[sdiy] Invent a modular recorder

[rsdio at audiobanshee.com]

Why not do as Roman suggests, and then build a Eurorack face plate with jacks and a shelf or holder for the portable recorder? Then you can patch in your standard cables without looking for an adapter.

If you want to get fancy, you could even Frankenstein the recorder and move its display and buttons to the rack face plate. It would save you a lot of design, programming, and manufacturing time.

In my opinion, it's a serious waste of time to design a simple recorder as a product unless you have the resources to make them in seriously massive quantities. Most likely, it will simply cost more and use up time that could have been spent designing something more unique. I doubt that the modular market is big enough to bring the price of something like this down to the level where it's worth buying a purpose-designed modular recorder when the only real advantages can be had by putting a different interface on the existing technology.

Brian


On Aug 12, 2014, at 2:11 AM, Roman Sowa wrote:
> why not simply use any commercially available handheld/portable recorder? Tascam, Zoom, Marantz and many others make quite a few models to choose from.
> I'm sure you can also get a decent audio interface for a phone.
> 
> Roman
> 
>> On Aug 11, 2014, at 11:09 AM, Henry Birdseye <henry.birdseye at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Let me pose this question for all you electronic architects.
>> 
>> Of the hundreds of different modules built by several dozen
>> manufacturers, there is one module that I have never seen available.
>> 
>> There is no synthesizer module (mine is Eurorack) that records high
>> quality audio in long clips. Of course, you can record outputs into
>> your PC or on an external device and save it, but I'm envisioning a
>> module with, say, 8 inputs via 3mm jack (or banana or 1/4"), it has
>> a simple 5 button jog control and a recording triggered by pullse.
>> When all is recorded, it dumps audio recorded upwards of 96k
>> 24-bit, or less wave, ogg, mp3, whatever to a flash card and from
>> there to computer. It would play back from the card too. Simple
>> operation and control.
>> 
>> Eurorack modules range in price from $50 to a couple thousand
>> bucks. I think this would be an extremely popular thing to own. It
>> honestly has never been sold.
>> 
>> There are tens of thousands of synthesizer people now, and the
>> market is absolutely churning with new modules and a growing base.
>> Next time you have nothing else to think about, ponder how one of
>> these could be built into a 3u panel, 2 inches deep as wide as
>> necessary, and how much it would cost. I will owe you beers if you
>> can help me conceptualize this thing. The forums on MuffWiggler are
>> screaming for a module that records. I know it would sell big time.
>> 
>> Thoughts?