They’re small, but create WAV-file, studio-quality sounds. I’m talking about portable field recorders—a valuable and affordable tool for location recordings, live music, podcasts, and videographers and filmmakers. They come in a wide range of prices and offer a variety of functions, like interchangeable microphone capsules, multi-tracking, and USB interface capability. Plus, the noise issues associated with earlier iterations of these recorders is nonexistent. Here’s five, in the $199 to $499 price range, worth investigating. And note that Sony, Tascam, and Zoom have more models at lower and higher pricing.
Zoom H8 8-Input Handy Recorder
This feature-packed recorder has 12 tracks, can be used as a USB interface, and records 24-bit/96 kHz audio. The H8 has two XLR/TRS inputs and four XLR inputs, and four mic preamps with phantom power. It can be bus-powered, battery-powered (four AAs), or you can use a power adapter. Onboard is an XY mic attachment with interchangeable capsules—and these capsules sound fantastic. The software has three setups for operation: field, music, and podcast, and each is optimized for those types of recordings. Other features include an automatic backup record, a six-second pre-record function, a built-in compressor and limiter, a metronome, and a speaker for playback. Tracks are recorded to an SD card.
All that utility makes the Zoom H8 the most versatile recorder I’ve seen. Plus, I’ve had a lot of experience with Zoom recorders, in many different settings, and they are reliable and rugged. If this is at the top end of your budget, rest assured it’s worth it.
$399 street, zoomcorp.com
“A good rule of thumb for those of us recording music is to be sure you’re choosing a model with the inputs, microphone and power options, and channels that you need.”
Tascam Portacapture X6 6-Channel 32-bit Portable Audio Field Recorder
This is a great-sounding, high-quality recorder that’s extremely easy to use, with a quick learning curve. It has built-in stereo mics, two XLR inputs, and phantom power, records at 32-bit/96 kHz, and offers reverb. The Portacapture X6 can be bus-powered, and works as an interface with your DAW. It also sports a 2.4” color touchscreen. Although it’s rugged and well-built, the Portacapture X6 doesn’t have enough inputs for complex music recording. But it’s great at everything else field recorders do. And like all the recorders in this overview, it is solid and reliable, and should hold up for years.
$299 street, tascam.com/us
Sony PCM-D10 High-Resolution Digital Audio Recorder
Sony is known for making solid, reliable home and studio equipment, and the PCM-D10 is no exception. This recorder includes two internal microphones that can be adjusted to three different patterns, two XLR/TRS combo inputs, and 48V phantom power. Extras include Bluetooth capability and a digital limiter. You can’t go wrong with its dependability, build, and ease of use, but since the PCM-D10 has fewer features than some less expensive recorders, it’s pretty pricey.
$499 street, electronics.sony.com
Roland R-07 2-Channel Handheld Recorder
This pocket-sized 24-bit/96 kHz recorder is high-quality, with built-in stereo microphones, but by design has fewer channels and features than the other recorders here. However, it is also the least costly and would suffice for field recordings, environmental sounds, and maybe podcast material, or interviews. It has no XLR inputs, so for music it’s mostly practical for grabbing ideas and sketches.
$199 street, roland.com
Olympus OM System LS-P5 Linear PCM Recorder
The Olympus LS-P5 is manufactured by a company that’s made its bones in the camera/video/film world, so it’s no surprise that it’s targeted at that market. Features include three microphones, Bluetooth, and a low-cut filter. The Olympus has no XLR inputs, but it’s suitable for field recording or video production, and, depending on your methodology, podcasting.
$249 street, explore.omsystem.com
And that’s a miniscule sampling of the field recorders available. But a good rule of thumb for those of us recording music is to be sure you’re choosing a model with the inputs, microphone and power options, and channels that you need.
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- How to Make Your Own Field Recordings, Pt. 1 - Premier Guitar ›
Naturally, every recording Eddie Van Halen ever played on has been pored over by legions of guitar players of all styles. It might seem funny, then, to consider EVH solos that might require more attention. But your 100 Guitarists hosts have their picks of solos that they feel merit a little discussion. Some of these are deep cuts—get ready for some instrumental bonus tracks and Van Halen III mentions—and some are among the biggest radio hits of their time. Just because their hits, though, doesn’t mean we don’t have more to add to the conversation.
We can’t cover everything EVH—Jason has already tried while producing the Runnin’ With the Dweezil podcast. But we cover as much as we can in our longest episode yet. And in the second installment of our current listening segment, we’re talking about new-ish music from Oz Noy and Bill Orcutt.
Tinkering with theSDE-3 Dual Digital Delay suggested a similar, possibly enduring appeal. As an evolution of the Roland SDE-3000rack unit from the 1980s, it’s a texture machine, bubbling with subtle-to-odd triangle LFO modulations and enhanced dual-delay patterns that make tone mazes from dopey-simple melodies. And with the capacity to use it with two amps in stereo or in panning capacity, it can be much more dimensional. But while the SDE-3 will become indispensable to some for its most complex echo textures, its basic voice possesses warmth that lends personality in pedestrian applications too.
