18 replies to this topic

[BringOnTheGhosts]

Does anyone have suggestions for good digital recorders at a reasonable price? I don't need anything over the top, just something that works well that isn't over my budget. I don't know what the average price for one is, but anything of that price and under will do.

Thanks!

[CaveRat2]

Depends on what you want it for.

Witness interviews and logging purposes any reliable recorder will do. Stay away from the ultra cheapo ones, theyare prone to breakdowns. You could likey get a decent one around $50 and up.

For EVP work you need stereo capabilities and decent sample rate to prevent false positives. You may get EVPs on cheap ones but they also are prone to false positives so you can't depend on them for EVPs. Cheapest one I've found is the H2. (But only if used in its high quality settings) List price is $200, you can probably get one for a little less online or eBay.

One consideration, if you get a good one you can also use it for interview sessions instead of buying two separate recorders.

[BringOnTheGhosts]

Where would I be able to find those?

[Joven76]

Ebay is the best place... Some people there also sell them with additional memory cards, headphones, etc... I have an H2 and I swear by it... I wish I had more, but at $200 a pop, it does get rather pricey... LOL...

I like the Olympus style stereo recorders too...

Just my 2 cents...

[LillianTheLilly]

Depends on what you want it for.

Witness interviews and logging purposes any reliable recorder will do. Stay away from the ultra cheapo ones, theyare prone to breakdowns. You could likey get a decent one around $50 and up.

For EVP work you need stereo capabilities and decent sample rate to prevent false positives. You may get EVPs on cheap ones but they also are prone to false positives so you can't depend on them for EVPs. Cheapest one I've found is the H2. (But only if used in its high quality settings) List price is $200, you can probably get one for a little less online or eBay.

One consideration, if you get a good one you can also use it for interview sessions instead of buying two separate recorders.

regular tape voice recorders work really well and you can get a decent one for 20$ arnt that bad. but yea 50$ and up for them are usualy better.

[CaveRat2]

regular tape voice recorders work really well and you can get a decent one for 20$ arnt that bad. but yea 50$ and up for them are usualy better.

I generally recommend analog tape over digital simply because for the money you can get something usable for less than digital. However in the $20 price range, I haven't found anything with suffiicient frequency response to qualify as goodfor EVPs. Once you get up to around $50 - $75 you can begin to get analog tape that is good. It will be on a par with the $200 digital recorders. Of course that refers to new equipment, a little shopping on eBay can get you a used cassette recorder worth a few hundred new for sometimes $50. (I have done this myself with good results!) Just be careful to make sure it is working to ts original specs, there are also people on there selling there worn out junk. Buyer Beware is all I can say about that!

[space ghost]

Make sure you get a recorder that is PC compatable (Windows XP). When I first got into Paranormal investigating, I picked up an Olympus that was not PC compatable (no USB port), so the evidence on the recorder is completely useless since it can't be annalyzed. Later, I would purchase a Sony ICD 720PX for about 50 bucks which has worked out great, and allows you to listen to the recordings as they happen.

[CaveRat2]

Aside from posting your EVP online, PC compatability is not a big issue. Serious analysis is done using equipment designed for that purpose, not a PC.

You can transfer audio to a PC for general use simply by patching the signal from an external headphone jack on the recorder to the line (or mic) in on your sound card. Use any basic sound recorder program to make the transfer. This method works OK, however some slight loss of quality may occur. For simply listening though the loss is acceptable.

Edited by Joven76, 15 November 2009 - 09:16 PM.

[OMPRDave]

Hey Jim,

Have you seen the 8 channel recorder that the company that makes the H2 offers? One version is sans all the digital effects and looks fairly good for the price. My question would be is there is a way to spatialize those channels so it's possible to target the area a possible EVP is coming from with a recorder like that?

Looking forward to your suggestions and ideas with this...I found one used for a great price and am really considering getting it.

Thanks!

[CaveRat2]

Hey Jim,

Have you seen the 8 channel recorder that the company that makes the H2 offers? One version is sans all the digital effects and looks fairly good for the price. My question would be is there is a way to spatialize those channels so it's possible to target the area a possible EVP is coming from with a recorder like that?

Looking forward to your suggestions and ideas with this...I found one used for a great price and am really considering getting it.

Thanks!

I know they have a 4 channel, wasn't aware of an 8. From what I can find out on the 4, it should be no problem to use external mics and do spatial analysis. Regarding it's suitablility for EVP, that would depend on whether it meets the minimum specs regarding sample rate and bit width. (I don't have its specs available so I can't say) But clearly additional audio channels should be a plus, provided they didn't gain that capability at the expense of something else. Stereo can differentiuate direction on a horizontal axis. A third channel could also give you vertical angle as well. Something that might be even better. 8 channels open many possibilities.

Definitely worth looking into. As long as it is capable of 96 KBPS and has a 24 bit A to D conversion it should be sufficient. And the possibility of doing two or three areas at one time in stereo might be a big plus..

[CaveRat2]

Keep in mind too when choosing any recorder it needs to have adequate shielding to prevent these EM Fields from causing anomalies. Often radio and other nearby EM sources will be resonsible for false positives in the EVP area of research. Thus EM Fields are a factor in choosing a recorder as they are with any electronic device.

[Joven76]

Hello everyone...

You may have noticed that this thread looks a bit smaller than before... The reason for this was this was a posting about digital voice recorders... Even though the OP did ask a question about KII meters, that was not on topic... The information in this thread for both the digital voice recorders and KII is very good, so I split the topics keeping all the information about the digital voice recorders here and the information about the KII here...

Just as a reminder, please keep all discussions on topic... If you are the original poster and you have another question, please feel free to start a new topic... This will help cut down on the confusion to others reading the posts...

Continue on...

[Corey]

I know quite a few people that have the Zoom and love it. Theyve come down in price and on some websites can be had for under 200 bucks.

[Zack Lemons]

Don't buy some used item from eBay! Many of us use cheapo mp3 players that have recording features like this one for $15. Most are purchased at local dept. stores.

That is just an example you don't have to buy that one. Many of the very first EVPs ever recorded was from simple hand held magnetic tape recorders. I am sure there plenty of people who are more than willing to sell you stuff you don't need.

BTW that reminds me, don't fall into buying or building a "ghost box" they don't work.

[CaveRat2]

I should point out that many of the early recordings, where they have survived over the years, have now been debinked a RF interference due to improper shielding techniques. Not taking anything away from early pioneers, it's how we learned what works and what doesn't. We need to use that information and move on from there.

After all, pinhole cameras work too, but not many people still use them today. Same goes for the audio recorders, they have much better specs than the early ones and are much les prone to false positives. Provided you use something which takes advantage of the new technology and avoid trying to simply use the cheapest thing you can find..