Gollnick
Musical Director
- Joined
- Mar 22, 1999
- Messages
- 29,258
The Special Equipment Department here at BalisongCollector Headquarters has come up with two new kit items being issued for most field operations. Since they are declassified, I thought I'd share them with you.
On the left is a Tascam DR-08 field recorder. It's an audio recorder device. I originally asked for it as part of an op to infiltrate the board of a local charity. I was taken aback by the tone of some of the discussion and I was further upset when the official minutes of the meeting didn't match my notes or memory. So, to improve my memory, I decided to record future meetings. I first thought to use my iPhone; it has a dandy memo recorder on it that even e-mails the recorded file to my inbox instantly. But... then I realized that if my phone was in the middle of the table for best microphone placement, it would not be in my hand to entertain me during the boring parts of the meeting.... errrr... strike that... to... ah mmmm.... to look up vital facts in support of important discussions. (Yeah. That sounds better.) So, I asked Spec. Equip. to get me a small portable recorder.
The DR-08 has proven to be perfect. The quality of the recordings is simply superb. Even though the microphones are only about 1.5 inches apart when folded out, the stereo image and stereo separation is amazing. It's easy to use. It runs off of two AAA cell batteries or from USB power. The recordings go onto a removable micro SD card and an be downloaded by USB. It has a tiny speaker which, when the volume is turned all the way up can be heard; it's not for critical listening, but handy to check and make sure that you got something. Standard headphones can be plugged in. It also has a line input for recording from analog electronic sources. And it produces line-level output too. However, I have found that it's definition of "line level" is really on the low side. This is a problem when recording from a professional console. To record from the M7CL at my church, for example, I had to build a cable with 28dB attenuation built in. With that cable, it records from the M7CL beautifully (of course, the M7CL has built-in recording, so this is unnecessary, but I wanted to try anyway). The DR-08 is NOT a little "dictaphone" voice memo recorder. No. It's 24 Bits/96KHz, better than CD-quality recording with all of the controls such as manual record level controls that you would want on a professional recorder. I've used it for live music too and it's really impressive.
I get about 4 hours of recording from a set of batteries, but I have the display set to maximum brightness and to stay lit at all times. I also have the red record LED set to stay on whenever recording. Through menu settings, you can turn those off to save power. But, I like the visual presence of the recorder on the table in a meeting. And as for those board meetings I originally got it for, well a recorded meeting is a polite meeting which is why I like the unit lit up. And my memory seems to have improved because the official minutes of the meetings are now more to my memory.
So, if you want to record sound in the field, the Tascam DR-08 is a great choice. It sells for about $75 at music industry stores such as Guitar Center or Sweetwater.
Speaking of USB power, the DR-08 can run from USB power, the item on the right is an Aluratek APB02F portable battery
It's an 8000mAH Lithium-Ion battery that can be charged through a microUSB connector and that then provides power to other devices via two USB-A ports. It will charge and run phones, cameras, field recorders, tablets, GPSs, most anything that powers or charges via USB. It will charge an iPhone about five times.
I was originally inspired to seek such a thing by reports of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in New York City. People were lining up to use available working outlets to charge their phones. In many areas, the cellular infrastructure was working, but the residential electrical service in many buildings was out since the distribution panels were in the basements and had been flooded. With a battery like this Aluratek unit, I could keep my phone going for a week or two with rationed usage. I also like it when traveling so that I can use my phone as much as I want without becoming one of those people huddled around the few available outlets or paying high prices to rent an outlet for an hour or two. Since then, I've found this to be a wonderfully-useful device to have with me.
Spec Equip has packaged it up with a USB Micro and a USB Mini cable plus an iPhone dock cable in a smart case from Case Logic originally intended for external hard drives.
It makes for a very nice package.
As have several other online reviewers, I found that the USB Micro cable included by Aluratek is unusable; it's just intermittent. I now have bought five of these Aluratek APB02F units and the included cable had to be thrown away in all cases. Fortunately, a replacement costs about 99 cents. The APB02F sells for about $50 and your best buys are always at Frys.
