Hands-On Review: Nagra LINO and PICO Portable Recorders

Join Rob Rives in this B&H video as he test-drives the Nagra LINO and PICO portable digital audio recorders. You get to hear what they sound like in action, with recorded examples of dialog and acoustic guitar. Rob also walks you through all of the controls on both devices, and shares a great deal of pertinent information about each recorder’s features and capabilities.

The PICO is the most budget-friendly field recorder that Nagra has ever produced. It features 4GB of built-in Flash memory, built-in cardioid stereo microphones, mini-plug inputs for both external microphones and line-level sources, and it gets up to 40 hours of life from two AA batteries.

The Nagra LINO features an SD card slot that’s compatible with up to 32GB cards, and the ability to record up to 24-bit 96 kHz WAV recordings. A pre-recording feature can be set to automatically begin recording up to three seconds before you press the Record button. A case with a built-in 1/4"-20 tripod thread is available  

Both models feature switchable Automatic Gain Control (AGC) and Voice Operated Recording (VOR). AGC adjusts the input level automatically, which eliminates distortion caused by peaking. VOR is useful when you’re using the recorder for dictation, because it automatically stops the recording when no sound is present. Strong metal construction, a built-in speaker and the ability to switch between Mono and Stereo recording is also found on both devices.