I've had several people ask what I used to record the sessions at IL2005 - it was an iRiver IFP 790 with an external microphone attached - an Apex 162 which I picked up at a local music store for about $20. I probably captured the audio at too high a bitrate, and even when compressing with Audacity, which I used to de-amplify the clapping bits and amplify the rest, I probably didn't compress the filesize enough, which is why they're all such large files. I'll learn :-)
A little personal history - I picked up the IFP because I wanted something that I could use with an external mic that I have hanging in the backseat of my car (it's the Apex again) so I can record the hilarious things my son says on the way home from daycare. I just turn it on and we talk, and every couple of days there's a real gem captured. For the longest time I had been using a minidisc recorder to do this same thing - it records just beautifully, but, and IMHO this is the reason MD is about to die, the ony way you can get audio off the thing is in real time analogue - you've got to plug in an audio cable from the MD and run it to a computer, and it takes one hour to move an hour of audio from the MD to the computer. But with the IFP it tranfers via USB and automatically compresses to mp3, so an hour of audio takes about 2-3 minutes to transfer, if that!
So, after all that, guess what the official recording company was using to record the sessions at IL2005? You got it - minidisc recorders! The quality will be great, especially because they were patched in to the sound system instead of using mics, but wow, what labor they'll have to employ to get the audio off, unless they have some sort of high-speed dubber. I showed them my IFP and they seemed pretty interested... So yeah, all the sessions were taped at IL2005 and they're going to sell a CD, but I think you had to put in your order during the conference, which doesn't help those who couldn't make it much. I may be wrong, and will let you know if I learn that the CD is for sale online - it'd be a good one to have.
