Recording abilities, anybody tried?

[mandeepi]

Hi,

I am looking at replacing my aging IFP-999 with the X20 but wanted to know the following:

The recording via line-in, what bitrates do the low,med,high quality represent?

What format are the recordings done in?

Can recordings be uploaded back to PC?

My old IFP-999 had a software feature that activated the built in pre-amp i.e. turned the line-in into mic-in at the flick of a switch. I take it that the x20 is strictly line-in and doesn't have the muscle to power small mics? Probably why IFP-999's still go for like 100+ USD on ebay!

How about the new F700, does that have mic-in?

Thanks

[Preddy]

The X20 offers mic-in and line-in. You can switch between them at the option menu.
Files are saved in encoded wav files. For mic max quality 32 kbps, for line-in 64 kbps. 32 kbps is acceptable quality when someone speaks, 64 kbps is almost as clear as the input. You can simply upload to PC & convert them.

[mandeepi]

Thanks for the reply,

By mic-in i wasn't referring to the onboard mic, sorry for not being clear about that. The old ifp's could activate a built in preamp to power/amplify an external mic by means of a menu switch.

From what you have told me X20 like all new irivers is missing this function..

Also seems the quality of recording seems to also have been murdered, 32kbps, ahh my old ifp-99 with its 160k recording is better. Anybody know an electronics engineer who can bump up its 1 gb to 8?

Wonder if the new ifp-F700 is equally lame as newer models in terms of recording

I think i might buy a sony s706 with the recording cable as that lets me record in 256k, only problem with that is then i need an external pre-amp but it seems to be the only solution out there....

[dimmy1985]

line in "high" quality = 128kbps

built in mic high quality = WAV 32kbps (i THINK)

no mic-in/line in socket has no preamp

here's a solution:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=260019506878

i'm thinkin of getting one.

i think firmware upgrades could lead to better quality line-in encoding

[mandeepi]

Hi,

Thanks for reply, already seen this thing, its a bit of a joke. the seller doen't seem to know much about it. I think its just a preamp of very poor quality, you still need a bat module to power the mics. Ive just gone ahead and bought a decent (although big) one from soundprofessionals.

Just need to decide what player ifp F700, x20 or sony s706. I think the sony is the winner as ive seen the recording cable and you can record in 256k, simply drag drop the file back to your pc and walah. replacement to minidisc.

Shame iriver killed the wicked functionality in my ifp-999, let see if this f700 is any sort of redemption, otherwise i go sony.

I doubt they release a firmware to increase recording quality, that means changing specs on site, packeging etc.. and 128k is what creative and other competitors are at, why be best when they can make money by being just as crap as everyone else.

The only thing i don't get is we are not asking for new functionality, only put back in what your old ancient players used to have. Shouldn't new players be better, BE-T-ER!

[eldavo]

I just got a used IFP-890 and did a recording comparison with my new X20. Both built-in mic's, IFP set at highest quality, X20 has no settings for built-in mic.

They are worlds apart - IFP good world, X20 bad world. I'm still glad I got the X20 instead of the Meizu M6.

The X20's built-in mic seems
- to be preset with low gain levels
- OK for personal audio notes, interview recording between two people
- not great for meetings to pick up surrounding low level audio
- to reduce noise, it seems to dull/ignore the sensitive frequencies that would cause noise
- to reduce distortion from high amplitude chop.

[mattdlawless]

If iriver does not continue applying the recording functions that the ifp and the H3xx series included, you might look into these models. They are all relatively compact and are designed for recording (however, a little more expensive). Most have large hard drive capacities or expandable sd memory slots. All these models were featured in a recent edition of Keyboard magazine (July '07).

Roland Edirol R-09 (www.edirol.com)
Korg MR-1 (www.korg.com)
Zoom H2 (www.samsontech.com)
Zoom H4

[sineema]

Has anyone used T.Sonic 630 mp3 player? The product specifications say it is a good recorder. Does it provide preamp power to the external mic?

[istromer]

The F700 is essentially an IFP799 with 4gb instead of 1gb of memory. It also has a level meter, and finally you can adjust recording levels while recording. These features were missing in the old 799 - but a lot of folks made surprisingly good recordings with them anyway. (I have yet to compare the F700 directly with the 799 or 899, but will fairly soon.)

Yes, it does have plug power for electret condenser mics and it can be switched to provide more gain for mics. However, you'll need a relatively high output mic to keep the hiss from becoming obtrusive. The F700 appears to be mainly intended for mini-electret mics.

It is much smaller than most of the dedicated flash recorders, about half the size of the Edirol R-09. It is also about half the price. Unlike the M-Audio Microtrak, it uses a common AA replaceable penlight cell for power, so you can carry a pocketful of spares.

On the downside, it can't record unencoded PCM (.wav) format; 44.1kHz / 320kbps mp3 is as good as it gets. I mentioned the noise issue above. Also, the Edirol and most others use memory cards; with the F700 you get 4gb and when it's full you're done recording. (That's about 27 hours, though.)

Hope this helps!