<p>I have been looking at recorders, having read some threads on here regarding what's best and talking to other locals. Right now, I am leaning towards the Cisco Flip - 8 gb. Staples has it on sale tomorrow for $159. My friends at ESPN use it to record events to download to the website and say it is the most convenient, easiest to use, and best quality for the money. Anybody want to persuade me towards something else? My vision is using it for vocal lessons, maybe recitals. I'm sure it will get used for "non-academic" purposes also.</p>
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<p>We just purchased the Yamaha Pocketrak CX. Recommended by my daughter’s teacher. There are so many to choose from. It has very good reviews on several websites. Sorry I can’t tell you much about our experience with it… just got it last week. So far it’s great. On sale at B&HPhoto online.</p>
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<p>I just went to Best Buy and had the guy evaluate the Kodak E18, the Flip and Sony Bloggie. I think we will be getting the Kodak. You can attach an external mike if you like and I was assured that it has the best quality picture. It seems the Flip might excel in very low light.</p>
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<p>Check out the Zoom H2. I love mine.</p>
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<p>The sound on the Zoom H2 is fantastic. The video is good for youtube - but not as good as its sound is. My son is very happy with his.</p>
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<p>The Zooms have terrific sound. My son uses his all the time.</p>
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<p>One note, the H2 is audio only, I believe the zoom unit with video is the Q3 (hopefully they will come out with a Q4 that is HD…>). The zoom is quite an incredible recorder, and you can get a lot of recording on it because it uses the SD memory card, so you can get quite a bit of memory for it these days (I know that have 16 gig, and I think it now has 32 gig format cards)…</p>
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<p>Whoops - sorry about that - all these acronyms rattle around in my brain. Yes, the Q3 is what my son uses. It does have video, but it’s the sound that is really fantastic.</p>
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<p>We have 2 - Zoom H2 recorders. Highly recommended !!</p>
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<p>No advice - just funny aside. Since D is doing Music Ed, one of her classes is Guitar and Recorder. I clicked on this to see what you were looking at. When I saw $159 I was shocked…until I read a little further! </p>
<p>And it turns out I do have advice. From my research on the Kodak, while it indeed does allow for an external mike, a lot of reviewers say the sound quality is lousy without one. We got a flip. One of my friends used hers to record at one of our schools concerts. PM me if you want links to view the quality.</p>
<p>Zoom H2 is what is used here too. Son loves it. If he were replacing it, he would look around but he would check the Zoom Q. He says he is VERY happy with what he has. Check prices on various sites…</p>
<p>Edirol is also good but he doesn’t know what the prices are now.</p>
<p>He says, he would look around first because the market and technology has changed in the several years since he got his zoom.</p>
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<p>Like BeezMom, I was also thinking of the musical instrument when I first saw the title of this thread. Unlike BeezMom, I was not in the least shocked by the price. Cheap plastic instruments used in grade-school programs may go for a couple of dollars each, but fine handmade instruments that might be used by a professional or a performance major on recorder can fetch thousands. There is a whole industry built up around such instruments. Of course, many pros also keep several good plastic instruments around as backups, for playing outdoors or as practice instrument to keep them from overplaying their good ones.</p>
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<p>BD - I wasn’t shocked that there would be a quality recorder at that price - I was thinking that was a lot for an entry level instrument. (I remember your wife is the flautist, right?)</p>
<p>Yes, my wife plays flute (but is on the side of the profession that does not use the word “flautist,” preferring “flutist” or “flute player” for pretty much the same reasons as Nancy Toff and James Galway.) She plays recorder and I dabble in it as well.</p>
<p>$159 would indeed be a lot for a plastic recorder, other than a bass. “Entry-level” wooden soprano and alto recorders are available around that price point and lower, but not many of them are worth having. A good plastic recorder (and there are definitely good and bad ones, sometimes even within the same make and model) is both less expensive and a better quality instrument than a lot of the cheap wooden models out there. You can easily spend a few hundred on an intermediate level wooden soprano recorder, and very quickly jump to over a thousand for a professional quality hand made instrument. The alto of the family, which is often the preferred solo instrument, is usually a bit more expensive than the soprano.</p>
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<p>Oops - didn’t realize that flautist had gone out of vogue. I usually just say that I play the flute. Church services, weddings, renfairs (where I bring out my toys) - that sort of thing. </p>
<p>Then - with definite apologies for hijacking the thread - we come to the point of what to do with entry level instruments. My D is taking my wooden alto to school along with the plastic soprano. Now my real quandry is the guitar. A cheap starter is awful to play, but do I really want a Martin hanging around in her dorm room.<br>
Hence my gut level response to the recorder price question. Ahh - lots to think about.</p>
<p><<self edit=“”>> - after I typed this, I realized that we are sending her much pricier violin with her because she also has strings first semester. But since she’s played that for years, she’s most likely going to rent a cello for the class. It’s Music Ed, so to her it is about the breadth of experience. Why am I worried about an entry/mid level guitar??? I’m just praying she doesn’t wind up in a Triple!</self></p>
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<p>Flautist is much more common in British English, but I don’t think it ever really was in vogue in American English. Well, perhaps back in the days when there were four different classical radio stations on the dial, and at any given time at least two of them would be playing something featuring Rampal…</p>
<p>Nancy Toff published The Flute Book in 1985 and went on for at least a page on this topic, coming down in favor of flutist. Galway has been using the qoute, “I’m a flute player, not a flautist. I don’t own a flaut and I’ve never flauted.” for some time, at least back into the 90’s if not the '80s. I kind of like the archaic version, “fluter,” that predates both flutist and flautist, but people look at you kind of funny when you say it.</p>
<p>Sometimes you just have to insure those instruments, buy a sturdy case for them and hope for the best. My son has taken his Martin HD-28 to school with him for two years running, and it is still in very good shape. It is hard to go back to an entry level instrument of any kind after you have gotten used to the response of a really good one.</p>
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<p>Thanks for all the advice. I have been looking for the zoom Q3 as I have been to any and all stores that I thought would carry these devices. Most have flip, and the Zi8 and bloggie have been sporadic. But I don’t see the Q3 anywhere. As a singer, D likes to look at her mouth, jaws, neck, hands and other parts of her performance where she thinks she has problems so therein lies the reason for the video. This is about the last thing to purchase before we leave (besides the bag of grits which we will buy in SC since it probably won’t be available in OH.)</p>
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