Handheld Recorder Shootout

René Coronado has been publishing a series of articles on his blog, doing a comparison between several handheld recorders. The list includes:

  • Sony PCM D50
  • Tascam DR-100
  • Zoom H4n
  • Sound Devices 744t (as reference)

The portable recording device market has exploded in recent years, and everyone is looking around wonder which one to buy – so I’m here to help! The specific purpose of the shootout is to evaluate the recorders through the lens of sound designers and field recordists, and to measure them against an industry standard field recording setup. I’m testing out three recorders against a reference setup.

He compares all the features of the devices and also do several listening tests. He’s created two very well-written articles, which will help you a lot if you were considering a new handheld recorder this Christmas… 🙂

Part 1 | Part 2

Comments

4 responses to “Handheld Recorder Shootout”

  1. Rene Coronado Avatar
    Rene Coronado

    thx for the link! I have a third part with some conclusions drawn from the tests in the works that will be up soon.

  2. jdchahin Avatar
    jdchahin

    Thnx for the post Rene! also Migue for the link! I own a h4n and definitively the limiter sucks and the batteries life sucks… but I kind of like the sound it gets, Im happy but i really need to have lots of extra batteries for a field recording. Thnks again!

  3. Christopher Sabat Avatar

    Funny seeing you here, Rene. Nice article, sir.

  4. Simon Charles Avatar

    I only found this review after I purchased a Sony PCM-D50 and it’s an extremely good review of the recorders. I am incredibly happy with my D50 and there is no doubt in my mind that I bought the right one. The build and sound quality are simply excellent, and the battery life is fenomenal. I have had it a month and have used it heavily and i’m still on the set of batteries that came with the unit, the indicator shows half battery remaining!!

    One thing to add is that I regularly use an external microphone, Rode NTG3 through a Sound Devices MM-1 preamp, plugged into the 3.5mm socket and I think it sounds great. I have done tests with using the line socket and the mic socket (with the 20db pad engaged) and both give a great sound.

    I mainly use the D50 and a ‘point and shoot’ recorder for ambiences, nature etc and it’s never failed to impress me for such a small unit. And with the ability to plug external microphones in as well (with a decent preamp of course) means I can use it for foley and close up sfx gathering as well.

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