On the left is a Tascam DR-08 field recorder. It's an audio recorder device. I originally asked for it as part of an op to infiltrate the board of a local charity. I was taken aback by the tone of some of the discussion and I was further upset when the official minutes of the meeting didn't match my notes or memory. So, to improve my memory, I decided to record future meetings. I first thought to use my iPhone; it has a dandy memo recorder on it that even e-mails the recorded file to my inbox instantly. But... then I realized that if my phone was in the middle of the table for best microphone placement, it would not be in my hand to entertain me during the boring parts of the meeting.... errrr... strike that... to... ah mmmm.... to look up vital facts in support of important discussions. (Yeah. That sounds better.) So, I asked Spec. Equip. to get me a small portable recorder.
The DR-08 has proven to be perfect. The quality of the recordings is simply superb. Even though the microphones are only about 1.5 inches apart when folded out, the stereo image and stereo separation is amazing. It's easy to use. It runs off of two AAA cell batteries or from USB power. The recordings go onto a removable micro SD card and an be downloaded by USB. It has a tiny speaker which, when the volume is turned all the way up can be heard; it's not for critical listening, but handy to check and make sure that you got something. Standard headphones can be plugged in. It also has a line input for recording from analog electronic sources. And it produces line-level output too. However, I have found that it's definition of "line level" is really on the low side. This is a problem when recording from a professional console. To record from the M7CL at my church, for example, I had to build a cable with 28dB attenuation built in. With that cable, it records from the M7CL beautifully (of course, the M7CL has built-in recording, so this is unnecessary, but I wanted to try anyway). The DR-08 is NOT a little "dictaphone" voice memo recorder. No. It's 24 Bits/96KHz, better than CD-quality recording with all of the controls such as manual record level controls that you would want on a professional recorder. I've used it for live music too and it's really impressive.
I get about 4 hours of recording from a set of batteries, but I have the display set to maximum brightness and to stay lit at all times. I also have the red record LED set to stay on whenever recording. Through menu settings, you can turn those off to save power. But, I like the visual presence of the recorder on the table in a meeting. And as for those board meetings I originally got it for, well a recorded meeting is a polite meeting which is why I like the unit lit up. And my memory seems to have improved because the official minutes of the meetings are now more to my memory.
So, if you want to record sound in the field, the Tascam DR-08 is a great choice. It sells for about $75 at music industry stores such as Guitar Center or Sweetwater.
Speaking of USB power, the DR-08 can run from USB power, the item on the right is an Aluratek APB02F portable battery
It's an 8000mAH Lithium-Ion battery that can be charged through a microUSB connector and that then provides power to other devices via two USB-A ports. It will charge and run phones, cameras, field recorders, tablets, GPSs, most anything that powers or charges via USB. It will charge an iPhone about five times.
I was originally inspired to seek such a thing by reports of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in New York City. People were lining up to use available working outlets to charge their phones. In many areas, the cellular infrastructure was working, but the residential electrical service in many buildings was out since the distribution panels were in the basements and had been flooded. With a battery like this Aluratek unit, I could keep my phone going for a week or two with rationed usage. I also like it when traveling so that I can use my phone as much as I want without becoming one of those people huddled around the few available outlets or paying high prices to rent an outlet for an hour or two. Since then, I've found this to be a wonderfully-useful device to have with me.
Spec Equip has packaged it up with a USB Micro and a USB Mini cable plus an iPhone dock cable in a smart case from Case Logic originally intended for external hard drives.
It makes for a very nice package.
As have several other online reviewers, I found that the USB Micro cable included by Aluratek is unusable; it's just intermittent. I now have bought five of these Aluratek APB02F units and the included cable had to be thrown away in all cases. Fortunately, a replacement costs about 99 cents. The APB02F sells for about $50 and your best buys are always at Frys.