TascamDR-05 Portable Digital Recorder (Version 2)

My daughter needed a digital recorder for her class in Manhattan, "How to Succeed in Broadway". It was recommended that she have a recorder for certain sessions. It had to be sensitive enough for her sessions, and a simple operation was a must.I supplied her with extra High performance alkaline AAA batteries. I also purchased additional memory cards for backup.There are several levels of recording quality with the highest level requiring the most storage. Since the purpose was for recording certain sessions, I set it up to MP3 quality. One major tip: the recording button has to be depressed to get it ready, and then again to start recording. You do not want to lose your opportunity.There are many adjustable features, including backlight adjustments which can also affect battery life (5, 10, 30 seconds, continuous or off). The sensitivity of the microphone can be adjusted to pick up the slightest sound or can be used to pick up only the speaker intended. I also acquired a set of earphone jacks so she could listen to the quality of the microphone pickup in real time, also.The two integrated microphones are fixed. An additional input Jack is available for an external speaker. There is a built in speaker which is anemic and not very loud, rending it virtually useless for any practical means.A menu system allows the user to make various adjustments, such as file size, compression rates, stereo/mono, etc. Menu system is quite extensive, and it really needs the manual to understand the full operation.Playback through the recorder is possible but better appreciated through external earbuds or a headset. Recording quality was excellent for voice recordings. Because of the sensitivity of the integrated microphones it takes some adjustment on the user's part to achieve an acceptable balance.The size of the recorder is quite tall. It is bigger than I expected but with the types of capabilities, I am not surprised. It is lightweight but it doesn't include a lanyard or holster for carrying. It is a delicate piece of machinery that will require an appropriately sized camera case. The screen is easy to read. There is a red indicator light for when it is recording. Battery life is excellent for the size (12-14 hours), depending upon the backlight level used.This accepts Micro SD (up to 32 GB) or Micro SDHC (up to 64 GB). It doesn't not accept Micro XHD. The card can be read through a Micro SD or SDHC adapter (most efficient and fastest transfer) or through the MINI USB (not Micro USB) adapter directly to a notebook.This would make for a great recording for general use, Podcasts, or vocals with an instrument (with proper additional attachments that are not included).

This review is from: Tascam DR-05 Portable Digital Recorder (Electronics)I purchased this to record my daughter's piano recitals. I researched the options and found this to give me the best feature set for the money. What was important to me was easy transfer of files to my PC, good battery life, cheap and expandable media, ease of use, choice of manual and auto record levels, and the ability to change recording levels once recording has started. And of course it should make good sounding recordings!This device met all of these criteria both on paper an in actual use. To play around with it, I have been recording my daughter's practice sessions. I was shocked at the sound quality even from the built in microphones. The resulting recording had no hiss, had good punch in the low end, didn't audibly distort even when the peak light would light, and had great stereo imaging. Wow! Transferring files to my PC is literally drag-n-drop since the device appears as an external drive when connected to the PC. I've recorded about 5 hours along with about 3 hours of playback and the battery charge indicator still hasn't dropped. This is using the provided alkaline batteries.I upgraded to a 16GB memory card that cost me <$30. That's what I call a cheap storage upgrade from the 2GB card provided!To really put it through it's paces, I brought it along to record my daughter's school play. The resulting recroding sounded awesome and was very faithful to how it sounded live. I was afraid that the audience clapping would really overload the microphones since I set the levels manually for the performers. Though there is clipping during the applause sections, it is not bad at all. I didn't even feel the need to round out the clipping during post processing. My daughter was very excited to hear the recording afterwards and agreed that it sounded great. As a point of reference, I've been making all of my recordings as stereo 16 bit 44kHz WAV files (aka CD quality/spec).There is a little bit of handling noise, but that is to be expected with a device with built in microphones. But if you are careful, you can minimize this. I tweaked the levels at the start and you can barely tell I was pushing buttons on it. During the entire performance, I just laid the DR-05 on the empty chair next to me.The only downside I can find with this device is that the input is really hot for line-in. If you do not have control of the output you connect to the line-in, you may have a problem. This is stated in the manual. From my reading, the more expensive models have a true line-in where this isn't a problem. If you plan to use this device to record from the outputs of a soundboard or other device, you may want to move up to a model that supports a true line-in. I don't plan on using this device this way, so it isn't an issue for me.Coming from using a Sony HiMD Minidisc recorder for similar tasks in the past, I can't tell you how much of a pleasure the DR-05 is to use. It is so easy to use and produces great results straight out of the box. I highly recommend this device.

