" MS" wrote in message

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...

Recorders like the Nomad Jukebox 3 and iRiver IHP-120 have a number
of high quality inputs for recording, including line level inputs
and optical digital inputs. There's no lack of compatible hardware
to use them with.

Interesting. I looked at the Nomad info on the Creative web site, and
saw nothing about recording, not much on the Iriver site either. I
guess these companies aren't really selling that aspect much. And
some just say "voice recorder", which doesn't sound like capable of
quality live music capture.

You say line input and optical input. But no microphone input?

True for the Nomad Jukebox, but apparently the IHP-120 has some kind of mic
input. I hope that it is a better implementation than the *virtual* mic
input on the Nomad Jukebox 3.

So, it is necessary to use a preamp?

If you want serious quality, which the basic recorders are capable of.

That takes away some of the convenience
of using such a product for such recording. The more devices that
need to be hooked together, more bulk in pocket, more complications,
and of course more expense. The MD recorder doesn't require a pre-amp.

Agreed. Not a problem for a serious on-location recordist, but for people
doing bootlegs or interviews, it would be.

There is some nice small mic preamp hardware out there that can be matched
up with these pieces... but for bootlegs or interviews, it's still on the
awkward side.