BUYERS’ GUIDE
1. ZOOM H6 £349/$329 zoom-na.com
3. TASCAM DR- 100MKIII £329/$299 tascam.eu The TascamDR-100MKIII has simple rotary controls, and the top of the unit houses two sets of microphones – a stereo pair of unidirectional mics and an omnidirectional stereo pair. The base has a couple of XLR jacks for mic/line input with phantompower. It also has an S/PDIF digital input – there’s a phono-to-jack adapter included in the box – and a 3.5mm stereo jack for a secondary, unbalancedmic or line-level input. The Tascam can only record two tracks at a time to SDHC, but can record WAV andMP3 simultaneously, and it can be set to record a secondWAV file at a gain of -12dB from the master gain. The unit can run on two AA batteries, but also includes a replaceable Li-ion rechargeable battery. You can hot-swap between these, for uninterrupted recording. You can also power the unit over USB or optional AC adapter. The slightly fiddly dual input level control of the DR-100MKII has been replaced by a single one, with a switch to control either channel separately. The Tascam
Zoom recorders are a mainstay in video production and the H6 is the beefiest version yet. It’s not particularly small or light, but that means the layout and options aren’t compromised. One of the H6’s most obvious features is that you can swap the capsule mics for others. It comes with the X/Y capsule fitted as standard, but there’s a ‘mid-side’ capsule in the included case, and optional units like a shotgunmic and a dual XLR input. Added to the four XLR ports on the unit, it gives a fantastic number of mic options – though only the body XLRs offer phantompower. Sound quality is very high, with a maximum96kHz 24-bit recorded as lossless WAVs. You get up to six tracks of simultaneous capture, each with independent gain, and results are extremely clean, with additional low-cut options that can be applied to individual tracks at varying levels. You can also record a backup track at lower dB, and the H6 takes SDXC cards. It uses four AA batteries for over 20 hours of use, depending on the settings, but you can run it off USB, too.
RECORDERS
2. OLYMPUS LS-P4 £149/$179 olympus.com
microphone, the LS-P4 has three,
and with all three running it gives a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz. Plug in an external mic and this rises to 20Hz to 44kHz. The built-inmics don’t physically swivel like some other models to change the modelling, but you can alter their ‘zoom’ settings digitally. There’s also a single mini jack port to plug in an external mic, but no power output for it, so you’ll need choose
If you want to keep size and weight to a minimum, then Olympus’s LS-P4 recorder is worth considering. At just 75g/0.17lb, despite having a metal body, it’s scarcely noticeable when hotshoe mounted. Size-wise, it’s tiny and truly pocket friendly. The LS-P4 is an all-in-one recorder that’s pitched for music and interview recording as well as video, and the sound quality is high. Recording is in a variety of formats – the highest quality of which is Linear PCM96kHZ at 24-bit –which can be exported as versatile FLAC files as well as PCM, WAV or MP3 formats. Instead of the usual built-in stereo
your mics accordingly. There’s a headphone output. The LS-P4 has an 8GB internal memory for five hours of recording at the maximumquality, but you can also record to a microSD card. If you want the lightest recording option, it’s a great choice and produces high-quality sound, but mounting andmic options are limited.
DR-100MKIII is a high-quality, feature-packed field recorder.
4. SOUND DEVICES MIXPRE-6 £930/$849 sounddevices.com
and a 3.5mmheadphone jack. The headphone level is controlled by a rotary encoder below it, and this can also be used to navigate menus, while pressing on it selects menu items. The rear features the battery sled for four AAs. There are options for eight AAs, and two hot-swappable Sony L-Series Li-ion batteries. Beneath this is the SD card slot, and a hex key, which is used to push up and engage the 3/8-inch tripod screw embedded in the top panel, allowing the MixPre-6 to be mounted to the bottomof a camera.
the hybridmic or line XLR for channels 1 and 2, a 3.5mm jack for stereo out, the power switch and a couple of USBs. The MixPre-6 can be used to stream the four inputs to a computer over USB. The left side has the other two hybrid XLRs for channels 3 and 4, the 3.5mm jack for the two AUX inputs, a micro HDMI, which can receive both timecode and record/stop commands from a camera,
Sound Devices makes field recorders andmixers for every kind of production, from small documentaries to Hollywood blockbusters. The MixPre-6 has a metal frame that packs in four hybrid XLR/ jack balanced inputs and two auxiliary unbalanced line inputs on a 3.5mm jack. All six analogue inputs can be recorded individually, while simultaneously recording a stereomix, making the MixPre-6 an eight-track recorder. The right side of the unit has
It’s a more affordable version of the field recorders that have made Sound Devices’ reputation.
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