Brad Linder's blog

O'Reilly reviews the Marantz PMD620

2008-05-14T14:44:00.000-04:00

There are two sites that publish some of the most comprehensive, thorough, and trustworthy reviews of digital audio recorders: Transom, and O'Reilly Digital Media. (Well, three if you count this blog, but I've only reviewed the units I've actually purchased, including the Zoom H4 and the Sony PCM-D50). The Marantz PMD620 has been around since late last year, and Transom published their review of the recorder shortly after it was released, but O'Reilly published their review just a few days ago.

In December, Transom concluded that the unit was one of the best handheld digital audio recorders you could buy for less than $500. That was before they reviewed the Sony PCM-D50, which got even higher marks. But the Marantz recorder is both smaller and cheaper.

Transom's primary audience is radio and podcast producers, while O'Reilly Digital Media is targeted at a broader audience, including people who plan to use these digital recorders to capture music and nature sounds. So how does the Marantz PMD620 stack up?

The build quality doesn't seem as high as some other recorders. The door covering the USB port broke on Mark Nelson's review unit within just a fwe weeks. But the controls are easy to use, the recorder gets about 5 hours of battery life out of 2 AA batteries. The sound quality was good. There's not a lot of wind noise when moving the recorder around using internal mics. And there's not a ton of hiss from the preamps. Nelson posted a series of audio recordings as part of his review.

Nelson did find a few problem areas. While the recorder lets you create three presets for quickly changing your audio settings on the fly, if you want to change your settings by hand you'll have to dig deep down into a series of menus which takes longer than it should.

This review confirms my belief that the PMD620 is a good, but not great recorder. If you really can't afford to spend $500 for a Sony PCM-D50 or a bit more for a Fostex FR2-LE, the PMD620 has a street price of $400 and sounds a lot better than the Zoom H2 or H4. If you need XLR inputs or phantom power, you're going to want to go with the Fostex or the Marantz PM660, but from what I've heard, the PMD620 might actually have cleaner preamps than the PMD660 despite its lack of XLR inputs.

Using low-cost ultraportable computers for audio editing on the go

2008-04-30T23:32:00.001-04:00

A colleague wrote me the other day to ask for advice on setting up a portable audio recording/editing kit. Most radio journalists are used to carrying around a recorder, recording media (flash cards, minidiscs, digital audio tape, etc), a microphone, assorted cables, and a good set of headphones. Typically, you can run out to conduct an interview, record a press conference, or otherwise gather sound, and then run back to your office or studio to load the audio onto a computer for editing. But if you're on deadline and need to file your audio as quickly as possible, you might want to carry a laptop so you can edit your sound in the field and then upload it over a wireless internet connection.

All of which is to say that low-cost, tiny computers like the Asus Eee PC look like a godsend for professional radio journalists who spend a lot of time away from their desks. What my colleague wanted to know was whether the $400 Eee PC 701 would be up to the task. Here was my reply:

As for Audacity, it runs pretty well on the Eee PC 701. Keep in mind, while the Eee PC offers extreme portability, there are a few downsides for digital audio editing:

It has a very small amount of storage space. If you expect to be editing more than 1 or 2 GB worth of audio files at a time, you might want to invest in a 4GB or large SDHC card for the memory slot.
It has a pretty slow processor. That said, we were all using computers that were slower than the Eee PC just a few years ago, so it can certainly handle Audacity and several other audio packages. I haven't tried installing my old copy of Cool Edit, but it runs Reaper (www.reaper.fm) quite well. It just takes longer to import/export/render long files than it would on a faster laptop.
The 800 x 480 pixel display is less than ideal for mixing long pieces, since you just can't fit that much on the screen at once. But for simple cut and paste editing, it will do.

I've never tried mixing a full story on my Eee PC. But I have used it to trim long files, convert them from stereo to mono, and upload them to FTP sites. I frequently wind up doing tape syncs and other audio engineering gigs in Manhattan, and rather than come all the way back to my studio in Brooklyn I just find the nearest public library or coffee shop with WiFi and upload the audio from there.
be up to the task.

