I get a lot of people asking me about field recorders. The price of reporter recorders can vary from £100 -£500 but what are the best buys?
Zoom H4n Cost £279
This is an update of the H4 the original could only record on SD and had the smallest display ever and annoyingly would keep defaulting back to the onboard mics. But it is the cheapest recorder to offer balanced XLR inputs at line and mic level. The display has been much improved and will now take SDHC. BUT it still has a complicated 4 track facility loved by musicians but hated by us ordinary radio folk who want simplicity. To buy one
click here
The Marantz PMD661 Cost £440
This is your Mercedes Benz of recorders, rugged and sexy but with a huge rrp of something like £700 but you can buy one for about £440. This is the machine, or rather the earlier model which is used throughout commercial radio. (The BBC also have these but are now handing out a mini Nagra machine which costs a fortune) With a good microphone the results are superb the display is clear easy to read and the cock-up factor for recordings is low. To buy one
click here
The Tascam DR07 £129
I really like this machine, if you do not need balanced mics and can put up with a mini-jack stereo mic input this is the machine for you. BUT if you are doing interviews with it set the mics to MONO - you get a much better quality of recording. It comes with a mic shield so looks on the street like a fat microphone. USB to download audio will also handle SDHC cards. To buy one
click here
So in summary:
The first thing you should ask yourself - what am I going to use a recorder for and where will I be using it? If you plan to take your recording equipment out in the field everyday and the recorder is likely to get heavy use I would recommend the Marantz PMD661 (£440) If you need balanced XLR recording buy a Zoom H4n or if you are doing simple interviews then go for the Tascam DR-07
