6 GREAT FIELD RECORDERS

Whether you want something ultra-portable you can whip out of your pocket to record samples on the daily commute (remember that?) or a pro piece of equipment for complex multi-mic recording of ambient sounds, these six tools should have you covered

Tascam

DR-40X, £140

An extremely musician-friendly portable recorder, equipped with balanced XLR inputs that can be used alongside the built-in mics. It can act as a class compliant interface too. The DR-40X also feature basic mixing tools for balancing and panning the four tracks, plus a range of six reverb effects and overdub tools.

Shure Motiv MV88, £118

Using a smartphone as a portable recorder is a common, and entirely legitimate alternative to a fullyfledged recorder that many modern musicians already make use of. For iPhone users, Shure’s lightweight condenser mic is a good option for capturing recordings that vastly improve on the built-in mic.

Roland

R-07, £180

Compact and super-portable, with a simple workflow that’s great for on-the-go recording. Preset ‘scenes’ offer instant configuration for a host of day-to-day uses, and Bluetooth compatibility means the R-07 can be controlled remotely. It lacks balanced XLR ins or an X/Y mic configuration, but otherwise has lots going for it.

Sony PCM-D100, £450

A solidly built recorder aimed at the ‘pro’ end of the market. While the feature set isn’t particularly extensive for the price, the money goes into providing quality, low-noise preamps. It can record in DSD format, which some audiophiles believe sounds smoother and more ‘analogue’ than PCM. Sadly it doesn’t feature balanced XLR inputs.

Zoom

H8, £360

Innovative and hugely well-spec’d, the H8 boasts eight inputs and 12 recording tracks. Flexibility is boosted by the ability to swap the mic capsule for one of six alternatives, including an Ambisonic array or four extra XLRs. If anything, this may be bigger and more feature-packed than you need for basic field recording.

Sound Devices MixPre-3 II, £680

Sound Devices are a big name in film and TV. MixPre-3 boasts 32-bit Float recording, meaning near endless recording headroom. The MixPre-3 II can also be used as a fully-fledged mixer and a 5-in, 2-out USB interface. Kashmir preamps provide noise-free audio, making the MixPre-3 II ideal for ambient recordings.