I've been playing with the HP Mini-Note for the past week, and while its processor is as slow, if not slower than the Eee PC 701, the Mini-Note is much more comfortable to use. It has a larger keyboard, which HP describes as being 92% full size. And it has a larger, higher resolution screen, cramming 1280 x 768 pixels onto an 8.9 inch display. That's just a few pixels shy of the resolution on the 15.4 inch laptop I use for most of my day to day computing. In other words, you should have no problem viewing multitrack project files using the audio editing software of your choice on a Mini-Note.

The Mini-Note is also a bit pricier than the Eee PC. The cheapest model is $499, and prices go all the way up to $750. That makes it cheap by ultraportable standards, but not necessarily cheaper than any other discount computer you can pick up at most big box electronics/computer retail stores. But at just 2.6 pounds, the Mini-Note probably fits in your bag easier than the big ole Dell/HP/Acer computer you'd find at Best Buy. The interesting thing is that Dell, Acer, and at least a dozen other companies, some of which you've heard of, plan to release low-cost tiny computers to compete with the Eee PC within the next few months.

You can read much more about this low-cost ultraportable revolution at my other blog, Liliputing.

The city that never sleeps is getting a bit sleepy: My latest NPR story

2008-04-29T10:16:00.000-04:00

You can't really tell from the photo above, because it turns out I'm much better with an audio recorder than a digital camera, but this is a picture of Little West 12th Street in Manhattan's Meat Packing district. I snapped this shot at 2:30 in the morning on a recent Saturday night. And the place was hopping. There were dozens of people wandering between clubs and bars on this corner, and this was just the tip of the iceberg.

Throughout the city there are bars, clubs, and restaurants regularly open until 4:00am or later. There's a reason they call New York the city that never sleeps. But what happens when you live next to a club that's blasting music all night long? There are a series of community boards that represent Manhattan residents who have been pressuring new liquor license applicants to close up shop at 2:00am or at least to better police what goes on inside and outside of their clubs. And while the number of liquor licensed establishments that are choosing to close early is still relatively small, the community board recommendations have gained so much weight with the state liquor authority that it's getting hard to open a bar without getting approval from one of these boards.

For my latest NPR story I tried to look at both sides of this issue. There's been a lot of reporting in the local press over the last few weeks. But for the most part reporters talked to one community board member and the lawyer for the New York Nightlife association. I talked to them both, but also headed out way past my bedtime to find some of the people who enjoy New York's nightlife scene and find out what they think. My editor also pushed me to actually find someone who lives next to some of these noisy bars, and I'm glad she did because that made the story a lot stronger. All told, I conducted 5 sets of interviews for this short story and had to leave a lot of things out. But I'm pretty happy with the way things turned out.

For anyone keeping track, this piece was recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 digital audio recorder and an Electrovoice RE-50 dynamic microphone.

So this is how it feels to be #26

2008-04-20T18:36:00.000-04:00

Anybody know where I can order a sports jersey with the number 26 on the back? Because according to TechCrunch, I'm one of the top tech bloggers around... Number 26 to be exact.

Now these statistics are kind of meaningless, because it's just a breakdown of top stories that showed up on Techmeme over the past four months. And while Techmeme is a handy tool for keeping track of conversations in the tech corner of the blogosphere, the site certainly doesn't track all blogs or news sites. But hey, it's still nice to be recognized for my work at Download Squad.

I should point out that this is not a dubious distinction I hold all by my lonesome. Two other people also managed to get 33 posts on Techmeme so far this year, which means that Sarah Perez of ReadWriteWeb and Saul Hansel of Bits, the New York Times tech blog are also #26. It's an exclusive club I belong to now, but it's still a club, not a... umm... solitary thing. And of course, I don't blog alone at Download Squad. We have an excellent team of about 20 bloggers, most of whom have day jobs and therefore can't post as frequently as I do. If they did, I'm sure they'd outrank me on this silly little list.

