Recorders

Software isn’t always the most convenient way to make a recording. If you’re on the road or just trying to document a performance, all the necessary accessories to utilize a DAW can be overwhelming and delicate. A portable multi-track recorder, on the other hand, provides an all-in-one solution.

Trending topics on Twitter change rapidly from one minute to the next, but in the world of electronics manufacturing, trends evolve slowly, often taking an entire calendar year to surface. Here at B&H, we’re among the first to get our hands on the latest professional and consumer equipment, and we’re always looking for new trends in the products.

Holiday shopping for a professional photographer or videographer can be hard to do without breaking the bank. Most professional grade gear is justifiably very expensive, and you probably don’t want to buy someone an inferior version of something they already have.

Way back—five years ago—if you shot video, you used a video camera, and if you shot photographs, you used a still camera. Today, that distinction is all but meaningless. Almost every video camera today captures stills, and virtually every still camera now shoots video.

Full Raster High Definition Video has six times the number of pixels as SD video. Theoretically it should take up six times as much space as SD. However, AVCHD has a slightly lower bitrate (24 Mb/s) than the DV codec used on most of the SD tape cameras of yore (25 Mb/s). 

The AJA Ki Pro family of tapeless recorders is built around four different models designed to optimize workflow, making it possible to record analog or digital footage from any device and have it ready to edit without the need for conversion or transcoding.

The annual NAB show is always an exciting affair, with each year bringing ever more technical advancements. The 2012 show was no exception, and despite the predictions in certain quarters of the demise of DVDs as a distribution medium, huge interest was shown in the JVC SR-H D2500US Blu-ray recorder.

A clever new piece of equipment is available that corrects all of the shortcomings of HDSLR audio, in a single compact, camera-mountable box. The Fostex DC-R302 is a three-channel field mixer, with a two-channel high-resolution audio recorder built in.

Two new portable digital recorders from Olympus do an excellent job of spanning the gap between being useful voice recorders (for recording memos and lectures), and high-resolution audio recorders (for recording music and detailed ambient sounds).

The Tascam DR-40 is the most budget-friendly portable digital recorder on the market that offers advanced features like dual combo-XLR inputs and four-channel recording. A new firmware update adds independent level-control to its external inputs.

Before the desktop digital audio studio there was the Portastudio. Originally recording to cassette tapes, the system ushered in the era of “everyone can do it.” Over three decades later the concept still lives on, but now the fragile tapes and hard drives have been replaced with solid state SD cards as the recording medium. 

Olympus knows a thing or two about making portable recorders, and its new LS-100 has the distinction of being the highest-quality model the company has ever produced. It features an excellent-sounding pair of built-in stereo condenser microphones, as well as a pair of XLR combo inputs.

The original Tascam DR-100 stood out from the pack for being an extremely well equipped, compact portable digital recorder laden with useful features, like its dual XLR inputs and thumb-friendly level-adjustment dials. Even though it was a popular and well-regarded model, Tascam decided to push things further.

Portable digital recorders that feature dual XLR inputs are popular among musicians and audio engineers and they’re also the tool of choice for recording the sound for video productions. Until recently, there were only a few handheld digital recorders with XLR inputs available, but the announcement of the Olympus LS-100 adds an attractive new option to the menu.

The new Tascam iM2 is a compact and convenient accessory that dramatically improves the quality of the microphones for recording into an Apple iPad, iPhone, or a 4th generation iPod touch. The iM2 plugs into your Apple iOS device of choice and outfits it with a pair of stereo condenser microphones that can be swiveled over 180 degrees.

Syndicate content