Media Gatherers

As someone completely new to audio, at first glance the market seems overwhelmingly daunting.
It’s worth pointing out at this moment, that I do not own an audio recorder yet.

I’m going to be using my research into devices as a basis for this post and subsequently buy the recorder which I feel will suit my needs as a future multimedia story teller.

Below are some pre-requisites which I consider to be important features that I require:

• Excellent audio quality (obviously).
• External mic input – will the mic be powered separately or by the recorder?
• Tough build quality – it may need to withstand some harsh environments (within reason).
• Small enough to be stored in a pocket/pouch but big enough to ‘know its there’.
• Records to removable media – Will fit in with my work flow as a photographer (e.g Remove card, upload, edit…)
• Removable batteries – it will not be practical to have to charge via USB/Laptop when in the field.

Your features may differ – I would recommend you sit down and list some of your requirements, these little devices can become quite expensive.
But more importantly, audio is a crucial tool for getting your story across – can you really afford for your equipment to fail at that crucial moment?

An initial google search brings up various companies, thoughts and devices. I found this post over on Lightstalkers – which guided me to some manufacturers I had never heard of (as it turns out they are some of the biggest audio manufacturers in the world!).
After digging around each manufacturers product pages, using my requirements – the following five items are the best suited and typically the most expensive recorders on the market:

• Edirol – R-09HR
• MicroTrack – MicroTrack II
• Marantz – PMD 660
• Marantz – PMD 661
• Zoom – H4N

Between these five recorders the price varies from approximately £150 for the Microtrack II to a whopping £500 for the Marantz 661!

Audio Recorders

There is no doubt that one of these four machines will be the perfect audio recorder for me – in part II of this post I will be breaking down each device into there pro’s and con’s.

The eventual aim will be have a final choice of two device’s, I will then get a hands on with these two devices before purchasing it.