Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

The PalmTrack is great for Journaling hikes and nature photography. I can record the description of flora and fauna without having to look away.
When I connect it to my computer it shows up as an external drive and I simply drag and drop the files where they are needed.

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

This is a really useful tool. I love the fact that I can use it with the mic on my camera or I can use it with a mic on a boom or even get a line out from a sound desk.

Having a little trouble connecting it to a Rode VideoMic. But I think that's a problem with the mic.

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

Its easy to use , can capture live bands or nature sound well ,plus you can't beat the price !!

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

Frankly for the price, I wasn't expecting much. I
needed a practice recorder and figured that this would fit the bill. It is exactly what I needed and simple to operate. The built-in speaker might be ok for speech but for music any low budget earphones would give a realistic representation of what you are trying to record. I wish I had this unit years ago. Amazing.

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

Easy to use. Line in was too sensitive even at lowest setting when connected to my PA's line out.

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

I use the PalmTrack to record the audio in business meetings. It captures the voices extremely clearly, even those coming in over a phone. It is trivial to move the recordings to a PC for later transcription. I am not thrilled by the fact that any customized settings (such as using 2 vs 4 internal mikes, voice enhancement options) are not saved when the unit is powered off.

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

I bought this cause of the price point and good reviews. The one I got didn't even turn on. Tried several sets of batteries, no luck. DOA. Returned for refund, looking at on camera mics. But I'm still influenced by it's reviews, I may try another one in the future.

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

I would say this is an average recorder. The built-in mics are average and I'll try it with external mics to see if the sound is better. It gets the job done.

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

I use the PalmTrack for professional interviews and sounds for radio reports and audio plays.

I can"t believe how good the sound is. I just used it a few times but I am very happy. I like that it is so light and easy to handle. The price is great.

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

I use this for recording nature sounds, mostly birds, with an external microphone. It works fine for this but my main problem is when you have an external microphone you can not turn off the recorders own mic's. So any sound I make is also being picked up. I will place the external microphone near a singing perch (about 20ft away) and shoot stills with my camera. The sound of my shutter is getting picked up from the devices own microphone. Also, the last setting is never kept in memory. So every time I turn it on I have go through the menu to set-up for an external mic and reset the gain.

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

I was not familiar with the Alesis handheld but decided to try it anyhow. I'm a broadcaster and wanted a recorder thats not bulky or difficult to use, the Alesis met my expectations.the quality of sound is very good for broadcast.

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

Total amateur here, but the Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder is simple to use. Interfaces well with external inputs of all types.

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

For my work as a journalist is ideal

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

used only once, but it was enough to see the recording quality, used in a church connected directly into the soundboard.
It was formidable

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder by Alesis. First impression out the box - it's bigger than expected. But after using it a while this is a plus point. It is easier to handle for operations such as selecting and pressing buttons or flicking switches and it feels more professional. 105mm tall x 65mm wide x 30mm thick. I use it extensively to record voice audio. This means that it needs to give me clean, minimum internal noise recording. It does just this with a very high degree of satisfaction, close to studio recording, this is the next best thing. It's recording is crisp and clear and it also records the low end bass of audio very well. I also play backing tracks on a Resonator guitar and the recording sounds phenominal. It is user friendly and one read through the instruction pamhplet is all you ever need. The menu is easy enough to flip through, though it has scroll through software, so to select a file for playback for instance you have to go menu, then scroll to file then scroll to the file then select, then scroll to open, delete or edit, and if you want to listen to another track you use the "back" button, that does make things a bit faster and redo menu options. But this is anly a issue if you need to do things reallly fast. The Recording initialization is quick and easy.
A plus point is the Monitor option. I have a good set of "walkman" type earphones that seal very well, blocking out ambient noise. Enabling the monitor feature you can hear the tone, level, volume of your recording or pre recording which is great if you want to adjust anything or point the microphone precisely to better quality or get less ambient noise. It works really well to get good recordings, even when you listen to your own voice. It uses 4 mics with manual and auto gain settings. Battery life is good and you also have the option of a 3vdc adaptor plug in.
It has:
Volume -out adjustment either for speaker or phones.
Mic gain -for high or low gain mic input.
Ext Mic -Connect a seperate microphone
Input level - Adjust the recording lever (very handy)
Headphones jack - for headphones
Effect button - great effects on your playback such as room, hall, chorus, pitch shift and delay. All these effects sounds very good and you can adjust them. Unfortunately you can only effect the playback. Not real time recording, but if you use the phones out into another recording device you can playback a file, add effect and record the outgoing audio.
This also holds true for looping which has its own dedicated button. Only in playback mode, but this feature is nice as you can easily listen to a small clip from a recorded audio file in a loop/repeatedly. This would be handy if you are typing or writing down interviews or perhaps want to redo a certain section of a recording or just like listning to a particular bit of audio.
The unit can use up to 16GB of SD / SDHC card, giving you an enormously long time of high quality recording. One can adjust the display brightness (which is a sort of ultra violet blue) The lcd background is black and only the writing lights up, which I prefer, it looks more professional.
The Playback over the unit's speaker is too soft. I recommend earphones or downloading the file through a USB cable supplied (Which is as simple as using a memory stick plug in, just drag and drop high quality 24-bit, 48kHZ WAV and 64 - 320kbps MP3) for determining recording quality. Playback on good earphones will however sound 100% playback volume and quality.
Bottom of unit also has a threaded hole if you want to mount it on a tripod of some sort.
Con's about this unit? Well, not really anything for the price. But I would say the playback on speaker volume too soft and unfortunately you are unable to record the effect (but this effect is really a bonus) so it's not a drawback. I like this unit and feel you can buy it with confidence. You do get better out there but you are going to pay a lot more or end up in a recording studio.

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

I use it for recording accompaniments through line input for vocal music. The dual channel sound level meter is very accurate for gain setting with a preamp on input. The auto-gain on/off option is particularly useful for managing dynamic range. Allowance for 2 and 4 microphone input option is fantastic. The tripod mount works wonderfully: I can hang two or three heavy cable on this sturdy unit AND fix it in a position on a tripod for easy monitoring during a recording session.

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

minister recordings
sounds great
buttons are good & in place

screen is small - menu screen could be better set up

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

This is a great little digital audio recorder. I am very impressed with its simplicity, yet great quality and a more than fair price. So far I have nothing bad to say about this item at all.

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

I use this to record my bands practices and gigs for our review. It's perfect for what we do, it's clear, easy, and fast. I dump the tack to my computer and listen from there....it's awesome

Comments about Alesis PalmTrack Handheld Digital Audio Recorder:

I was looking for something to record live gigs that was small enough to carry anywhere. This is it. I recorded a small band and plugged back into the mixer with a 1/8 to 1/4 cable. It enabled the band to hear themselves instantly. On a budget, so this was perfect.