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JuicedLink Little DARling recorder
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    It's a miniature audio recorder called the "Little DARling" - Distributed Audio Recorder. The Zoom H1 is a great recorder. But, there are times when guys really don't want the internal mic because are going to use a lavaliere, and I just want something really small ... like, belt-pack sized ... but those voice recorders just don't have the quality people are looking for.

    Check http://www.juicedlink.com/blogs/news/13161873-new-for-nab-little-darling-distributed-audio-recorder

  • 57 Replies sorted by
  • trafficartetrafficarte

    It's exactly what I was looking for! The H1 is really useful, but also difficult to hide and the feeble mic input is my main concern when shooting. Hope the price is not too high...

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    The H1 is really useful, but also difficult to hide and the feeble mic input is my main concern when shooting. Hope the price is not too high...

    Also Panasonic XR and Olympus DM voice recorders can be used, they have good quality, last longer and are smaller than H1.

  • grisnjamgrisnjam

    I am super excited about this for wedding work as having 2 tracks recorded from the same input with one padded down in case of clipping is pretty slick. So far I have just been cheesing it with my iPhone + Rode Record App + Mic input adapter + $35 lav when in a pinch. It works pretty well but sucks to wire up to someone ....

  • matt_gh2matt_gh2

    This could be great if price is right. Like the 2 tracks recording with one 16db lower.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @matt_gh2

    Btw, same thing can be done if you'll make custom cable for any stereo recorder (so one channel will be padded).

  • matt_gh2matt_gh2

    @Vitaliy_Kiselev Very cool. I'm at least 3 months from my next project, so I'll definitely look into doing that and also look at this DARling recorder too. On last project I used Roland R-05 because it was small enough to hide on actors and quality was good. But it only had one mic input. Are you familiar with any small but high quality recorders that have 2 mic inputs? (Custom cable is just a y cable with a db reduction pad attached to one of the cables?) Thanks - this is great info.

  • zcreamzcream

    @Vitaliy_Kiselev Do you have a link to such a circuit ?

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @zcream

    I think it was referenced at PV, do not remember where (I mean single padding cable), and also can be found at google.

  • MirrorManMirrorMan

    This could be a really handy device. When he says "sprinkle a few of these around" and compares it to the Zoom, he makes it sound affordable. You can of course charge a bit more for a "Pro" device, but with loads of good budget options around he needs to be competitive for the small producer market.

    Several things I'm curious about... Will it record only in mono or in 2 channels for stereo? Any remote recorder should be able to record stereo. Battery life is critical. The small Sony PCM-M10 can go for 5+ hours, has a good preamp, built-in mics etc and can be had for $220

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Check good preview from NAB by B&H

  • matt_gh2matt_gh2

    Good review-thanks. B&H has it listed as August availability. No price yet.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

  • matt_gh2matt_gh2

    Very cool. JuicedLink representative says $200-240 and coming out this summer. A lot of good features on this. I'll be getting this and testing for next project as soon as it hits. Only thing I dont like is 16/48. I could live with 24/48, but would prefer 24/96.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Only thing I dont like is 16/48. I could live with 24/48, but would prefer 24/96.

    24/96 is fully pointless. 24/48 is also mostly pointless for the task as it is made for voice recording.
    It is just pure background noise, mikes self noise and ADC properties. You can check back Robert Rozak videos concerning more complete reasons.

  • matt_gh2matt_gh2

    I somehow came to believe 24/48 is noticeably better than 16/48 for dialogue, but now that you and Robert Rozak say that's false, I need to create some recordings with both settings and take the Pepsi challenge (blind test). I've created very nice dialogue with 16/48 years ago, so maybe I'm wrong on 16 v 24.

    All in all, sounds like this could be a killer product.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @matt_gh2

    Your test will be pointless. Even if you set levels to fully utility all available bits noise in all stages (background, mike and ADC) will eat all least significant bits of 24bit. So, it is not about that is better.

  • Ralph_BRalph_B

    This is not true. 24/48 has a distinct advantage over 16/48 for recording dialog, namely the ability to lift low level signals in post without loss in quality. It's the audio equivalent of lifting the shadows in video. The more bits, the more you can lift low level signals without 'banding' appearing. Granted you don't have 24 bits of real information, but you probably have 20 (and certainly 18), and that can make a difference.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Granted you don't have 24 bits of real information, but you probably have 20 (and certainly 18), and that can make a difference.

    As it is "not true". Please provide all noise levels values, speech dynamic range and show with math in how many useless bits it will result.

    As I said, Robert had video explaining this.

  • Ralph_BRalph_B

    LOL, you don't need math. Just take the time to do a simple test. This assumes you have a decent quality audio recoder. Record your voice at a level of -60 to -70 db. Make two recordings, one at 16bit 48k and one at 24bit 48k. Take the recordings into your favorite editor and add 40 to 45 db of gain to both. Listen to the result.

    I've done this test and the 16bit recording is significantly noisier than the 24bit.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @Ralph_B

    Cool, thing is it have very little to do with your point, as sane people do not do it.

    Set proper levels, after this get the numbers I mentioned and also, if you wish, make tests.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Recorder is finally available at

    http://www.juicedlink.com/collections/audio-recorders

  • matt_gh2matt_gh2

    Cool - looks good with upgraded version for slating. Thanks for posting. Price is right.

  • HillTop1HillTop1

    What will be the best mics to use with this especially as it has the lock in 3.5mm jack on the mic input hole.

  • Brian_SianoBrian_Siano

    This comes out just a month after I could have really used it. Drat. But, it looks like exactly what I want from a wearable recorder. I'll buy on, at least.

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