Tascam DR2D Portable Digital Recorder Review

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(More customer reviews)Update: V1.02 Firmware appears to have fixed the NiMH battery issue. No premature shutdown with full or partially discharged NiMH and unit shuts down gracefully on low battery condition. I'm very pleased.
Original Review:
I did my homework and narrowed the choice down to the Olympus LS-11, the Sony PCM-D50, PCM-M10, and the Zoom H4n.
My primary requirement was superb internal mics.
Secondary were a clean Line In (no preamp)if possible, 4-track capability, battery life, and construction quality.
The LS-11 has top end clarity but anemic bottom end (20 hrs.
The D50 is sonically neutral and a standard in this performance/feature category, but pricey.
The M10 has phenomenal battery life >40 hrs, but to my ear, the internal mics are in a class below the other candidates.
The Zoom H4n has much to recommend it and is a 4-track recorder (but not at 96kHZ sampling), but the build quality is not up to the other units and battery life is just passable.
And then this gem popped up when I visited the German Audiotranskription review site:
[...] (use Google translate to read their opinions/methods)
I suggest you listen carefully and compare the organ samples. I was blown away.
Audibly it is an extraordinary performer and exceeds my original narrowed field (even the D50 IMHO).
I have an SD-10 concert grand and the DR-2D reproduces it faithfully.
Plus its a 4 track recorder and at 96hHZ, 24-bit.
It has a clean Line In.
Is solidly constructed.
Menu access/navigation is easy too.
Cons:
Battery life is limited to ~4-5 hrs recording on an AA pair.
I also have had erratic battery low error messages on full eneloop NiMH batts. I just downloaded the latest firmware v1.02.
Hopefully that issue is now fixed. Will update this review if it is/isn't.
I doubt the problem is specific to mine as others have reported battery issues.
It is my only complaint/concern - in all other respects the unit is the overall best of the pack IMHO.
There are numerous other review sites out there with lots of audio samples -
Good luck,
Mark

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Musician's Gear Pocket Record SD Digital Recorder Review

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(More customer reviews)I agree completely with the other reviewer Siena. This device works very inconsistently and can not be relied on for any recording. I would have said cannot be relied on for "serious recording" but that should be assumed. This device simply can not be relied on for anything. You don't know when it is going to engage and work and when it is not going to engage. There's supposed to be a way to "pause" recordering but what it does is shut off the device. Because it is digital, this means you have to reboot which takes at least 12 or so seconds and by this time you have missed what you want to resume recordering. This is only one example of what's wrong with the device. It sometimes changes tracks on its own and you lose your place where you were recording. When you do get it to work, the play back volume is extremely low. You could not play it back to a group in a room because anyone more than five feet away wouldn't hear it, even if it you turn it all the way up to a setting on the device of "20." And after doing so, the device defaults to a lower volume setting of "16." You get higher volume with a handheld microcassete recorder. Unlike Siena, I found an 800 number in their instruction booklet labeled "customer support." This is anything but "support." When I said that I was having problems understanding the operation the person who answered kept on repeating to "read the instructions." I said I did, but it still seemingly did not always work. He said they were not there to teach how to operate the thing but only to "troubleshoot problems." He said they didn't have time to help with the operation, "only troubleshoot!" I said I was indeed having such problems but he kept repeating to "read the instructions we only troubleshoot." The instruction booklet is very poor. It is full of typos, is not paginated but in many places refers to other pages by page number and you don't know what the heck they are refering to. This is indeed junk. Do not buy it. It appears that this device is made in America. Figures! No wonder we're losing the trade wars.
UPDATE: I bought an Olympus VN-5200PC recorder. I recommend it. It does all of the things that the Muscians Gear recorder claims to do. And it does them easily and consistently. It has a pause button for both recordering and playback. The instructions are simple and only took me a few hours to understand and operate. The instruction booklet is easy to understand, has charts showing the menu options and explains what they do. There is a website that explains things even more fully. There's an 800 number for customer support, but I haven't had to use it. And all of this for one-third the price of the Muscians Gear recorder. The Olympus is made in China, the Muscians Gear in the U.S. As I said, no wonder we're losing the trade wars.
FURTURE UPDATE: February 27, 2010. I have to give another update. I put the American Audio recorder aside for a while since using my Olympus VN-5200PC. But then I thought, why not try it again. It's worse! The screen now reads on all folders and all files "FULL." I can't even record on it! I went thru all of the intructions to delete, but nothing works. Stay away from this product and anything else made by this company that calls itself, American Audio!

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Alesis iMultiMix 8USB Review

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(More customer reviews)I use this mixing board every week for practice. I can record to my computer while simultaneously recording to an ipod.
I have never had an issue with this alesis, Highly recommended for home digital recording. The built in effects processor is ideal for live recording as well. Definitely a great product!


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Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Recorder Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm a do-it-yourself singer/songwriter and recording artist. I bought the DR08 largely for capturing ambient sounds to include in my home recordings and for recording band rehearsals and gigs. Overall I'm happy with the DR08. The interface is simple and intuitive to use. It's done a good job capturing and representing band rehearsals and live music. Of course, it's not what a pro would use to mic a show, but for my purpose of providing fairly faithful feedback of what the music sounded like at a particular position in the room, it does the job well. The ambient stuff I've grabbed has been solid fidelity with minimal background noise/hiss--to my ears, definitely good enough to incorporate into DIY recordings. I've also recorded some interview-type conversation, which sounded great.
Key problems are two-fold: the device is highly sensitive to wind (even light breeze) noise and to noise from the hand holding it. Which leads to my biggest disappointment...the lack of practical tips-and-tricks TASCAM could have included in the Manual. The Owners Manual covers the technical stuff clearly, but it offers little practical guidance on how to get good recordings from the device for the non-super-techy/audiophile (who, I suspect, based on where this falls in the spectrum of products and prices, is TASCAM's market for the product!). I'm left wondering...
How to deal with wind noise? No mention at all of this as a potential problem (which it is for outdoor recordings) in the manual. Do they sell a windscreen for this product? Would pantyhose or some home-made contraption help?
The device is very sensitive to picking up noise from the hand holding it. Not a shocker, but it would be great to have some tips on dealing with this issue besides the obvious one of setting it on its back on its stand--a so-so solution that is (1) often not practical based on the recording situation and (2) can create the issue of picking up reflected noise from the surface it's on). Are any of the "Low-Cut" settings meant to help here?
When, specifically, might I want to apply the different "Low Cut" settings of 40/80/120? What do those settings even mean? What difference in result can I expect? Some examples/scenarios would be appreciated.
For the EQ boost feature, when, specifically, might I want to use the TREBLE/MID/BASS boost feature? Again, some common examples/scenarios would be great.
There are three different mic positions. For each position, where exactly is the field of sound capture? In other words, which direction do I want to point/orient the devices to best capture certain types of sounds? How close/far should I be to capture the most "real" sound?
I realize I can and will figure this stuff out with extensive experimentation, which, sure, is part of the fun. But who wouldn't want some practical tips for a head start? If you're like me (and I'm guessing you are if you're considering buying at this product level/price point), then I'd say just about everyone would benefit from a more instructive "Manual."
So overall, a good product at a good price for the hobbyist/semi-professional, but it comes with a frustrating lack of guidance on how/when/why to use the technical features and get the most out of the device.

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