Ive always had issues with consumer equipment compressing everything I send it to all hell. i.e. my camera. So this thing doesn't compress then? Hummm...
What kind of stuff are you recording into it?
Depends what you mean by "compression". If you mean levels compression, then no, the Zen doesn't compress. If you mean file compression using a codec, then yeah, it compresses, but not too much so that it becomes obvious. It'll be used for recording dialogue, so 160Kbs totally fine.
This isn't for professional use anyway, so I'm alright with a bit of audio degradation on the recording side of things. I'd have to spend
much more than £8 to get something better. I doubt anyone would notice anyway, because, as I said before, even comparing an uncompressed wav from a professional recorder, the Zen sounds almost the same to the ear.
Doesn't anti-aliasing take place only when re-sampling to another sample rate? I doubt the recorder oversamples, and then downsamples. I dunno though, I'm no pro
How did I start talking about the recorder anyway?
This is meant to be about the amp...
So, audioguru, I'm going to take a crack at your electret mic preamp. I do have two questions before I start my electronic adventure, though.
Does your circuit provide power for the electrets? If I was any good at electronics I'd be able to see from the diagram, but I'm not, so...
Also, because the Zen has NO amplifying at all, it requires quite a loud input to be just under clipping. If you'll excuse the non-precise comparison, it requires something similar to an MP3 player on 2/3 volume. So, because your circuit is a pre amp, it'll also need another amplifier afterwards, correct? Or will your circuit amplify the mic quite a bit more than I'm thinking?
Thanks!
@ unclejed613: MikeMl said something similar. It'll be easier to build a new one, it seems, as I don't know what is what with the tape amp.
I've uploaded a sample .wma file from the recorder, just in case anyone is interested in a budget recorder but isn't sure on the quality.
LINE-2009-04-09_06h55m11s.wma - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage