Hello Listers
There have been several threads about this little recorder and the quality and feature sets have been scattered.
Despite the obvious handy factor of this plug-on recorder, I was a bit skeptical. BH got me over that aspect with a motivator price of $99 rather than $159+ during the holiday sales. This thing is really small and light which is great, but it is not a unit I would subject to a lot of abuse. At the price point, it is OK and not out of character for any $100 gizmo.
My primary goal for this would be to record run&gun interview audio when using either an RE50N/B or my battery powered AT-897. One of the key questions to answer is if the preamp has enough juice to handle these lower output mics. You could probably lump the Rode NT-2 in this group also. I am happy to report that it does have plenty enough preamp, but not without issue. Of course on this model, the gain is set by a switch with low-medium-high settings. Using either mic, at optimal distance of 3-6 inches, the medium gain setting is enough for a normal mans voice, and sounds good. And on the high setting, you can get useable results at 24-30 inches; not pristine, but say for a convention floor interview, good enough. So far so good, now the bad news; if you set the gain on high and come up against the limiter, the audio turns to crap. Fast. This doesn't make the device unusable, but it does mean that the holder of the mic does need a bit of skill to make a judgement about mic proximity. The mic holder becomes the human mixer. There is no reason this can't work OK if the holder has at least as much intelligence as a bowling ball. More on this in a moment.
There is a headphone plug and it works, but the output is pretty noisy when cranked up which is not unusual for economy gear. The output is good enough to use, but not much more. The level is set by up and down buttons which aren't convenient. A little rotary switch would have been nice.
In order to set the gain, you have to go into the menu system. Not difficult, but not fast either. A real switch for this function would have been really really nice.
When attaching to some mics, it really takes a firm push to snap the unit home. You feel kind of bad pushing that hard on the tight ones. On many other plugs, it is fine.
The on-off combo record switch is a bit fiddly. When starting a new take, you feel compelled to look at the display to make sure you got it going because of the fiddle switch. A recording pilot light would have been nice.
Now the rub(s): There is a tiny audio meter on the tiny display, but inexplicably when you hit record, it stops working! So it only works for setting the gain before you hit record. And there is more. The tiny meter doesn't have any indicator for when you clip, and since the meter is minuscule, you can't really tell when you have reached the point of clipping. You can sort of tell the clip location given some familiarity, but if you are recording yourself, and the recorder is plugged on the mic, you can't see the meter. Carrying a short XLR cable would be essential for setting this up until you become familiar. Like I said, the mic holder (person) becomes the mixer. And that person needs just a bit of boom guy DNA. With just a bit more thought, Tascam could have really improved the DR10x with a modest improvement in features. Regardless, you will want both headphones and an XLR cable to set the gain. After that, you are flying without a net unless you wear some headgear.
I haven't yet tried AGC as the very thought of it makes me a little nauseous.
But there is a lot of good here too, the audio, when you get it right, sounds very respectable, even with the gain set to high. There is plenty of gain for a dynamic interview mic. Given a little knowledge of the device, a hand-holder of the device should be able to get good interview audio which for me, is the point of the device. For wedding types, I'm not so sure. They do make a model designed for lavs. And for those outside of the US, there is a model with a line output to feed a wireless set. Lectro holds a patent on this feature, so Tascam can't market that model in the states. Lectro, of course, does make a tiny recorder with some really great features for merely $750. I'm sure it is much much better. Really though, for a hundred bucks, despite the work arounds, this is pretty handy. I'm just glad I didn't pay the regular price.
If anyone want to hear a couple of files, let me know.
G
There have been several threads about this little recorder and the quality and feature sets have been scattered.
Despite the obvious handy factor of this plug-on recorder, I was a bit skeptical. BH got me over that aspect with a motivator price of $99 rather than $159+ during the holiday sales. This thing is really small and light which is great, but it is not a unit I would subject to a lot of abuse. At the price point, it is OK and not out of character for any $100 gizmo.
My primary goal for this would be to record run&gun interview audio when using either an RE50N/B or my battery powered AT-897. One of the key questions to answer is if the preamp has enough juice to handle these lower output mics. You could probably lump the Rode NT-2 in this group also. I am happy to report that it does have plenty enough preamp, but not without issue. Of course on this model, the gain is set by a switch with low-medium-high settings. Using either mic, at optimal distance of 3-6 inches, the medium gain setting is enough for a normal mans voice, and sounds good. And on the high setting, you can get useable results at 24-30 inches; not pristine, but say for a convention floor interview, good enough. So far so good, now the bad news; if you set the gain on high and come up against the limiter, the audio turns to crap. Fast. This doesn't make the device unusable, but it does mean that the holder of the mic does need a bit of skill to make a judgement about mic proximity. The mic holder becomes the human mixer. There is no reason this can't work OK if the holder has at least as much intelligence as a bowling ball. More on this in a moment.
There is a headphone plug and it works, but the output is pretty noisy when cranked up which is not unusual for economy gear. The output is good enough to use, but not much more. The level is set by up and down buttons which aren't convenient. A little rotary switch would have been nice.
In order to set the gain, you have to go into the menu system. Not difficult, but not fast either. A real switch for this function would have been really really nice.
When attaching to some mics, it really takes a firm push to snap the unit home. You feel kind of bad pushing that hard on the tight ones. On many other plugs, it is fine.
The on-off combo record switch is a bit fiddly. When starting a new take, you feel compelled to look at the display to make sure you got it going because of the fiddle switch. A recording pilot light would have been nice.
Now the rub(s): There is a tiny audio meter on the tiny display, but inexplicably when you hit record, it stops working! So it only works for setting the gain before you hit record. And there is more. The tiny meter doesn't have any indicator for when you clip, and since the meter is minuscule, you can't really tell when you have reached the point of clipping. You can sort of tell the clip location given some familiarity, but if you are recording yourself, and the recorder is plugged on the mic, you can't see the meter. Carrying a short XLR cable would be essential for setting this up until you become familiar. Like I said, the mic holder (person) becomes the mixer. And that person needs just a bit of boom guy DNA. With just a bit more thought, Tascam could have really improved the DR10x with a modest improvement in features. Regardless, you will want both headphones and an XLR cable to set the gain. After that, you are flying without a net unless you wear some headgear.
I haven't yet tried AGC as the very thought of it makes me a little nauseous.
But there is a lot of good here too, the audio, when you get it right, sounds very respectable, even with the gain set to high. There is plenty of gain for a dynamic interview mic. Given a little knowledge of the device, a hand-holder of the device should be able to get good interview audio which for me, is the point of the device. For wedding types, I'm not so sure. They do make a model designed for lavs. And for those outside of the US, there is a model with a line output to feed a wireless set. Lectro holds a patent on this feature, so Tascam can't market that model in the states. Lectro, of course, does make a tiny recorder with some really great features for merely $750. I'm sure it is much much better. Really though, for a hundred bucks, despite the work arounds, this is pretty handy. I'm just glad I didn't pay the regular price.
If anyone want to hear a couple of files, let me know.
G
