Portable digital audio recorders are essential tools for oral historians, filmmakers, journalists, folklorists, documentary and podcast producers, and sound designers, and when recording high-quality professional sounding audio, the capabilities of the recording equipment matter. Once affordable audio recorders had high quality preamps and recorded at 24-bit/96 kHz , I feel there was only incremental innovation…
Zoom has just released the PodTrak P4 ($199), an impressive recorder with the built-in ability to easily conduct and record high quality telephone interviews. As more of our oral history projects include remote interviewing, most of the focus is on online web conferencing systems such as Zoom or TheirStory. Web conferencing systems add an important…
The H4n Pro is an update to the very popular H4n which was a very popular recorder. The primary update to the H4n Pro is the improved preamps resulting the overall recording quality. Additionally, the H4n Pro has a better screen, and the XLR microphone inputs are locking. This is a recorder that is attractive…
In my mind there were three tiers of portable audio recorders: the low-end (under $400), the mid/high-range professional ( $401-$1,499), and the super premium recorders (more than $1,500). For years, this tripartite structure worked quite well. If you were aiming for professional recording, I would steer you to the mid/high-range recorders. However, the competition between…
In just the past few years, professional quality portable audio recorders have continued to evolve and improve. I am the director of the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History in the University of Kentucky Libraries where we loan dozens of professional-level recording kits to our interview project partners. In so doing over the years, I…
The Rode iXY-L ($199.00 USD) brings high quality stereo recording to your iOS device turning your iPhone or iPad into a powerful portable recorder. The Rode iXY-L microphone is Rode’s newly updated iOS microphone attachment that is compatible with Apple’s Lightning Connector on newer iOS devices. In conjunction with Rode’s Rec App, The iXY-L records and exports a multitude of formats including the uncompressed Wave,…
Here is an initial audio test of the Zoom H-5 digital audio recorder using the standard X/Y microphone module, an external (XLR) lavaliere microphone, and the optional MSH-6 Mid Side Stereo and XYH-6 microphone modules. Example #1: Mic: Standard X/Y microphone module Position: Directly at source Settings: 24/96 .wav Example #2: Mic: External lavalier…
I commonly get asked about iOS and iPhone recording options for oral history, so I will be launching a series of posts reviewing several of these devices. When recording oral histories, I strive to get the best recording possible. Oral history records, by definition, more than a single audio source (interview + interviewer), and I…
I love the Zoom H5. In full disclosure, I have never been much of a Zoom type of guy. It started with the guitar effects pedals in the ’90s…They were designed (and priced) for the low end market, and usually sounded low-end. The H2 and H2n were disappointing recorders. The H4n, however, raised my eyebrows…