Tapping Into the Source
Some interest in the original SDE-3000 is in its association with Eddie Van Halen, who ran two of them in a wet-dry-wet configuration, using different delay rates and modulation to thicken and lend dimension to solos. But while EVH’s de facto endorsement prompted reissues of the effect as far back as the ’90s, part of the appeal was down to the 3000’s intrinsic elegance and simplicity.
In fact, the original rack unit’s features don’t differ much from what you would find on modern, inexpensive stompbox echoes. But the SDE-3000’s simplicity and reliable predictability made it conducive to fast workflow in the studio. Critically, it also avoided the lo-fi and sterility shortcomings that plagued some lesser rivals—an attribute designer Yoshi Ikegami chalks up to analog components elsewhere in the circuit and a fortuitous clock imprecision that lends organic essence to the repeats.
Evolved Echo Animal
Though the SDE-3 traces a line back to the SDE-3000 in sound and function, it is a very evolved riff on a theme. I don’t have an original SDE-3000 on hand for comparison, but it’s easy to hear how the SDE-3 bridges a gap between analog haze and more clinical, surgical digital sounds in the way that made the original famous. Thanks to the hi-cut control, the SDE-3’s voice can be shaped to enhance the angular aspect of the echoes, or blunt sharp edges. There’s also a lot of leeway to toy with varied EQ settings without sacrificing the ample definition in the repeats. That also means you can take advantage of the polyrhythmic effects that are arguably its greatest asset.
“There’s a lot of leeway to toy with varied EQ settings without sacrificing the ample definition in the repeats.”
The SDE-3’s offset control, which generates these polyrhythmic echoes, is its heart. The most practical and familiar echos, like quarter, eighth, and dotted-eighth patterns, are easy to access in the second half of the offset knobs range. In the first half of the knob’s throw, however, the offset delays often clang about at less-regular intervals, producing complex polyrhythms that are also cool multipliers of the modulation and EQ effects. For example, when emphasizing top end in repeats, using aggressive effects mixes and pitch-wobble modulation generates eerie ghost notes that swim through and around patterns, adding rhythmic interest and texture without derailing the drive behind a groove. Even at modest settings, these are great alternatives to more staid, regular subdivision patterns. Many of the coolest sounds tend toward the foggy reverb spectrum. Removing high end, piling on feedback, and adding the woozy, drunken drift from modulation creates fascinating backdrops for slow, sparse chord melodies. Faster modulations throb and swirl like old BBC Radiophonic Workshop sci-fi sound designs.
By themselves, the modulations have their own broad appeal. Chorus tones are rarely the archetypal Roland Jazz Chorus or CE type—tending to be a bit darker and mistier. But they do a nice job suggesting that texture without lapsing into caricature. There are also really cool rotary-speaker-like textures and vibrato sounds that offer alternatives to go-to industry standards.
The Verdict
The SDE-3’s many available sounds and textures would be appealing at $219—even without the stereo and panning connectivity options, a useful hold function, and expression pedal control that opens up additional options. The panning capabilities, in particular, sparked all kinds of thoughts about studio applications. Mastering the SDE-3 takes just a little study—certain polyrhythms can be dramatically reshaped by the interactivity of other controls and you need to take care to achieve identical results twice. But this is a pedal that, by virtue of its relative simplicity and richness and breadth of sounds, exceeds the utility of some similarly priced rivals, all while opening up possibilities well outside the simple echo realm
Reader: T. Moody
Hometown: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Guitar: The Green Snake
Reader T. Moody turned this Yamaha Pacifica body into a reptilian rocker.
I have always loved the reverse headstock, simply because nothing says 1987 (the best year in the history of the world) like a reverse headstock. The pickups are both Seymour Duncan—an SH-1N in the neck position and TB-4 in the bridge, both in a very cool lime green color. Right when these pickups got listed, the Buy It Now button once again lit up like the Fourth of July. I am a loyal disciple of Sperzel locking tuners and think Bob Sperzel was a pure genius, so I knew those were going on this project even before I started on it. I also knew that I wanted a Vega-Trem; those units are absolutely amazing.
When the body arrived, I thought it would be cool to do some kind of burst around the yellow so I went with a neon green. It turned out better than I imagined. Next up was the shaping and cutting of the pickguard. I had this crocodile-type, faux-leather material that I glued on the pickguard and then shaped to my liking. I wanted just a single volume control and no tone knob, because, like King Edward (Van Halen) once said, “Your volume is your tone.”
T. Moody
I then shaped and glued the faux-leather material in the cavity. The tuning knobs, volume knob, pickguard, screws, and selector switch were also painted in the lemon-lime paint scheme. I put everything together, installed the pickups, strung it up, set it up, plugged it in, and I was blown away. I think this is the best-playing and -sounding guitar I have ever tried.
The only thing missing was the center piece and strap. The latter was easy because DiMarzio makes their ClipLock in neon green. The center piece was more difficult because originally, I was thinking that some kind of gator-style decoration would be cool. In the end, I went with a green snake, because crocodiles ain’t too flexible—and they’re way too big to fit in a pickup cavity!
The Green Snake’s back is just as striking as the front.
