[Present]ation of Gifts: Don't read this, Delzhand's wife!

Delzhand

My wife has an iPod classic on her Amazon wishlist, but I know the only reason she put it there is to record her singing - she's applying to grad schools for vocal performance, and one of her friends uses her iPod to record. She already has an iPod nano, and it has enough storage for all of her music, so that's not a factor.

Here's what she asked for:
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-classic-Black-Generation-MODEL/dp/B001F7AHXM/ref=wl_it_dp_v?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2SXISV98A5YZX&colid=2NX8A36A8W150

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-TuneTalk-Stereo-iPod-Black/dp/B000F9LRYO/ref=wl_it_dp_v?ie=UTF8&coliid=IAH5ZRV746P3S&colid=2NX8A36A8W150

I don't know how well it records with those 3rd party microphone plugins. I found this:

http://www.amazon.com/Zoom-H2-Portable-Stereo-Recorder/dp/B000VBH2IG/ref=xs_gb_20_left-3_5_B000VBH2IG?pf_rd_p=451293501&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_t=701&pf_rd_i=20&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0H93KZ9TDEFHB1Y1E6E2

Normally I'd run the idea by her and see if this isn't closer to what she wants. It's a Christmas gift, so I can't just ask. Money isn't a huge issue, but spending an extra $100 on the iPod/plugin when it probably won't do as good a job is something worth considering.

mooshoepork

See, that's a tough one. Even though it might do a better job (which it probably will), she might have her heart set on the ipod and plugin. Maybe buy it at walmart or something? see if she likes it, if she doesn't tell her she can return it?

RUNN1NGMAN

Thinking completely out of the box, can you buy her some time in a recording studio?

0blique

The H2 is very good, especially for its price. You can listen to demonstration recordings on the various web reviews to hear what it sounds like. I'd imagine it's much better than the Belkin, but I've never used one of those, so I can't be sure. Your recording technique will be the limit as to how good a sound you can get.

The situation is of course yours to handle, but personally I wouldn't give it to someone who had asked me to give them something else, I'd probably ask first. But you'd be a better judge of what is appropriate for your case.

EggyToast

If she's looking at this for actual vocal/musical purposes, the Zoom H2 or the more expensive Zoom H4 are fantastic. They are explicitly designed for recording demos and off-the-cuff performances without a big audio setup, and their quality is really something considering how cheap they are.

The Belkin is more suited towards lectures, talking, and other situations where you're not actually listening to the quality of the recording/voice.

She'll be much happier with the Zoom products and they will serve her better long into her grad career. Since it's an amazon wishlist and you're her husband it's not at all weird to go above and beyond the basic "this is something I found" aspect of gift-giving. Tell her when she opens it that you talked to some musician friends (yo) and that the Zoom is explicitly for what she's looking for.

I would also say (on xmas morning) that if she does actually want an iPod you can still get it for her (like a Nano).

Delzhand

I altered the thread title because I saw her poking around these forums a few days ago. Now I need help fleshing out an idea. We've been watching a lot of Bones recently, so I bought her some of Kathy Reichs books - three, to be exact. What I would like to do is present them as a puzzle. Here's the basic idea I had:

Make some sort of printout of a human skeleton and cut it into pieces. One of the pieces would have an identical duplicate, reassembling the skeleton would show which one. The extra piece would have the location of the first gift, which would contain its own puzzle pointing to the second, etc.

Any ideas? I'd like the puzzles to have some connection to forensic anthropology. And I'm also trying to figure out how to present the "skeleton" so the clue isn't just visible. Maybe draw bones on envelopes, and the clue is in the duplicate? Post-It notes folded in half?

mts

Box with a skull and a note saying complete me. or a treasure map leading to the first piece. everyone loves treasure