I’ll not go into detail on the spec – you can get that here. This is both a stereo recorder and a 4-track recorder in one, with – and this is what lifted it up above its competition for me – standard jack and XLR inputs, with 48V phantom power, in addition to its in-built stereo mics.

I knew that it had the ability to take a guitar input straight in, but was not prepared for just how great it would sound when recording a guitar through its range of preset simulated amplifier models. It took a little fiddling due to the small screen, but within a few minutes I had recorded a couple of tracks of rhythm and lead guitar, each sound modelled differently and mixed using the built-in mixer. It even has it’s own guitar tuner and metronome. This device is going to be a lot of fun!

On the podcasting front, it can either record (WAV or direct to mp3 with adjustable settings for each) to an SD card, or as a direct USB audio interface into the Mac – or PC of course – using its own mics or any connected to the inputs. Built-in Limiting or Compression helps to dramatically increase quality, and it has a number of mic model emulation settings for different audio environments (not played with those yet, more on that sometime).

Pretty much each time I pick this baby I discover something new. It is always a delight to be happy with a gadget purchase only to realise it does far more than one anticipated, does it well, and opens new possibilities previously not considered.

For an example of what it does, I’ll be recording the next MinorTechnicality podcast with the H4′s own mics rather than my usual AKG condenser and Tascam interface combi.

UPDATE: some hiccups using this unit as a straight audio interface into the Mac. Haven’t figured out exactly what the issue is, but Übercaster was not happy. I’ve come across Übercaster fitting over an audio problem then creating all kinds of problems with audio thereafter until a reboot sorts it out. More info to come as I experiment.

Related posts

• Life after Podango – there are options (3)
• Apple keyboard CAPS-Lock anti-jab (0)
• To UGC or not to UGC – that is the confusion (3)
• Audiobook distribution – a better way (10)
• Podcasting the future – is it all new again? (0)

Welcome mozy. Plain and simple, there are two services here (for personal users – there are additional business user services too): get 2Gig of secure backup for FREE, or pay $4.95 per month for unlimited backup space.

Having just released the beta of their OSX backup client, I’m now most interested and am trying out the client while writing this post. Signing up is blindingly easy – as it should be – with the additional incentive that for every person you get to sign up and use the service, free or unlimited, you gain an additional 256Mb of backup storage. So, go on, get over there, sign up, and backup some files to help me get another free Gig! I’d do the same for you, you know I would…

The OSX client is dead simply, just enter your mozy account info and the client presents a bunch of sensible preset backup sets enabling one-click backup of your Keychains, Application Prefs, Address Book, etc. You can create your own backup sets using file search and list, or edit the details of the existing ones. It also then allows you to manually select individual folders to back up, all the while giving you a progress bar on how much of your 2Gig you are going to consume during the actual backup. Oh, and did I mention the 2Gig was completely free..?

I’m totally impressed in the ease of use of this Online backup service so far, as I have successfully set up the backup criteria while writing this post and the first backup of a couple of hundred Mb, is all set to run overnight tonight. If I get any problems, I’ll report back. If you hear nothing, then the “I’m totally impressed” status remains.

UPDATE: The backup was only a partial success. All the manually selected folders updated correctly, but the pre-selected Backup Sets were ignored by the Mozy client. It’s still in beta (v 0.4.1.1), so understandable there’s a bug or two right now.

Related posts

• Life after Podango – there are options (3)
• GoDaddy in the UK? (2)
• Process, process, and more writing process (0)
• To UGC or not to UGC – that is the confusion (3)
• Audiobook distribution – a better way (10)

Each new episode is posted to a ‘tweet’ with the show name, episode name and the episode’s permalink – which will either be a direct link to the media file, or to the episode page, depending on how the producer’s RSS feed is configured.

http://twitter.com/britcaster

enjoy!

Related posts

• Minor Technicality #51 – Just a bunch of art (0)
• Minor Technicality 50 – Sun, sea, sand and pencils (0)
• Minor Technicality 49 – Press gang culture (0)
• Minor Technicality #48 – iphone nostalgia and no espresso for you (0)
• Minor Technicality #45 – The attitude to attitudes (0)

I really need to find a way to be enthusiastic about the ‘grass roots’ UK podcasting community again. That’s partly why the work with Podshow is so exciting and enjoyable: it’s not about podcasting and the community. And that’s also why I feel so positively about the opportunities available to podcasters to kick their efforts up a gear and build something more than just ‘a podcast’ – though a full discussion on that is not for this post.

What has clearly not been taken seriously yet within the public community at Britcaster.com, is the announcement that neither myself, Adrian Pegg, or Alex Bellinger (three of the four organisers of Podcastcon UK for this and last year) will not be standing up to the plate a third time for 2007. Paul Nicholls, the fourth member of the team, hasn’t openly said where he stands on that point. Personally, I think it is unlikely that next year’s event will originate from and be driven by the independent podcasting community (no, that doesn’t hint at anything Podshow related, so don’t start). If someone doesn’t grasp the torch pretty soon after this year’s event, it would not surprise me if a commercially-driven event management business fills the gap, and that would be a big shame because the sole motivation will be money.

I expect on the day, with the atmosphere and buzz, that it’ll be fun. I just hope people don’t start moaning at me on the day about Britcaster (or Podshow) – it’s really getting tired.

Related posts

• Life after Podango – there are options (3)
• To UGC or not to UGC – that is the confusion (3)
• Audiobook distribution – a better way (10)
• Minor Technicality 36 – All gone purple (3)
• Embed Mevio PMN music player (0)