I've finally sorted through all my discoveries at America's biggest musical instrument trade show — NAMM. Once again, this show was an amazing mix of futuristic technology, fabulous performances, and freaky products. Low-res digicam* in hand, I squeezed past the other 85,798 attendees to capture these favorites.
Because O'Reilly's portable digital recorder reviews have been so popular, I started with that category. Click the product names to visit the manufacturers' sites for more photos and specs.
24 Bits in the Hand
Both TASCAM and Zoom expanded their range of portable recorders with new models that combine the best features of existing ones, yet add a twist. The TASCAM DR-07 is a smaller version of the DR-1 with a tripod socket and (hooray!) AA battery support. When we reviewed the DR-1's guitar-oriented sibling, the GT-R1, reviewer Mark Nelson concluded, “What keeps me from jumping up and down and telling you to go out and buy one is the proprietary battery and lack of a tripod mount.” Another reason to jump now: the DR-07's street price is just $199.
On the other extreme, TASCAM's new DR-100 nods to the high-end Sony PCM D-50 and mic-friendly Zoom H4, with a metal housing and phantom-powered XLR mic jacks. But it offers both cardioid (directional) and omnidirectional stereo mics as well. It appears that only one stereo pair can be active at a time (making it a two-track recorder), but the DR-100 looked and felt serious. Its remote control, analog limiter, and onboard audio editing are attractive bonus features. There's a built-in speaker too. Street price? About $429.
I thought the cleverest new TASCAM offering was the BB-1000CD, though. It's a realtime CD recorder with four active mics (two front and two rear), sort of like a Zoom H2 built into a boom box. (You can play back your new recording through the integrated 10W speakers.) The BB-1000CD can record to SD cards as well, and then burn the recordings to CD. It runs on 8 AA batteries or AC. Street price should be around $599.
Zoom with a View
Zoom's new H4n Handy Recorder combines some of the best features of the H2 and H4 while pumping up the quality and ergonomics. I immediately noticed the larger display and rubberized housing, but was especially impressed by the ingenious mic design. Normally, the H4n capsules are oriented 90° apart, in an overlapping pattern that's designed to prevent the hole-in-the-middle effect you can get with outward-facing mics. If you want a wider sound stage, you simply rotate the mics half a turn or so, spreading the capsules 120° apart but preserving the overlap. (Compare this approach with the Sony D-50, whose mics go walleyed in 120° mode.)
Like the H4, the H4n also sports XLR jacks, but these feed better preamps, and you can use them at the same time as the built-in mics to record four-channel sound. Or select the stereo line input instead to capture, say, a stereo feed from a mixing board along with the live sound from the built-in mics. Concert recordists should love that.
In Zoom tradition, the H4n includes dozens of other features as well, such as a built-in speaker, a guitar tuner, the ability to function as a USB audio interface, overdubbing with effects (which you can disable to nearly triple battery life), and many more. The USB connector has been upgraded to USB 2.0 hi-speed spec for fast file transfers. You even get a windscreen and a hard plastic case. Street price is just $349. A wired remote control adds $39.99.
And yet, Zoom's next recorder, shown on a revolving pedestal under glass, breaks even more barriers. It promises to combine the simplicity of the hugely popular Flip video camera with Zoom's quality stereo recording. Sound on camcorders, especially flash-based ones, has traditionally been miserable, so the Q3 could be a mighty force in music video. Specs have not yet been confirmed, but a representative told me he hopes the Q3 will have HD video. It should be shipping by the end of this year.
That's all I have time to upload today; check back soon for many more of my NAMM gear favorites.
*Musicians often compare NAMM to a candy store, but I think the next goodie I grab may be a compact camera with image stabilization and cleaner video. Let me know what you recommend; I'm eyeballing the CanonSX10IS
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Thanks for the blog - the tascam looks great for recording my saxophone music>.
@Brandobean: Thanks for posting the detailed comment as well as your very helpful shootout. The H4n is indeed chunky, but that's due to the XLR inputs and great big screen, of course.
Another recorder to consider, given your desire to overdub, is the Boss Micro BR. Its built-in mic is mono, but it has a stereo mic jack, and it's tiny and inexpensive. (See our review.)
The Alesis ProTrack looks interesting as well (assuming you have an iPod).
Thanks David.
Those devices look cool. I'm unique because I'm torn between the following use cases. I'll dissect how this matches what you posted above in a moment...
1. ** Record a loud band practice or show **
MUST HAVE:
* Ability to plug in my ATM-822 mic (which terminates in either mini-plug or 1/4" jacks)
* Decent sounding built in mics that capture low end (rules out the Yamaha CX and Olympus models)
* Ease in setting levels
NICE TO HAVE:
* Since I compress/add reverb with my computer later, don't need them but a limiter would be nice.
* Long battery life
* Small size and ability to plug in a set of stealth binaural eyeglasses mics I own.
2. ** Quickly demo a new song **
MUST HAVE:
* ability to overdub a track or two on top of a 2 track stereo recording
* some degree of compression / reverb
* Ability to punch in/out manually
NICE TO HAVE:
* Ability to record guitar directly, with effects
* ease of use for 4 tracking
WHAT NAMM 2009 MEANS:
I like my friends H4 OK. I use it w/ my ATM-822 ($250) which makes it sound better than all the other recorders built in mics. It's rather huge and not pocketable though. Battery life sucks, and sound quality is only OK (mics are up there with the Edirol, better than Tascam, Olympus, and Yamaha CX)so... I was looking at the H4N
ZOOM H4-N:
PROS: Offers better construction, and better UI, battery life, ability to record SNBD+mics for matrix tapes at shows. Better UI for 4 tracking w/ effects. Improved MIC pre's.
CONS: Spendier than H4, still huge.
CONCLUSION: I'm interested. Wish it was smaller/cheaper.
ROLAND DR-07:
PROS: Like the DR-1 only smaller & cheaper.
CONS: Mics are only OK (if same as DR1). No guitar effects or overdubbing.
CONCLUSION: How is this different than the current Olympus models? Same size, similar features.
TASCAM DP-004: http://www.tascam.com/products/dp-004.html
You didn't mention this but it's a new tiny 4-track w/ built in stereo condensor mics & easy to use controls. Geared more for the 4-track demo, I love it's form factor. I'd buy it TODAY but, it doesn't have any reverb/compression or effects. What!? That makes it no better than the H4N.
You may remember I ran a suite of audio comparisons of all the available digital recorders a few months ago? My conclusion? Well, I bought none of them. A bandmate picked up an H4 and that's all we needed.
I'm so excited, finally a portable recording device that has overdubbing AND a built in speaker. Too bad from the photo the Zoom H4n is so ugly. Oh well can't have it all I guess. yet.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
A note to inform your company that we manufacture synthetic fur windscreens for many handheld recorders. Below is a list of the ones that we presently sell worldwide, and they are all listed on ebay as a "buy it now" auction. You can find them under "portable electronics\ Sony Windscreen"etc.. Our user name is "hearley" to find all of our products.
We have sold to customers worldwide, and you can check out our possitive feedback on our listings. You can also contact us through our email at lilya39@hotmail.com
Enclosed is a sample of one of our models, a windscreen for the Sony PCM-D1
Thanks for your interest, Shirley
Synthetic Fur Windscreens for the:
Sony PCM-D1
Sony PCM-D50
Marantz PCD661
Marantz PCD620
Tascam DR-100
Tascam GR-R1
Tascam DR-1
Edirol R-09
Olympus Ls-10
Zoom H4n
Zoom H4
Zoom H-2
Yamaha Pocketrak 2G