Because of high demand, the market for portable recorders has grown immensely in the past few years. Recently, we purchased the Tascam DR-05 linear PCM recorder. We were looking for a true all-in-one recorder with a design for broadcasters. The DR-05 recorder is lightweight and the size is desirable for handheld operation. These are two factors you want in a portable recorder packed with a list of features that separates it from the rest.

It is very easy to operate and takes little to no time for understanding its functionality. It comes with two AA batteries (17.5 hours of continuous record time) and a 2GB (3 hours of recording with default setting) microSD card, which allows it to be used right out of the box. Make sure you have spare AA batteries since this recorder does not come with an ac adapter. The Tascam PS-P515U, which is sold separately, powers the recorder via the USB jack. The design of this recorder allows recording, editing and playback all from the palm of your hand. Broadcasters are always looking toward future applications when purchasing equipment and the DR-05 gives many possibilities.

Under the microscope

As broadcasters we always want to have the best quality audio. With 16-bit linear PCM audio, the recorder provides the quality broadcasters need. It can be set up to record 16- or 24-bit WAV files at 44.1, 48 or 96kHz. It can also record MP3 files at 44.1 or 48kHz sampling rates at 32, 64, 96, 128, 192, 256 or 320kb/s bit rates.

A low-cut filter (off by default) can be set to 40Hz, 80Hz or 120Hz. The pre-record feature captures the two seconds prior to the record button being pushed. This can be turned on under the record settings. For musicians, the DR-05 has a built-in tuner. This comes in handy when performers visit the stations and we need to tune various instruments.

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