Last updated 17 Nov 08
note: click on the recorder name to go to manufacturer or supplier websites for more details
Nagra Ares BB Nagra has long been the the Rolls-Royce of recorder manufacturers and as a former engineer I can only drool over their construction. Their new compact flash recorders are being purchased in large numbers by the BBC, and it’s a safe choice on the “nobody every got sacked for buying IBM” principle. But for a typical freelance, eking out a precarious living with a variety of activities and not recording stuff every day, maybe they’re a bit pricey (around £1700 with all the necessary kit).
Satisfied user experience: “after a month of using the NAGRA Ares-BB I have to say that I'm delighted with it. It is very robust, very easy to use and I'm more than happy with the sound quality. One of the hidden benefits is that it comes with a three year warranty on it so if anything goes wrong with it you just send it back to be fixed ... with the exception of running over it with your car ... I'm told one BBC machine has already been treated to this! The battery life is at least 3 hours on it and the version I have allows the rechargeable AA cells to be replaced with dry cells in an emergency. I've never actually run the battery down in front-line service. Yes it's a lot of money, but if your reputation and your ability to work depends on it then I think it's worth it.” (Mark Holdstock)
Nagra now have several models including a much smaller model with an in-built broadcast quality mic, at around £700. I've not tried it.
Fostex FR-2 Next up in price, around £700, a reassuringly large, solid recorder, but does it have to be quite that big? Believed to be selling well to BBC local radio stations, probably well suited to an environment where a few recorders are pooled and they need to be robust. Records to EITHER removable PCMCIA hard disk drive OR removable Compact Flash memory.
Fostex FR-2LE A smaller, more economical version of the above, still very robust-looking, around £375. Looks promising but I've no user reports
Waycom Handheld II Not everyone likes the unusual design, but a lot of people do and this is a seriously imaginative piece of kit, from a manufacturer that's been in solid-state recording longer than any other. The "Handheld II" won 2nd place in the 2005 Radio Festival “TechCon” day (beaten by something quite different, not another recorder). The size, shape and weight of a TV remote control, with a built-in broadcast quality microphone, good battery life (with AAA cell option if rechargeable runs down), and ability to record the last 10 seconds audio BEFORE you switch on! You can plug in an external mic instead, using an XLR-equipped cradle AND it comes with a free “Field Editor” that’s certainly powerful enough for routine clip preparation and simple mixing too. However nothing’s perfect and unfortunately it perpetuates what I regard as one of the weaknesses of portable mini-disc recorders – a small liquid-crystal display with information that it is not easy to see while concentrating on your interviewee. I much prefer a line of multi-coloured LEDs that you can see out of the corner of your eye. It’s around £550 inclusive of VAT through Rodney Wayman at Solid State Sound, and he can get an occasional factory refurbished model for Freelance Network members at a lower price than that!
Marantz PMD-660 This was very well received when it came out a few years ago and it seems to have become very much the standard among radio freelances and many independent producers as well -- it is more economical than all the above (around £350 incl VAT) more compact than the Fostex, takes XLR mic cables, has sensible sized buttons, an excellent recording-level display (two lines of green/yellow/red LEDs) and built in stereo mics (useful, if only as a reserve if you have trouble with an external mic or cable). Came out well in a BBC newsroom trial with reporters adapting to it easily and finding they “could mark the ins and outs for their clips in the taxi back from an interview”. Almost a standard amongst radio freelancers now.
Satisfied User experience: “I'm very pleased with the Marantz PMD 660 so far. I'm using a dynamic AKG mike, which I bought from a former BBC studio manager. Downloading to the computer through the USB has been very satisfactory. I went straight from DAT tape to solid-state and find it great - instant playback and file transfer” (George MacPherson).
It uses Compact Flash cards, now the standard on professional digital cameras, so readily obtainable and affordable. Early reports of lost files seem to have been a transient problem and in any case you should be able to recover them with suitable software -- the sound files are normally on the card, it's just the file directory that has got corrupted. If you fear you've lost a file STOP recording immediately -- you may over-write it and then you'll never get it back. Lexar and Sandisk cards come with excellent file recovery software, or just Google for some freeware to do the job.
One slight drawback to the PMD660 is that the menus take some getting used to, in fact you really need to have the manual beside you. However, particularly if you have just one set-up (eg an external mono mic) then once you've got the various options right the machine saves them and you shouldn't need to go through the same rigmarole again. And make sure one of the selections is external mic if that's what you're using -- otherwise the machine will record from its own internal mics (it doesn't auto-detect a mic in the external socket, unless that's been corrected in more recent versions).