Network Blogging Tips: New blog for bloggers who blog for others

2008-04-14T23:04:00.000-04:00

There are literally millions of blogs littering, or umm, I meant to say lining the internet these days. Many are personal diaries from folks who have some thoughts to share. Many have a newsier bent. And while many people make no money at all from blogging, some make a few bucks or more every month from advertising or selling items. And a handful of the folks treat blogging like a part time or full time job write for larger blogs that are part of networks. I personally do most of my writing for Download Squad, Green Daily, and TV Squad, three blogs that are part of the Weblogs Inc network owned by AOL.

While there are a ton of web sites out there that offer tips on blogging and on making money by blogging (ironically most of the blogs about making money are set up by people who hope to make money by blogging about something that many people are interested in. I'm not convinced that most of the people trying to give out free advice about making money online actually have much advice worth giving), there are very few sites targeted at folks like me: those who write for a blog network/employer.

If you think about it, writing for a boss is very different from writing for yourself. If you're a network blogger you tend to get paid either a salary or paid per post. If you write for yourself, either the work is its own reward, or you're trying to sell advertising. In both cases, page views are important. But aside from that, they can be two very different jobs.

So I was pretty happy to see the emergence of a blog about blogging that actually looks pretty useful to me. Network Blogging Tips is an independent site run by two network bloggers who write for a whole slew of b5media blogs. The site is still pretty new, but it already had some useful advice in posts like:

I'll be curious to see how fresh they can keep the site after the first few dozen posts, but they're certainly off to a good start.

[via ProBlogger]

Announcing a long overdue site redesign

2008-04-13T20:45:00.000-04:00

This blog is a year, a month, and a few days old and for most of its life it's had a pretty ugly design. I've learned a lot about tweaking blog templates over the last year. And most importantly, I've realized I'm not very good at designing things from scratch. Fortunately, I was able to find an awesome blog design that I could work with. After a bit of snipping, cutting, pasting, sweating, sleeping, waking in the middle of the night with new ideas, and tweaking some more, I'm happy to unveil the new design for BradLinder.net.

I actually did most of the hard work a few days ago when I launched Liliputing, my new site dedicated to mobile computing. This site's new design is lifted directly from Liliputing's, but I still spent a few hours trying to make sure everything came out right. If you notice any rough edges, please let me know. And if you're interested in low-cost, ultramobile computers, please subscribe to Liliputing. You can also find the latest Liliputing headlines on this site, but the articles are so much prettier with pictures.

Golden Delicious: Concert recording with the Sony PCM-D50

2008-04-11T11:05:00.000-04:00

I've just finished uploading my first ever concert recording to Archive.org. A few of my favorite bands are taper-friendly, meaning they allow fans to bring audio recorders to shows and share recordings with other fans. Typically the only restriction is that you can't sell the audio, which seems more than fair.

So with that, I bring you Mike Doughty's Band, recorded live at the Williamsburg Music Hall in Brooklyn, New York on April 10, 2008. This is my first concert recording, but I think it came out quite well. I attribute that almost entirely to the Sony PCM-D50 digital audio recorder I was using. I used the internal mics, stood by the back of the room, and pointed the recorder at the stage.

I was quite happy withe clarity and volume of the recording. The only problems I've had involve uploading the files properly to Archive.org... I'm pretty sure I must have done something wrong with the file naming, because while the FLAC versions of the songs have metadata like song titles, the MP3 and OGG Vorbis files do not.

Anyway, have a listen and let me know what you think.

Marantz PMD620 firmware update solves latency problem

2008-04-07T15:19:00.000-04:00

Marantz has released a firmware upgrade for the PMD620 digital audio recorder that solves the biggest issue some users have had with the device. The PMD620 is compact, easy to use, and records excellent quality audio. But using the original firmware, if you were monitoring your recordings with headphones you would notice a slight lag/echo effect. In other words, you'd first hear the audio from its source, and then a split second later you'd hear the audio come to you through your headphones. This can be disconcerting if you're recording an interview.

The latest firmware resolves the latency issue. You can download the new firmware along with installation instructions from the official PMD620 web site.

Thanks aaronji !

