nice big buttons, etc.) and will use ordinary
CDR discs rather than the higher priced "music CDRs".

This topic has been discussed in the last year here on
r.a.p and Arny Kruger had a suggested make/model
IIRC. Suggest perusing the Google Groups archive.

Don't get anything that doesn't either record directly into the laptop
or give you a file you can transfer. As you noted, the added time of
a real-time play-in will get tired quickly, plus it ties up both units
for the duration, and would push later the podcast.

I agree with JA that the way you're doing it now is a pretty good,
maybe the best way, to do it. Bumping up to a USB interface to avoid
using the laptop's input will probably provide a noticeable improvement
in quality. And ease of use, if the bundled software is better than
what you're using now.

Thanks to everyone who responded. Based on the feedback, I think we'll
find a PC that we can use. We have one, but Audacity seems to crash
about halfway through the service -- an OS upgrade and more RAM will
likely help that. I'll probably add a USB card too, so we can use a
flash drive to transfer the audio file.

Thanks again for your comments!

-Cloy