Portable Handheld Recorders: which one is the best?

[Jake Holland]

There are a number of companies now manufacturing these handheld portable digital two track recorders with the built-in stereo condensor microphone. They range from about

$200 for the Zoom and M-Audio models

$300 for the Zoom H4, Olympus, Tascam, Edorial

$400 for the Marantz

$500 for the Sony.

I would love to have one to do field recording to later use as raw material for sonic manipulation for the ambient music that I do.

Which one do you guys think is the winner among these?

[js1]

I can't say which one sounds best, cause I've only used the H4. My understanding is that if you're looking only for a field recorder, the H4 and H2 sound similar, i.e. pretty good.

I ended up with the H4 because of the other features - it will act as a USB interface, will do 4 track recording, supports external mics with phantom power, has guitar/bass amp sims, tuner, etc. Handy little swiss army knife.

However, for the most part, I've used it as a stereo recorder for gigs and rehearsals.

js

[John Willett]

Of all the ones listed - the only one I would consider buying is the Sony PCM-D50.

[Cornchuck]

I can not say which one of these would be the best to use in the field. But, I am using a Marantz PDM 670 with a Shure Fp33 Field ENG mixer for the mic pre's and a couple of shot gun mics. I would consider adding a mic pre to your list for better recordings.

I have the original Microtrack which I love and can't live without.
Downsides: boots way too slow, no stepless gain.

The mic it comes with isn't great but it does the job for most things. I recommend getting OKM Soundman mics.

Out of the ones you listed I find the Zoom H4 most desirable. Love the Blumlein-stereo-mic thumbsup

[idrinkalot]

i recently auditioned all of these about 3 months ago and walked away with the zoom h2. it doesn't have the best sound quality (to me, the mids seem a little boosted) but it was the one i could tell i'd have a ton of fun recording with. i don't regret it at all. the h4 felt a little dated compared to the h2.
for sound manipulation you'll probably love the surround sound setting on it.
also, it working as a usb interface is GREAT for friends house's with no recording gear.

that being said, for pure sound quality the sony sounded like the best. it also seemed more durable if you're prone to tossing recorders around.

[reid]

I narrowed my choice down to the Sony and the H4 - ended up going for the Sony. Would have liked the phantom powering of the H4 and its XLR ins, but the Sony has a better sound to my ears - very well built too.

Windshield is a must for the Sony outdoors.

[tsvisser]

you left out

Nagra ARES-PII+

is it really that important to have the mic built in? I can understand the convenience, but on the other hand, it seems so limiting in the units application. a compact mic on a cable would be much more flexible in use and placement than a clunky box. The Nagra ARES-PII+ has cable options to use external mics with +24vdc phantom and it also opens up options such as the Korg MR-1000 which has been reviewed very favorably by fellow slutz. Maybe something like the HHD Flashmic would be more appropriate?

Of the units originally listed, not counting price, I'd say it is a toss up between the Zoom H2 and the Sony for the flexibility of their microphone patterns / placement.

[PMoshay]

i got 2 defective Microtrack II units, then returned it to get the Sony D50....... The sony is awesome, it sound great and works perfectly

[henryrobinett]

I have the H4. I didn't audition any others. I just use it as a rehearsal, gig reference tool. I like it. It's OK.

[mahasandi]

I use the edirol r09. But with external mics and portable mini preamp.
The ad is good if using it with a preamp.
I think with all of these your ok if you bypass the mics and preamps,
can't speak to which is best among these for built in duties.
Though Sony would seem likely.
The edirol is paper-light sdflash media.
Its got good simple big buttons for
no look control in the field , the
battery hinge is to be handled delicatley but
otherwise no moving parts!

[BudgetMC]

We've had a couple of live gigs recorded by a buddy with an H2. As a quick-and-easy pocket-sized recording setup, it seems to work pretty darn well. I'm thinking of getting one just to have it around.

[jwh1192]

H2 here ...

i have been able to get recordings that i could not with anything larger ...

i have set it on tables and recorded bar / football game ambience and noone knows what it is .. it looks like an MP3 player ...

i have sampled all sorts of things to use as clicks and replacement drums ...

have not even done any surround yet ...

may not be as high quality as the sony ... but is very easy to use and within a few seconds you are recording ...

i heard that frank *******e (sound FX) uses H2's and H4's for all his recording

for 200.00 it is hard to beat ...

cheers

john

[Harvey Gerst]

I wound up buying an M-Audio microtrack II because it had a SPDIF input, and USB output, which I used to replace our aging DAT machines. It was pretty buggy till I upgraded to their 1.0.4 BETA software.

[RichS]

I have both the Zoom H2 and H4. Built-in mic's are surprisingly good.

I use the H2 for quick rehearsal stuff (choir/organ), but usually run the H4 with a pair of Schoeps omni's when I'd like a "nice" recording without any fuss.

[Nu-tra]

That korg mr-1

[jamsmith]

I have friend who is absolutley in love with his Zoom

[travisbrown]

I have the original Microtrack. I really like it, and all it's features. Took them a few tries to get the firmware right, and boots slowly, but the functions work well and I've got some really good recordings out of it. I like the 1/4" trs and SPDIF inputs.

The caveat is I've gone through three of them - all covered by warranty (more or less). Two were bricked after a firmware update and one of the replacements had a defective screen. I'm waiting for #4 right now. I haven't heard of any similar issues with the Microtrack II. The original Microtrack was a bit pricey. I think this has been adjusted with version two as some competitive products have come out since.