Edirol updates the R-09 flash recorder to R-09HR

2008-04-01T17:49:00.003-04:00

Edirol has given its R-09 digital audio recorder a bit of a shot in the arm to help it compete with the slew of other low-cost recorders on the market today. A few years ago when Edirol launched the R-09, it was one of just 2 or 3 prosumer level recorders available for under $500, and it got rave reviews. But since then, it's received plenty of competition. So it's about time we saw an update.

The Edirol R-09HR (for high resolution) looks a lot like its older sibling, and tha't s a good thing. It's designed to fit easily in your hand or pocket. The button layout does appear to have received a bit of a redesign. But the big changes are under the hood.

The R-09HR can support 24-bit 44.1/48/88.2/96KHz recordings, while the older model topped out at 48KHz. The R-09HR can also support SDHC media up to 8GB, while the original R-09 could only handle 4GB. Update: It looks like you can add support for 8GB SDHC cards to the original R-09 through a firmware update. The latest firmware update also adds the ability to split files while making a recording.

The new unit also has a rubberized case instead of the old plastic case, there's a new monitor speaker on the back of the unit, a remote control for triggering and pausing recordings from up to 10 feet away, and a playback speed control. The R-09HR also comes with Cakewalk Audio Editor LE digital audio editing software.

You can find out a bit more about the R-09HR by checking out this video from SonicState:

The R-09HR appears to be on sale in the UK for about £249.00, which is around $500 US. But it's not clear how much the recorder will cost in the US, as electronics tend to be cheaper this side of the Atlantic.

Related Posts from the Field Recorders category:

Which ThinkGeek fake products do you wish were real?

2008-04-01T08:40:00.003-04:00

Online store for geeks ThinkGeek has a history of advertising fake, but kind of cool products on April Fool's Day, and this year is no different. The store is filled with listings for products that don't exist. And for the most part, they really shouldn't exist.

But last year, ThinkGeek included one item in its roundup that was so compelling that many users wrote in and suggested the company should develop a real product. And so they did. Now you can buy an 8-bit tie, which is a necktie that looks like a pixelated representation of a tie from a video game.

Which brings us to today's question. Which of the following fake products do you wish were real?

In other news, April Fool's is a tough day to be a blogger. Roughly only 50% of everything you read on the internet today is fake. I guess on the bright side, at least today you know why the other half is fake today. Tomorrow there's no excuse.

Update: In what's starting to look like an annual tradition, ThinkGeek ha decided to make the Personal SoundTrack T-Shirt into a real product.

They've upped the price a bit. It'll set you back $40. But once available, you'll be able to walk around with a T-shirt that sports an embedded speaker and comes with a pocketable remote control for controlling playback of various tracks.

Need some walking down the street music? Just hit a button. A friend tells you some shocking news about her famil? Press another. Going swimming? Take off your shirt for god's sake!

The Value of Trash on NPR

2008-03-31T16:41:00.000-04:00

I have a story on NPR's Day to Day today about Justin Gignac and Christine Santora, two New York artists that enjoy playing with the idea of value. Gignac has been selling cubes of New York trash for a few years. At first, he sold them for $10 per cube, but he keeps raising the price and people keep buying them. By the time they hit $100 for special occasion trash (New Year's Eve, Opening day at Yankee Stadium), people started discussing them as art and not just a novelty.

The couple also sells paintings of things they want for the price of those items. They've sold paintings of items ranging from a slice of pizza to an iPhone. The idea is surprisingly popular. Every time they post new items on the Wants for Sale site, they sell out almost immediately. Well, almost every item. The million dollar painting of financial security doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Gignac and Santora also run Needs for Sale, a site with a similar premise, except the money is all donated to charity.

I actually did all the reporting for this story in January, but a series of unforeseen events have held up its broadcast until today. Day to Day paired it with an interview with musician Moby about the value of music.

For anyone interested in the technical aspects, my interview with Gignac and Santora was recorded using a Sony PCM-D50 digital audio recorder and EV RE-50 microphone. There's a little background noise, because this interview was recorded in a New York apartment, and as I'm increasingly coming to notice there is no such thing as a quiet interview in New York City. I've conducted interview on the 20th floor of a downtown skyscraper, and you can still hear news coming in from the streets. In fact, we had to keep stopping this interview because a car alarm kept going off outside the apartment. But overall, it was a lot of fun talking to Gignac and Santora about their work and their thoughts on the value of art.

