Keep up-to-date with Inquit Audio and everything in the portable recording world!
Seahorse protective cases
Seahorse cases are strong; they aren't necessarily pretty but they are very strong. You can drive your car over them and the contents will be OK. And we'll be stocking them next month, as soon as the boat docks.
DPA microphones now available
You may have aready heard of DPA microphones: they are hand-made in Denmark by Danish Professional Audio and they are very good. DPA lapel mics are used in every West End theatre and they can even be washed (though only 5 times, to remove sweat and make-up)!
They are relatively expensive but perform really well and should be a good long-term investment.
More new recorders
There are several new digital recorders with XLRs and phantom power coming along.
Hot on the heels of the iM2 iPhone microphone come two 'new' digital recorders also from Tascam.
We have only recently got into Tascam, mostly because they didn't seem to have much that seemed 'right' for the voice recording community - until now. The DR100 has been improved to Mark II, and is followed by the DR40, also with XLRs but with a price around £200. We should be testing one soon but the omens are good - not the greatest recorder ever in the world, but almost certainly the best recorder at £200 by far.
There's a new Olympus with XLRs too - the LS100 is coming along in a few weeks. Olympus are excited by it - will Inquit be? Pricing is likely around the £375 mark - so is it twice as good as a DR40? Read it here second.
Tascam iM2
Now you can use your iPhone as a high quality, portable digital recorder and never be unable to record wherever you are. The Tascam iM2 fits into the 30-pin digital connector and works with most audio recording apps from the App Store; there's also a very compatible app from Tascam themselves.
Read more about this very useful mic!
Rycote windshield system
We all know the Rycote range of furry windshield products from being seen in-vision on TV. Their products are very effective at reducing or removing wind noise and so are often on the wish list of everyone recording on location, and the latest ranges include mini-softies for small recorders like Zoom's H4n.
We will be supplying Rycote from later in the month, so get in touch to order from this comprehensive range. First to come - mini-Furries for portable recorders.
New mic for hire
We've just received a brand new mic kit for location film, TV, or video recording.
First, there's a fantastic Rode NTG-3 shotgun, a Rode Blimp windshield, and a Rode pro boom pole (yes, we like Rode) so you can really capture the sound you want and nothing else.
The aluminium pole extends up to 3m; the Blimp has an integrated shock mount so handling noise and vibration are kept to an absolute minimum, plus a full furry cover to isolate the mic from anything but a Force Eight gale. The NTG-3 is legendary in location recoding giving 50% less self-noise than other shotgun mics, very low handling noise togther with precise sound reproduction.
See Rental for full details.
Zoom H2n
There's a great new review of the H2n in Audio Media, a professional audio magazine. Email us and we'll send you a copy, but two quotes might give a flavour:
"The H2n is beautifully made and the recording results are truly excellent."
"Honestly, this machine sounds very, very good."
The review even took me by surprise.
New Roland R-26 - review
We have now had a chance to test out the new R-26, and the results are very encouraging.
It's a black box with a large touch-screen - the body is 7" x 3" and 1.5" and so easy to carry in your hand, but not necessarily hold in your hand - not as hand-holdable as an H4n, but better than a PMD661. It has two large input level knobs, one for the left and one for the right channel, and they are very easy to use - turn it clockwise to increase the input level, very logical. You can also adjust the sensitivity of the input you are using (analog for an external mic) to ensure you get the optimum recorded level and it took a little experimentation to optimise for our BP4025 stereo mic, but once adjusted recording was superb with no discernible noise from the preamps and only a very little playback hiss, which is always tricky to isolate and may be a product of the playback circuit itself, rather than a part of the recording. So full marks so far for recording quality.
And the built-in mics are very good too; they don't sound quite as full as our BP4025, but there isn't as much difference as I'd expected (or hoped for, given that the BP4025 costs more than the whole R-26). So on first soundings you could use the built-in mics with confidence.
Good points:
huge touch screen
touch screen controls for all menu settings, and easy menu system
claimed 10 hour battery life for continuous recording
balanced XLRs with switchable phantom
can record 4- and 6-channel too
limiter on inputs
built-in mics well worth the space
Bad points:
nothing yet, but when/if they emerge they'll be added here.
So all in all a first rate recorder for your archival and broadcast projects.
Roland R26 in stock
We've just had a first delivery of the brand new Roland R26.
If you want one, get in soon!