New Gear (2013) - Portable Digital Recorders

[John Willett]

Like Goldilocks, I think I'd re-cast the list into three groups

pocket size

Zoom h4/h4n
Tascam DR-100/DR-100 mkII
Olympus LS-100
Tascam DR-40
Nagra SD

Medium size

Roland R-26
Marantz PMD 660/661
Fostex FR-2LE
Sony PCM-D50 plus Sony XLR mic adapter
Sony PCM-D1 plus Sony XLR mic adapter

large size

Marantz PMD 670/671
Fostex FR2
Tascam HDP2
Korg MR-1000
Sound Devices 702/722
Sound Devices 744T
Sound Devices 788T
Edirol R-44
Tascam DR-680
Nagra LB

Not really sure how helpful this is.

There is not really much difference at all between the Fostex FR-2LRE and the Nagra LB and SD 702.

But if you are including the SD 788T in the list you must then also include tha Nagra VI and the AETA 4MinX (similar price to the 788T and both have better quality mic. pres.)

[dogmusic]

Hi John,

I wondered if you have done a comparison between the mic pres in the Nagra SD and those of the more expensive Nagras. Do they measure up to the Nagra quality standard?

[John Willett]

Hi John,

I wondered if you have done a comparison between the mic pres in the Nagra SD and those of the more expensive Nagras. Do they measure up to the Nagra quality standard?

No, I have not done a comparison - I don't need to as they obviously won't be as good.

That Nagra VI is over £5,000 and the EMP is two Nagra VI mic. pre-amps. and costs £1,200 - So a £600 recorder with two mic. pres will obviously not have pre-amps anywhere near as good as the far more expensive machines.

Having said that, however, Nagra analogue circuitry is excellent and the old unit had excellent mic. pre-amps and I would expect the SD to be better than the old one - just not as good as the top models.

[Chimney Top]

Like Goldilocks, I think I'd re-cast the list into three groups

pocket size

Zoom h4/h4n
Tascam DR-100/DR-100 mkII
Olympus LS-100
Tascam DR-40
Nagra SD

Medium size

Roland R-26
Marantz PMD 660/661
Fostex FR-2LE
Sony PCM-D50 plus Sony XLR mic adapter
Sony PCM-D1 plus Sony XLR mic adapter

large size

Marantz PMD 670/671
Fostex FR2
Tascam HDP2
Korg MR-1000
Sound Devices 702/722
Sound Devices 744T
Sound Devices 788T
Edirol R-44
Tascam DR-680
Nagra LB

Not really sure how helpful this is.

There is not really much difference at all between the Fostex FR-2LRE and the Nagra LB and SD 702.

But if you are including the SD 788T in the list you must then also include tha Nagra VI and the AETA 4MinX (similar price to the 788T and both have better quality mic. pres.)

yeah, i dont think the pmd661 or r-26 is any larger than dr-100.

[H₂O]

Your missing:

Large
Aeta 4Minx

Medium
Sonosax SX-R4

Pocket
Sonosax MinR82

[dogmusic]

Hi John,

I wondered if you have done a comparison between the mic pres in the Nagra SD and those of the more expensive Nagras. Do they measure up to the Nagra quality standard?

No, I have not done a comparison - I don't need to as they obviously won't be as good.

That Nagra VI is over £5,000 and the EMP is two Nagra VI mic. pre-amps. and costs £1,200 - So a £600 recorder with two mic. pres will obviously not have pre-amps anywhere near as good as the far more expensive machines.

Having said that, however, Nagra analogue circuitry is excellent and the old unit had excellent mic. pre-amps and I would expect the SD to be better than the old one - just not as good as the top models.

Thanks for that, John.

It makes me wonder if the Sound Devices USBPre2, which has the same preamps as the expensive 788T, would probably have higher quality preamps than the Nagra SD.

In which case, the USBPre2 going digitally into the Tascam DR100mkii makes for a better recorder at about the same price.

Of course, it's a two-box solution, and not as portable, but you'd need something extra for phantom power into the Nagra SD anyway.

[John Willett]

Hi John,

I wondered if you have done a comparison between the mic pres in the Nagra SD and those of the more expensive Nagras. Do they measure up to the Nagra quality standard?

No, I have not done a comparison - I don't need to as they obviously won't be as good.

That Nagra VI is over £5,000 and the EMP is two Nagra VI mic. pre-amps. and costs £1,200 - So a £600 recorder with two mic. pres will obviously not have pre-amps anywhere near as good as the far more expensive machines.

Having said that, however, Nagra analogue circuitry is excellent and the old unit had excellent mic. pre-amps and I would expect the SD to be better than the old one - just not as good as the top models.

Thanks for that, John.

It makes me wonder if the Sound Devices USBPre2, which has the same preamps as the expensive 788T, would probably have higher quality preamps than the Nagra SD.

In which case, the USBPre2 going digitally into the Tascam DR100mkii makes for a better recorder at about the same price.

Of course, it's a two-box solution, and not as portable, but you'd need something extra for phantom power into the Nagra SD anyway.

The SD pre-amps are good, but a step down from the Nagra VI and AETA 4MinX.

I use my EMP into the line-in of the SD for a quality stereo unit.

Not sure how the SD pre-amps compare with the SD.

[dogmusic]

What's the price of an EMP?

[gratefulphish]

I admit that I am lazy, but which of these decks has either optical or coax digital inputs?

[John Willett]

What's the price of an EMP?

In the UK - £1,206.90 +VAT  (£1,448.28 incl. 20% VAT)

[John Willett]

I admit that I am lazy, but which of these decks has either optical or coax digital inputs?

I think - all the SD units, the Nagre LB (and Nagra VI), the Fostex FR-2 (not sure about the LE).

[dogmusic]

What's the price of an EMP?

In the UK - £1,206.90 +VAT  (£1,448.28 incl. 20% VAT)

Thanks again for the info.

[Jema]

I admit that I am lazy, but which of these decks has either optical or coax digital inputs?

As Willett said all of the SD, as well as the DR-100 mkII, PMD661/671, PCM D50 (and I think D1 too), HD-P2, R-44, DR-680. I don't know about Sonosax and Nagra but it would surprise me if they didn't.

The Edirol R-4 Pro is missing from the list (it too has digital in by the way).

[Chimney Top]

anything new?

Sept 2012

[John Willett]

anything new?

Sept 2012

Nagra is adding A-format / B-format monitoring to the Nagra VI this month and the AETA 4MinX already has this.