CNET drools over the PCM-D50

2008-03-29T08:47:00.001-04:00

The folks at CNet have published a nice, detailed review of the Sony PCM-D50 digital audio recorder, complete with a video, a few decent photos (including the one to the right which shows just how ridiculous the D50 looks with a windscreen and a funny looking tripod), and a video review.

They rave over the PCM-D50's advanced features, relatively low price, and excellent sound quality. But they also have the usual complaints, the recorder doesn't record in the MP3 format, and if you use up the 4GB of internal memory, you need to use a proprietary Sony memory stick for expansion.

Awesome new journalism blog: The Changing Newsroom

2008-03-23T11:20:00.000-04:00

When I started this blog about a year ago, I had the ambitious goal of writing about the impact of technology on journalism and vice versa. The internet, globalization, satellite and cable news channels are dramatically changing the way people receive their news. They're also changing the way we as news producers need to think about our jobs, our audience, and many other factors.

But it turns out I've just been far too busy to spend a lot of time thinking deep thoughts about the future of news delivery. Fortunately, my good friend Carrie Brown has thought about little else for the last few years. And she's finally decided to share some of her thoughts with the world via a new blog: The Changing Newsroom.

Carrie will be teaching journalism at the University of Memphis this fall, and she's currently finishing up her Ph.D work at the University of Missouri. She's also worked for the Committee of Concerned Journalists and even managed to squeeze in a bit of time as a working print journalist before she started her career as a deep thinker.

If you're at all interested in the business of journalism, I recommend checking her blog out.

Transom reviews the Sony PCM-D50

2008-03-19T10:46:00.000-04:00

Transom's equipment Jeff Towne has posted an excellent review of the Sony PCM-D50 digital audio recorder, complete with a ton of audio clips that should give you a pretty good idea of what the recorder sounds like using internal mics and a variety of external mics.

I think I've already talked up the D50's strong points, so I'll just focus on the flaws Towne found:

The mic/line input switch is bafflingly located near the headphone jack, not the mic jack
The mini inputs will not provide phantom power
If you're using the internal mics, you will hear a click when you hit the track divide button, and no matter what microphone you're using there will be a slight disconnect between the before and after track, but you'd have to listen really closely to notice it.
It would be nice to have an option to record in mono

I agree. But I wouldn't count any of these issues as big problems. It's hard to find a sturdier, easier to use recorder for under $500 that sounds as good at the PCM-D50. The Marantz PMD620 and Olympus LS-10 do have many of the same features at slightly lower prices, but each has its own set of minor flaws.

Goodbye Uncle Howard

2008-03-13T09:43:00.001-04:00

When I was a kid, the cold war was still in full swing. I saw a commercial on TV one day that scared the crap out of me. It showed a nuclear weapon blowing up. So my mom wrote to her uncle and asked him to send as much information as he could about nuclear power so I could read up on the issue. I forget how old I was, maybe 8, 10, or 11 at the oldest. But Uncle Howard sent us a box filled with information about how nuclear power plants worked. It was so boring that I couldn't imagine how it could hurt me, but the material came in handy for a science project I had the following year.

Uncle Howard was Howard Metzenbaum, Ohio's first Jewish senator, and a man who was known both as a curmudgeon and as someone who always fought for what he believed in. And fought hard.

He died last night. He was 90, and it wasn't a great surprise, but that doesn't make it any less sad. I didn't know him very well toward the end of his life, but I always looked up to him. The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Associated Press, and other news outlets can probably tell you more about his life and accomplishments than I can. But I can tell you he will be missed.

I'll be in Cleveland this weekend for his funeral and to spend some time with my family.

Anti-deportation video game story on The World

2008-03-12T17:34:00.001-04:00

The World is running my story on a video game called ICED today. ICED stands for I Can End Deportation. The game was released a few weeks go by Breakthrough, a non-profit immigration and human rights advocacy group. Players choose one of five characters, listen to their stories, and then wander through a 3D version of New York City trying to avoid detention and deportation.

