Fostex, as a company, has long been a pioneer in the development of high-tech professional field recorders, notably combining imaginative engineering with a street sense of the practical, real-world requirements of the film and video field recordist. The introduction of the FR-2, a 2-Channel portable recorder using Type I and II Compact Flash cards and Type II PCMCIA HDD drives as storage media, should further enhance the Fostex reputation. This intense, robust little machine offers literally unprecedented standards of audio performance, and an abundance of professional features, at a refreshingly reasonable price point.
Let's Listen: the FR-2 is capable of 24-bit, 192 kHz recording when used with Type I Compact Flash cards; this is the highest digital audio resolution currently available.
The Media of Choice: tiny cards and hard drives with ridiculously large storage capacities for their size.
The Flexibility Factor: Mic/Line XLR inputs, Stereo/Mono recording, XLR Digital I/O support of both SPDIF and AES/EBU protocols, USB PC and Keyboard ports, and the File-per-Take naming and labeling management system, invaluable at the editing stage.
It's a Sync Thing: an optional Word Clock/SMPTE reader/generator card, supporting all currently accepted frame rates on planet Earth.
So, the bar has been elevated: high portability, high flexibility, high affordability and, let's not forget - high resolution; the FR-2 is as much about sound as it is about features. And if you've got the sound, you've got the picture.