Half the time I'd like a good built in mic, the other half of the time I like the detached mic.

Balanced ins are a requirement for me. Lots of times I'm using it for board recordings or recording out of a stereo preamp - almost as much as I use it for spot recording.

[tsvisser]

the absolute king of the hill as far as "hand held" recorder goes, although the price is several magnitudes greater and requires external mics, is the Sonosax MINIR82.
SONOSAX Audio equipment manufacturer
it has two very good mic pres built in and can record 8 tracks via AES/EBU.

I'm sure it is not at all what you were looking for, but just thought I'd mention it to include as a handheld recorder for the record.

[jeremy.c.]

I was ready to buy the Zoom H4 because it looked like it had the right balance of features and quality, until I read this review on Amazon:

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Don't Try Synching This Audio with Video..., January 25, 2008
For some reason, the internal clock used by the ZOOM H4 is a bit off the "true" clock. What this means is, if you video tape an event or something, and at the same time record the same audio with the ZOOM H4 (using it as an additional audio source) the audio files produced by the ZOOM H4 will NOT SYNCH with the audio/video produced by any MiniDV Camcorder!!! The H4 audio runs slightly faster for some unknown reason. The manufacturer acknowledges the issue, but can't fix it. Which means all of your audio is actually playing back at a slightly different pitch than what was originally recorded. To me, this is inexcuseable for a product prioed this high.

Anyone have any practical experience with this issue? Is it noticeable or was it likely this guy's camera that had the clock issues?

[cl516]

when i got the Edirol R-09,
the Olympus and baby Sony hadn't come out yet.

The Edirol R-09, as a self contained unit,
is really light, compact, and perfect for stealth.
It is Made in Japan, and despite the lightness, feels like a quality build.

I'd probably look at the Sony or Olympus if I was starting now.

[tsvisser]

I have never used the Zoom, but I have heard from other video production people similar problems, although I do believe that it has been determined that the drift is relatively small, so unless you are running a very long free run scene, you shouldn't have a real world drift problem, and of course very simple to fix in post.

My opinion, though, is that any device used for recording for video, unless front ended by a mixer, should have a knob or fader for levels. pressing buttons on location is just not going to cut it, or else you have to set your levels so low as to potentially compromise the quality of the take.

[Jake Holland]

Great.

I am going to check out the Sony and the Zoom H2. I like the idea of surround recording for taking stuff in for ambient music manipulation later.

The Sony does look to be the most professional out fo the bunch I mentioned. If the Zoom sound quality is almost on par with the Sony then I think the price difference makes the Zoom much more attractive.

[scifijedi]

dan lavry designs sony converters,so that would be the best sounding one....

[peeder]

Received the Tascam DR-1 today...sounds pretty fabu.

Built-in (internal) mics, with "RevLive" onboard reverb enabled, no limiting or low cut or anything else. 24/48 WAV. This clip is straight from the DR-1, no additional processing applied what-so-ever.

[Barbary Ape]

Just a suggestion.

If you have a laptop try a buss powered Ultralite or Traveler. I've tried it before, a Traveler attached to a MacBook, they all fit in a bag but it's a pain to start and stop recording. But you get more versatility.

[wheever]

I have the H2. It's pretty awesome. Its sound quality is very, very good considering the size and price. The quad-channel works really well for ambient stuff.

It's absolutely perfect for quick location recordings and has pretty much every feature you could want. It's a really well thought out piece of gear. Recording ambiance in 24-bit quad ROOLS!

[pbansen]

I got a Zoom H2 yesterday mostly for recording speech using the line input. Very impressive little unit - quite easy to use even without opening the manual (although if you DO read the manual, you'll find that it does an amazing variety of things that you may not even need).

Anyway, I was looking for something to carry it in so that the little screen won't get scratched. It comes with a case, but it's a pretty flimsy thing. It occurred to me that somewhere I had a small fleece bag made by a company called Aerostich. Aerostich makes and sells motorcycle gear - an amazing array of stuff that no one else would think to carry.

Aerostich has a small fleece bag that fits the H2 like it was made for it. Here's the link:
Aerostich Fleece Bags :: Small Storage and Pack Accessories :: Packing It In :: Aerostich/RiderWearHouse Motorcycle Jackets, Suits, Clothing, & Gear

Very nicely made and just a perfect fit.

[Shadow_7]

I know a few trombonists that have and thrash the microtrak. It has some sort of autogain settings (by default). And they're in groups that do dynamics (loud, soft, soft to loud, loud to soft) and this recorder doesn't record those. Or so they say.

I was looking at the Zoom H4 because it has XLR and phantom power. Although for that price point I'm tempted to go higher yet for the Korg MR-1000 or SD 722.

Strange that the poll is missing the Korg MR-1. And interesting to hear about the H4's speed issue. Not that it matters much, you can always sync things manually. A bit tedious and difficult if you weren't aware and didn't clap / click track some things for alignment later.

[MichaelPatrick]

Originally Posted by Harvey Gerst

I wound up buying an M-Audio microtrack II because it had a SPDIF input, and USB output, which I used to replace our aging DAT machines. It was pretty buggy till I upgraded to their 1.0.4 BETA software.

Same here. Works great now.