A game where you play a character running from immigration officers is understandably controversial, so in addition to talking to Breakthrough's director, one of the game designers, and a group of children who agreed to play the game and share their thoughts, I spoke with Heather Mac Donald at the conservative think tank the Manhattan Institute.

Overall I think the story came out pretty well. I'd probably remix the game music a bit if I had a chance, and it's always annoying trying to fit several hours worth of interviews into a 4 and a half minute story. I had tons of good tape that I didn't get to use.

I'd like to thank Carlyle Leach, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture's Junior Scholars Program for helping me find some kids and young adults to test the game.

From a technical perspective, all of the interviews were recorded using my Sony PCM-D50 recorder and EV RE-50 dynamic microphone.

You can listen to streaming audio of the story from The World's web site. For some reason the direct link to the story seems to stop playing about 2 minutes in, but you can also find the story by streaming the full program and skipping ahead to about 35:25.

Want to know what the Olympus LS-10 sounds like?

2008-03-07T18:06:00.000-05:00

Philip Graitcer got an Olympus LS-10 digital audio recorder this morning and put it through the paces with fellow radio producer Henry Howard.

You can find an MP3 file on Henry Howard's web site that should give you a pretty good idea of how the recorder sounds with a variety of mics including EV RE-50 and 635A dynamic mics and a Sennheiser K3U.

Overall, the recorder sounds pretty good to me. I'd say the internal mics are near-broadcast quality, although they pick up a bit more room tone than I'd like. But when using a dynamic or condenser plug-in mic there's not much noticable hiss. I'd say the LS-10 sounds almost as good as the Sony PCM-D50, although it's a bit difficult to make comparisons without using the two side by side under the exact same conditions.

Philip reports that the only real down sides to this recorder are the lack of XLR inputs, phantom power, or a track mark button. The PCM-D50 has most of the same limitations, but costs $50 to $100 more. The D50, however, has a track mark button, twice the internal memory (4GB compared with the LS-10's 2GB) and an exceptional limiter function.

The trouble with comic books: The waiting is the hardest part

2008-03-07T14:17:00.000-05:00

When we were kids, my brother and I were addicted to Elfquest comics. We didn't really know much about comics in general, but at a time when the WaldenBooks and B. Dalton stores in our local mall didn't have comic book sections, they had a handful of graphic novels including the first few Elfquest books. And after reading the first one, we were hooked.

Now, the thing about comic books is that many of them never seem to end. Every month or so the authors will put out another short opus. But if you're waiting for the next graphic novel, you might have to wait for a year or longer. And since we didn't realize that there were monthly installments, we only bugged our parents when the latest graphic novel was released.

Looking back, I'm amazed my impatience didn't kill me. After finishing my month of Buffy watching a few weeks ago I decided to order the first graphic novel of Buffy Season 8. You see, a few years after the show ended, BTVS creator Joss Whedon decided to continue telling the story in comic book form. And while I didn't rush out to get the first issue, my curiosity finally got the better of me. So I ordered The Long Way Home, the graphic novel containing the first 5 issues of the new series.

It arrived yesterday and I remember one of the biggest problems with comic books: You can read them very, very quickly. I was through the book in about an hour and when I wandered over to my computer to order the next installment, No Future for You, I realized that it won't be released until June. This graphic novel will cover issues 5-10, which are all available already. And so now I have to decide whether to spend $2.99 per issue for those comics plus #11 and #12, or whether to wait a few months.

I'm going to try to wait, because as much as I want to know how the story turns out, I can't imagine how agonizing it would be to have to read just one issue at a time. They're just so... short.

As for The Long Way Home, it was really quite well done. I loved the end of the TV series. It just left the door open to so many possibilities that I wasn't sure I wanted to know what happened afterward. But the writing in the comic book is strong, and you can almost hear the actor's voices when reading the lines.

Maybe I'll go and read some Elfquest comes while waiting for June to come.

