Tascam DR-05: Small Recorder with 3.5mm Input for Lavalier Mics
If I were working with a budget of $150 USD to get a decent "wireless" lavalier microphone setup, I would look to the Tascam DR-05 Audio Recorder and JK MicJ 044 lavalier as a solid combination. The nice thing about this combination is that the talent aren't tied to a single spot and can work untethered. Then you just have to sync the audio to the video in post which is not nearly as difficult as we often assume:
Why the Tascam over the Zoom H1? Feature wise, they are nearly identical. Audio quality wise? Nearly identical. The main thing that would push me to the Tascam is that build quality is just slightly better than the Zoom. The plastic is slightly higher quality. Some say that the preamps are slightly less noisy though I haven't confirmed that 100%. They're certainly in the same league as the H1.
Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio with the Tascam DR-05 which is a nice little addition if you don't already have an audio editing app.
Amazing Pricing on Tascam Recorders
Again, evidently today only, amazing prices on both the Tascam DR70D 4 XLR input recorder ($179) and DR60DmkII 2 XLR input recorder ($129). Here's my original review of the DR60DmkII. Tascam DR-70D
Tascam DR-70D Special Pricing, Again
While at NAB, I had a chance to see the Tascam DR-70D up close and it is even smaller than I expected, a much nicer form factor than the DR-60D and two additional XLR inputs for a total of 4. And, it just so happens that Amazon has special pricing on it right now for well under its regular $299 price. If I were buying today, this is the one I'd get.
Tascam DR-60D Deal Today
Looks like B&H has the original DR-60D on sale for $129 today. Amazing price on a good recorder/preamp.
Tascam DR-60DmkII Audio Field Recorder Review
Tascam recently released an update to their DR-60D field recorder. The DR-60DmkII is a great little field recorder and pre-amp with two XLR inputs, one 3.5mm input, lots of clean gain to produce very nice audio and a good limiter to prevent distortion from clipping. I really like the original version of this recorder, so let’s take a look and see what has changed in the mark II. http://youtu.be/TRoIMPHS91U
Tascam Announces the DR-70D Field Recorder
Now I get why Tascam priced the DR-60DmkII at $200 USD. Turns out they had the DR-70D in the wings--a 4 XLR input, bigger brother to the DR-60D and priced at $300 USD!
So the Tascam DR-70D is very similar to my favorite little DSLR audio recorder but it adds two additional XLR inputs, reference sound mics, and a different form factor. Interesting. I would think this would be a great recorder for those that need more than two mics. My only question is, how's the battery life on this thing? If the DR-60D only gets 3 - 3.5 hours, I can't imagine that this lasts more than about 2 hours when recording with 3 or 4 mics and phantom power...
I'll have the review of the DR-60DmkII up in the next 24 hours. Interesting little device. In addition to a discussion about its pros and cons, we'll answer the question, "Should I upgrade from the DR-60D to the DR-60DmkII?"
HMNSound MicroLav Review
So it was the HMNSound MicroLav that I bought and compared to the Audio Technica AT899 in the last episode (see below) And in this episode, we review the MicroLav. In short, I really like this microphone - great sound, less expensive than the Audio Technica AT899, similar build quality. Fewer accessories. Boutique mic so it comes with all the good and bad that entails. Have a listen!
http://youtu.be/afEpEwUATPE
Tascam DR-60DmkII
Interestingly, Tascam just released the mark 2 version of their DR-60D field recorder for DSLR sound recording. The Tascam DR-60DmkII looks like mainly an update to the pre-amps which I thought were already pretty nice for the price. But in the mark 2, they cite discrete "circuitry and parts" which I assume means they're not just using a single integrated circuit for all of the pre-amp channels. The specs include 64db of gain and low noise (EIN = -120db).
That may not mean much to many of us but those are impressive specs for a $200 US recorder. Many dedicated audio interfaces and stand alone pre-amps don't have quite that much gain.
But of course, those are just specs. I need to get my hands on one of these to compare it. I can say that the jump from the Tascam DR-100mkII to the DR-60D was a significant improvement at a practical level--cleaner pre-amps on the 60D by quite a bit. I hope this is the same.
One thing they don't mention is battery life which in my opinion is one of the biggest issues with the DR-60D. Those 4 AA batteries only go for about 2 hours, sometimes less if you're phantom powering a microphone. Maybe they made some behind the scenese improvements here? Another reason to get my hands on one for testing but I don't have my hopes up on this front.
I'd say if you're in the market for a sub $250 audio recorder right now, I'd look at the Tascam DR-60DmkII very seriously, noting that you will want to have a strategy in place for powering it. I recently bought one of those USB chargers they market for charging mobile devices and it works brilliantly--have shot probably 6 hours with it and have only used 15% of the battery. Granted its one of the larger units and I haven't found a way to mount it to my rig yet. But more on that in a future review...
Oh, yeah, and it has red strap bars now, too. It must be good!
Lavalier Microphone Comparison Results
We’ve done a bunch of episodes on lavalier microphones including reviews, technique, which recorders they work best with and, well, maybe we’ve been a little too obsessed with lavalier microphones. But one thing we have not done is blindly pit them one against the other to see which one sounds best—by that I mean, not tell you which is which, just let you listen to each one where the talent speaks the same dialogue. Last week we did just that and now, the results are in! Let’s see which mics won at the blind comparison test!
Here's the key to which mic was which in the original comparison:
http://youtu.be/eIIbmA7pdGw
Tried a new camera angle. Not sure it is the most flattering for me. Ideally, it should be a little less off to the side, just slightly more straight-on so that my nose doesn't extend beyond my far cheek. The problem is that I have this huge desk in the way. May need to look at reconfiguring the "studio".
Tascam DR-60D Only $149 US
B&H Photo here in the US has special pricing on the Tascam DR-60D recorder that we've covered several times in the past--only $149 US. That's an amazing steal. If you are on the fence because of the $250 price tag, now may be a good time to get off and head over to B&H. Not sure when this will end but this is the best pricing I've ever seen on it. Shout out to Johnny Rosario for the tip!
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