Comeau Computing Tech Magazine 2024
For musician and journalist, owning an excellent portable recorder is crucial. With technology changing, so did portable recorders, and here is a list of the best affordable recorders for this year.
1. Zoom H1n Handy Recorder ()
You can record high-quality sounds. It can fit in your pocket. It has an LCD screen, one-touch keys, and localized menus. It’s great for professionals as well as amateurs. It also offers an onboard limiter that allows you to record audio without any disturbance, and It can go up to 120dB. The Playback Speed Control allows you to decipher interviews, and for musicians, it is handy when it comes to learning or repeating songs. You can add new sound over existing ones. There is also an auto-record, pre-record and a self-timer feature. X/Y built-in stereo microphone and slate generators are also great features.
2. Yamaha PR7 Pocket Recorder with Overdub Functions ($187.00)
This is Yamaha’s latest product of recorders. XY street microphone, high-resolution recordings, onboard tuner, and metronome are some of the great features this recorder provides. The bad thing is that it has a limited storage memory.
3. Zoom H5 Four Track Portable Recorder ()
Another Zoom product. This one has a backlit LCD screen, lower panel, numerous buttons that provide you the choice of play, start, record, and fast forward. Despite its rough feel, it has a rubberized finish. Microphones are positioned on a shock mounter, and that helps reduce vibrations and handles noise. Interchangeable microphone capsules, two mic/line inputs with XLR/TRS combo connectors are some of the features. It is great for podcasting, broadcasting, and electronic newsgathering. The bad things are its price.
4. Zoom H6 Six-Track Portable Recorder ()
Another Zoom’s product. This one offers XYH-6 X/Y mic capsule, MSH-6 MS capsule, 2 GB SD card, 4 AA batteries, Cubase LE Software, USB cable, Windscreen, and the operation manual. This 10 –pound recorder gives you the ability to change the angle of capturing, and it allows you to multi-record. Unlike other Zoom recorders from our list, this one has the capacity of lowering the noise.
5. Roland R-05 Studio WAVE/MP3 ($199.99)
(Best Option)
Many students, musician, and journalists are using this portable recorder because it’s instinctive and straightforward to use. It has a built-in stereo mic and external mic that you can pick through external input. It also offers loop playback, tempo adjustment, auto song split, and auto record start.
6. Sony PCM-M10 Portable Linear PCM Voice Recorder ($798.50)
With electrets condenser stereo microphones, it is capable of sampling rates up to 96 kHz/24-bit, it offers a memory stick micro slot, and it has a 4 GB internal flash memory. With the high-speed USB port, you can download and upload files with ease, and you can choose whether will it be in MP3 or WAV format.
7. TASCAM DR-100mkll 2-Channel Portable Digital Recorder ($160.00)
High-end recording functionalities for sound technicians and musicians. Four built-in microphones bear omnidirectional and two cardioids, S/PDIF digital input for directly inputting a digital signal, securing connectors, so everything stays in position, and stable line ins for more limited hum on your signs. It has an aluminum body, and its two batteries are limiting the recording. It comes with a soft case, windsock, wireless remote control, power Li-ion battery, Coin cell, and USB cable.
8. TASCAM DR-40 4-Track Portable Digital Recorder ()
Effortless live music recording, built-in microphones. You can even record video by connecting your shotgun microphone and activate the phantom power. It has a built-in limiter, dual mode recording, automatic level, and it is a great songwriting tool.
9. Zoom H2n Handy Recorder ()
Zoom invested a lot into their recorders. This one has an instant boot up feature, an LCD that provides Auto Gain and Lo-Cut option. Metronome, playback speed adjustment and the ability to set loop ends are also great things on this recorder. Five built-in microphones, four recording modes like Mid-Side (MS), stereo X/Y, 2- and 4-channel surround are just a plus. Also, it supports onboard effects like compression or limiting, low-cut filtering, and a chromatic tuner. You can adjust the setting of recorder via Analog-type microphone gain know. What it offers more are the Auto-Gain, Auto-Record, Pre-Record, and Data Recovery feature. You need two AA alkaline or NiMH rechargeable batteries to make this recorder work. It is also a handheld recorder and is fully compatible with YouTube. You can access to WaveLab LE via USB port, and you can even use this recorder as a 2-in/2-out audio recorder or even as a USB microphone.
10. Zoom H4N Pro Digital Multitrack Recorder ($225.00)
The ultimate recorder from Zoom. It has a 1.9-inch LCD backlit display. MTR and 4CH stereo. There are buttons for recording, play, fast forward, and reverse. You can use a tripod to get the best sound quality. It can support sound up to 140 dB. Its sampling rate is up to 24-bit/96 kHz. Its boot time is longer than on other Zoom recorders – about 30 seconds. It also has a 0.125-inch street line out that you can connect with DSLR, but that only works if your camera has an external microphone.