Olympus LS-10 audio samples

2008-03-05T11:49:00.000-05:00

Online retailer StartStop has posted some audio samples recorded with an Olympus LS-10. These are the first samples I've heard from the recorders, and StartStop was kind enough to post stereo WAV files instead of MP3 files. So the recordings reflect real world conditions.

Overall, the recordings show that the internal mics are pretty sensitive and are perfect for picking up sound from across the room if you're doing something like recording a lecture. To my ear they're a bit too sensitive for use for a radio interview, as they do seem to pick up a bit more room tone than I'd like. But I don't really hear much extraneous hiss, which would seem to indicate that the preamps are good.

Has anyone who's purchased an LS-10 plugging an external microphone yet? How does it sound with a dynamic mic like the EV RE-50 or Shure SM58?

[via Philip Graitcer]

More Marantz PMD620 audio samples

2008-03-05T11:01:00.000-05:00

The folks at Wingfield Audio have posted a few more audio samples recorded with the Marantz PMD620 digital audio recorder. It's not clear whether they were using the internal stereo microphones or a plug-in mic, but what is clear is that this tiny recorder is capable of making some excellent recordings.

These aren't the first PMD620 audio samples to hit the web. As I mentioned in my review roundup, you can find a few more audio clips at Wingfield and Transom.

What I'll never understand is why manufacturers like Tascam, Marantz, Sony, Edirol, and Zoom don't include audio clips on their own product web sites. Sure, you'd have to take them with a grain of salt since the recordings would probably have been made under ideal circumstances (like in a soundproof booth), but it'd give us a general idea of how these recorders sound while we're waiting for 3rd party reviews.

Farewell downtown Brooklyn

2008-02-28T13:41:00.000-05:00

And just like that, the trial ends. The case was dismissed this morning, due to lack of evidence and a bunch of other technical, legal reasons that I can't go into because... well, because I don't know.

The interesting thing about hanging out in a courtroom as a juror and not a journalist is that you know a lot less about what's going on. They keep you out of the room when the judge and lawyers are talking about things that you're not supposed to consider. This is all as it should be, because you're not supposed to be passing judgment on anything but the facts as they're laid out before you. And if the judge rules that some evidence is inadmissible, it's a lot easier to disregard it if you've never seen/heard it in the first place.

After the whole thing was over, the jurors discussed things a bit while waiting for an elevator, and it's pretty clear how we would have voted. I can't really tell if I'm disappointed that we didn't get a chance to deliberate or not. After all, none of us really wanted to be there, but once we were, it would have been nice to have had some resolution.

Thus ends my civics lesson for the week.

Getting to know Downtown Brooklyn

2008-02-28T07:26:00.001-05:00

If you haven't noticed, posting's been a bit light around here lately. I got called for jury duty this week. And while I can't discuss any details of the trial, here are a few things I've learned this week:

Jury duty in New York begins with a 30 minute video which begins with a scene showing medieval folks throwing a guy into the water to see if he sinks. The message: Sure, it sucks getting called into court for a few days, but would you rather we judge people based on superstitions?
Everybody wants out of jury duty. Although nobody's exempt from being called, there are a few situations where they'll dismiss you... or if you've moved out of the county, they'll send your summons to the appropriate district. When the woman in charge lists the reasons people should come to the front to discuss their situation, 5 or 6 people got in line. When she asked if anyone had other reasons, about 20 people piled on, even though it was unlikely they had anything to say which would sway her.
Having lived in Brooklyn for just under a year, this week is the first time I've spent any time downtown. It's a bit crowded and hectic, but there are drug stores besides Duane Reed, which is somehow much more exciting than it should be. But really, that's the biggest difference between downtown Brooklyn and Bed-Stuy: there are more retail chains downtown. And taller buildings.
While there's WiFi available in the jury selection/waiting room, access to some sites, including Blogger.com is blocked. Of course, you can always update your blog via email. And they don't block IM, Twitter, or other sites that would let you get the word out. And if you're in the jury selection room it means you probably haven't been chosen for a trial yet anyway, so what exactly are they trying to prevent you from writing about?

