How To Choose An Audio Recorder

There are so many options here nowadays. Let's go through some factors in choosing one.

Shape. The first thing you want to figure out is what ergonomics / form factor do you want your recorder to be like. Possible shapes could be:

  • Handheld. This is great if you want to do interviews.
  • Desktop. This is good for something like podcasts or where it's more stationary.
  • In bag. This is ideal shape for field recording. The display is facing upwards and inputs / outputs are to the sides.
  • 1/4in 20" Mount. This is useful to put on a stand or with a clamp, you can mount it somewhere like on a pole.

Number of channels. This should be pretty easy to figure out. How many independant audio tracks do you think you'll ever need recorded?

Connectors. Locking XLRs are the most secure. Combo XLRs that accept 1/4" is quite convenient. Having aux cable can be useful also but they are not rugged. Ultimately it's up to you to decide.

Power options. If you are going to use phantom power 48V to power some microphones, I dont recommend something that uses AA batteries since they won't last long. Either have the unit powered by larger lithium batteries (e.g. Sony L) or via external power. e.g. USB-C is quite convenient nowadays as you can use a power bank. The problem with USB-C jacks is they are fragile so be careful. 

App control. The screens of most recorders are pretty small. Having app control lets you have a much larger screen on your phone or tablet. For doing jobs where metadata helps, having the touchscreen to input in that data is much nicer.

Timecode. If you need to synchronize with cameras, timecode is needed. There are a two options, wired and wireless. Ideally you want something wired as there are more options of timecode boxes. e.g. Tentacle Sync E, or Deity TC-1 to name a few budget ones.  If you go wireless, it's via RF/bluetooth and there are only a few devices which support that on the camera side. So if your camera works with an Atomos UltraSync Blue that'll be more like a small closed ecosystem.