Juicedlink Little DARling or Zaxcom ZR200/300

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Juicedlink Little DARling, Zaxcom ZR200/300, Lectrosonics PDR, Tascam DR-10L

I'm debating between the above four options. Obviouslly the Zaxcom is much more expensive but wondering if the price is justified. I'm spoiled by my Sound Devices preamps. Timecode would be nice but really not that important for the work I do. The Zaxcom, appears to be the smaller of all of them and Juicedlink is pretty ugly. Unless there is a huge quality difference I think the Zaxcom is out of the running because it doesn't have a bracketed saftey track which I like.

What would you choose?

Also, B&H is bundling the little DARling with a Senal OLM-2 for a pretty good price. Reviews look good on that Lav but I trust my DVXusers thoughts more.
 
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They are both on backorder, but I have now narrowed down my choices to the Tascam DR-10L and the Lectrosonic PDR. If the audio quality is very similiar, I would be willing to give up timecode in order to save a good chunk of change. This way I can buy a bunch of them for the same price. Currently I don't see any comparison reviews online so I guess I"ll have to wait on that.

Another appealing product is the Tascam DR-10X, with an XLR connection, however realistically most things that require an XLR connection (i.e. handheld mic, boom, etc.), I would typically opt for going straight into mixpre-D/camera for synced sound and stronger preamps.
 
That's quite a price difference between the Tascam and the new Lectro.
If money is no object, I'd get the Lectro.
 
I'm certainly not saying money is no object, however, if there is a significant boost in quality from the lectro, i would be willing to pay the premium. Timecode and name alone will not convince me to spend $550 more.
 
How rough are you going to treat it? I doubt the audio quality is strikingly different. The lectro is machined aluminum and the Tascam is plastic, the mic jacks are also different with the edge to Lecto. Most of the recorders these days are really stable but if there is a difference it probably favors Lectro.

So if I were buying one to use on gigs where I was charging $1K+/day for me and equipment I would probably go with the Lectro because it will more bullet proof and if there is an issue I will be talking to people who understand what my needs are. Plus my wireless is Lectro so I already have mic's for it.

Otherwise I would go with Tascam. On lower budget gigs the odds of needing TC are close to zero. I am not particularly hard on equipment. Tascam is not Lectro but I have had good support from them in the past. And the much better battery life (about 3X) would be a bigger factor.

BTW unless you own some Lectro mics you need to add a mic in to the price for the Lectro so it's closer to $700 more.
 
Noiz2 said:
BTW unless you own some Lectro mics you need to add a mic in to the price for the Lectro so it's closer to $700 more.
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Are you saying Lectrosonic Devices require proprietary mics? That would be a deal breaker for me.

I'm using these on my own gigs, I rarley do freelance audio work. So I'd be fine with the durability of the Tascam. I know from experience that lectro wireless transmitters are very power hungry. Which I'm ok with if it means stronger preamps.

I guess we will just have to wait and see how these two devices stack up in terms of sound quality.
 
No, but they use different connectors and the Tascam comes with a mic and the Lectro doesn't. So if you have mics wired for use with Lectro then you won't need to buy anything but if you don't you will either need to buy a mic wired up for Lectro or have one of your mics rewired for Lectro. It's the plug and how that is wired that changes not the mic itself.

I could really have used a mic/ recorder I could plant with a 15hr run time on a gig earlier this year. The shoot was waiting for a woman to give birth and getting in to swap out batteries was a huge PITA.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, the Tascam has only a 3 position gain adjustment which is a bit of a deal killer for me. I absolutely like the concept though. I could imagine using the XLR version for run and gun interviews with an RE50, or a self powered shotgun. Does anyone know how strong the preamp is? Is it strong enough for this type of work? Dynamics have low outputs and the GH2 and AT897 are also somewhat anemic.

I assume the Lectro has full gain control instead?

G
 
ggrantly said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, the Tascam has only a 3 position gain adjustment which is a bit of a deal killer for me. I absolutely like the concept though. I could imagine using the XLR version for run and gun interviews with an RE50, or a self powered shotgun. Does anyone know how strong the preamp is? Is it strong enough for this type of work? Dynamics have low outputs and the GH2 and AT897 are also somewhat anemic.

I assume the Lectro has full gain control instead?

G
Click to expand...

The tascam 10L has 5 gain positions. The 10c has three. Possible firmware update for the C?
 
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