Early models also had pre-amplifiers that were a bit hissy with some types of mic, although I had no problem with my ATM10A (a powered mic). Best beware if buying a used machine -- how old is it? (Marantz also does a larger version, the PMD-670, something like the Fostex FR-2 in size)
Marantz PMD620. Introduced to the UK towards the end of 2007 I think this is proving the perfect mini-disk replacement. Tiny (the size of a pack of cards, but much lighter), uses AA batteries, a small but bright display that is readable outside (and you shouldn't need reading glasses even if your eyes are getting on a bit!), record level control by two up-down buttons (not hidden in a menu) etc. There's a nice big red circular light round the record button -- solid red when recording, flashing red in record-pause. And it's around £250 [GBP] which is a bargain. Marantz also seem to have learned from the PMD660 -- this machine auto-detects an external microphone (or line-in) so you won't have the embarrassment of finding that you've been recording on the internal mics when you thought you were using that hand-held external one! It records onto Secure Digital memory cards, again very widely used in digital cameras and should be very reliable if you buy proper branded cards. I much prefer them as the connectors on Compact Flash cards have a large number of tiny pins, but SD cards just have a few large tags -- much more robust. The most significant weakness of the 620 is the stereo mini-jack input for the external mic. If you used little mini-disk recorders for years without damaging their tiny sockets you should be OK with this one (and of course the same mic lead works fine). If you tended to break them, or if you're after machines for communal use in a newsroom or college course, I'd go for the more robust 660.
Edirol R-9 This superseded the R-1, which felt unsettlingly light and "plasticky" to me, and had a variety of recording modes (simulating different locations) which were of no interest to most radio reporters and some early users were horrified to find that accidental selection left them with un-broadcastable interviews. So when I got the R-9 to try I was sold on its compact size, intuitive controls, nice big red light round the record button (solid when recording, flashing when paused), AA batteries etc. But I took it outside and even on an overcast day I couldn't read the screen. Sorry no good for a freelance reporter. If it's been improved since, please let me know!
Zoom H-4 I keep seeing good reports of this though don't know anyone who's used one for broadcast. Compact yet takes XLR mic leads. Well worth a look
Consumer solid-state recorder: will we see a consumer hard disk or compact flash recorder that is capable of broadcast quality sound, will record uncompressed audio (ie WAV not MP3), has a mic input, decent level meter, sensible battery option, etc? I don’t know of any yet, so maybe the mini-disc era was a temporary golden age. It looks like we need to be looking at one of the above models, for the foreseeable future at any rate.
General Check-list
There's many more models out there than I've listed above, and they're all being constantly improved. So those are only my opinions. When you choose I would suggest this is a sensible check-list:
Sound quality: if it's not broadcast-quality, obviously forget it! And make sure it can record in WAV or BWF format (ie uncompressed). Never record in MP3.
Size: do you want something like a thick paperback (eg Nagra Ares BB) or a pack of cards (eg PMD620)? Bigger probably more robust and looks more professional; smaller more discreet, convenient and less imposing to nervous interviewees
Mic connector: professional XLR, or mid-range 1/4-inch stereo jack, or 1/8-inch mini-jack? Provided you're careful even the min-jack should be OK.
Power supply: look for machines that can use AA batteries -- readily obtainable (or scroungeable) almost anywhere in the world. Steer clear of proprietary rechargeable power-packs.
Display: is it easy to monitor recording time remaining, and recording levels? And readable outdoor in bright daylight?
Recording controls: is it obvious when it's (i) in record (ii) in record-pause or (iii) not recording at all?
In-built mics: the lack of moving parts means no mechanical noise so inbuilt mics can work quite well. I still prefer an external mic but the internal ones are a useful back up in case of broken mic leads or mic failure.
Recording capacity on Memory Cards It makes no difference whether it's Compact Flash, Secure Digital or anything else. The rule is that for uncompressed stereo wav files you use 10MB per minute of speech (so mono uses only 5MB/sec).
Hence 1GB card = 100 mins stereo = 200 mins mono (over 3 hrs)
2GB card = 200 mins stereo = 400 mins mono
16GB card = 1600 mins stereo (over 25 hours!)
Once you've bought a solid-state recorder, what next? ... go to the "using digital recorders" page