What I learned from my month of watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer

2008-02-24T15:49:00.001-05:00

About a month ago I decided to weather the writer's strike by pulling out my collection of Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs. I have the full set, with all 7 seasons on DVD. I bought them one at a time although I've now discovered that you can buy a 40 disc box set with all 7 season and one bonus disc (affilliate link).

At first I figured I'd just watch Seasons 2 or 3, but 30 days and change later I've watched every episode from S2e1 through the series finale. And I have to say I find myself kind of uninterested in watching anything currently on TV, even after we start to see new episodes again. I mean, I'm sure the feeling will pass, but it's just sad to think that there's nothing on the air right now that seems to have the character depth and interesting plot lines that Buffy had. I mean sure, I'm looking forward to new episodes of BattleStar Galactica whenever that comes back. But it's just not as much fun to watch.

So I pulled out a book for the first time in a while today. When I was a kid I used to read a lot. Like a book every two days, a lot. They weren't particularly dense material. I'm talking about Piers Anthony, not Fyodor Doestoevsky. But some time around college when I found that I had to read things because people told me to and not because I wanted to, I kind of got out of the habit of reading regularly. And as much as I love some good TV or cinematic content, there's nothing like a good book to spark the imagination.

When I was a kid I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to craft the sort of Sci Fi stories that I enjoyed reading so much. The kind that were as much about people making difficult decisions under difficult situation as they were about completely unrealistic situations like individuals flying across the galaxy or living forever. After a while I guess I decided that I didn't necessarily have those stories in me, but I'm constantly amazed to realize that I do actually make my living today by writing and telling stories. They just happen to be true stories instead of fiction with an aspect of the truth in them.

But it's been a while since I feel like I've really challenged myself as a writer. Watching Buffy reminded me of what really good writing looks like, even if it was in a televised format. Sure, it's been my favorite show for the better part of a decade. But it's been years since I actually sat down and watched an episode. And once I started watching, I couldn't stop.

I don't plan on writing a screenplay anytime soon. But I'm starting to feel like it's been a while since I've truly challenged myself as a writer. I really hope I have it in me to craft the sort of story that once you start, you can't stop. In the meantime, I think I've found some temporary inspiration to start reading again, seeking out good stories and good storytelling. And that can come in many forms, from the big or small screens, to radio, to books. But in a way, I feel like watching Buffy again after all these years was a good reminder that I still have a lot to learn as a storyteller.

Olympus LS-10 begins shipping

2008-02-21T19:15:00.000-05:00

Olympus has begun shipping its LS-10 digital audio recorder. While Olympus is best known for consumer level digital voice recorders, the LS-10 appears to be aimed at the same prosumer market as the Zoom H2 or Sony PCM-D50. It has high quality internal mics, records WAV or MP3 audio, and can handle 24-bit/96KHz resolutions.

So how does it sound? Reader dxace1 has already received his recorder, and he's quite happy with it. You can read his first impressions in the comments of my original LS-10 post. In a nutshell he reports that it feels sturdy, has an excellent menu system, and yields high quality recordings using the built in stereo mics. He hasn't tested it with an external mic yet.

Dxace1 picked his recorder up from Sound Professionals, which is selling the LS-10 for $398. You can also pick up the Olympus LS-10 from Amazon for $377. If you plan to buy one from Amazon, I'd appreciate it if you'd click that link as Amazon will kick a few bucks my way. But please note, this is not an endorsement of the LS-10. I have not actually held one in my own hands and I cannot say for sure how it compares with other recorders in this price range.

Angry Journalists let out steam at AngryJournalist.com

2008-02-19T18:55:00.000-05:00

Most working journalists I know wouldn't be happy doing anything else for a living. But that doesn't mean they're happy with their jobs. Journalism doesn't pay well, there are always office politics, and we could all make a lot more money working in PR.

So it should come as no surprise that you can find over 400 instances of journalists venting their frustration at AngryJournalist.com. Comments are anonymous, but most of them seem to me like the sort of complaints I'd expect from journalists.

[via lost remote]