I bought this product for a few specific tasks: to capture audio for video projects, thereby eschewing the onboard mics on my video equipment, and to capture jam sessions with friends and family. My requirements were a powered mic input, decent onboard microphone(s), and a high quality capture (high bitrate, resolution, etc). This unit delivers in spades.The overall build quality is consistent with the price, meaning that the unit definitely feels like it's made of plastic, but it's durable and easy to hold and use. The microphone orientation makes capturing a wide, discrete stereo patterns easy, and I am highly impressed with their sensitivity and low noise.The firmware allows for the capture of audio in a wide range of resolutions and bitrates. Recording at 16-bitm, 96k yields a lifelike, crisp, detailed capture. I was very impressed with the quality of audio this unit captures. I haven't tried it with an external mic yet, but the onboards have proven to be highly impressive.This unit left me wanting for nothing, but there were a few missing features that would have been nice to see. I would have liked to see multitracking and digital effects, but honestly it probably wouldn't have been feasible to have those features at this price range. Besides, all of the editing I do with the audio files from this unit is done on a PC, where effects can be added non-destructively and with a great deal of control.Overall, I highly recommend this unit if you're capturing things in one take, one layer, and at a high audio quality. This unit is inexpensive, packed with all the right features, and easy to use.

La grabadora funciona muy bien y tiene muchas opciones dependiendo de la calidad que busques, ya sea una buena grabación en WAV (para posteriormente comprimirla a FLAC y no perder calidad) o en un MP3, para grabaciones más casuales.De fábrica incluye un cable USB, pilas AA y una memoria de 2Gb para que empieces a grabar de inmediato.Los micrófonos funcionan muy bien y la opción de capturar audio por un cable funciona perfecto. Otra característica que casi no se menciona es que incluye una función de afinador, convirtiendo esta grabadora en una excelente opción para un músico.A pesar de que funciona con baterías, también se puede usar de manera alámbrica con el cable USB, con lo que te puedes olvidar de las baterías en sesiones donde no te tengas que mover de lugar.Quizá un punto malo sea que sólo está en inglés (el manual está en varios idiomas incluido el español y explica muy bien las funciones) y que la bocina integrada suena muy bajo, pero fuera de eso todo funciona perfecto y puedes tener grabaciones de muy buena calidad.Como experiencia personal, creo que mi grabadora la abrieron y usaron para prueba. Estaba en muy buen estado pero ya que tenía unas grabaciones, las opciones estaban movidas (donde la bocina prácticamente no se escuchaba) y las pilas ya estaban gastadas. Afortunadamente, el aparato tiene opciones de reinicio a settings de fábrica y formateo de memoria. Tuve que hacer uso de ambas opciones y con eso el aparato quedó muy bien, después de eso sólo hice ajustes a mis necesidades y el aparato quedó de 10.Es una grabadora barata y muy decente, ideal para músicos y principiantes. La recomiendo.

Das Gleiche Gerät wird auch als Tonaufnahmegerät angeboten, warum hier als Diktiergerät weiß ich nicht. Es ist jedenfalls das gleiche Gerät und definitiv mehr als ein Diktiergerät.Ich habe etwa 30 Minuten gebraucht, um mit Hilfe der - deutschen- beiliegenden Betriebsanleitung das Gerät voreinzustellen. Die Aufnahmequalität ist hervorragend -ich mache Seminarmitschnitte, Stimme mit Hintergrundmusik und das funktioniert sehr gut. Man kann den Aufnahmepegel von Hand einstellen oder eine Autopegelfunktion einstellen. Rein intuitiv hätte ich das nicht hinbekommen, bin allerdings auch kein Tontechniker sondern Laie, wer etwas Ahnung hat, für den ist es sicher leicht. Bin auch froh, dass ich kein komplizierteres Gerät gekauft habe, die hier angebotenen Möglichkeiten sind für mich ausreichend.Eine 4 GB Mini SD Karte und Batterien liegen bei - auch nicht selbstverständlich. Für eine 1 h Aufnahme mit wav 12 bit braucht man0,62 GB (620MB), bei mp3 entsprechend der verschiedenen Qualitäten deutlich weniger. Die Kopplung mit dem Computer klappt spielend, USB verbindungskabel einstecken, Gerät an und im dann erscheinenden Menu Datentransfer anwählen. Fertig.Fazit: Sehr gutes Aufnahmegerät mit ausreichenden Funktionen zum Superpreis.

Es una grabadora increible. Por defecto viene con el volumen bajo y demás y si se pone en Auto o funciones recorte de picos y demás es una maravilla. Subiendo el volumen a tope, botón grabar, Quick y eligiendo ganancia automática funciona espectacularmente. Tiene una respuesta increible. Los graves muy buenos. Viene con una tarjeta de 4GB mas que suficiente, ya que grabando en Mp3 a 320kbps Puedes grabar unas 15 horas seguidas. Si se te agota el tiempo podrías grabar otras 15 horas. Perfecta para grabar música en eventos, discursos y demás. Tambien tiene entrada de linea para microfonos. Una relación calidad precio inmejorables. También destacar su rosca para colocar en pies y trípodes, muy útil. Se puede enganchar también en pinzas de flashes para ponerla en cualquier parte. Una grabadora 10!

I bought the Tascam DR-05 primarily to document an odd noise that was being produced by my vehicle's engine, in addition to exhaust sounds as I progressively modified and upgraded exhaust components. I watched and listened to many reviews before making my decision. It was a toss up between this, the Tascam DR-05, and the Zoom H1.I like the build quality of the DR-05 much more than that of the H1. They're both made of plastic, but the DR-05 feels solid where the H1 felt a little flimsy. No squeaks or flexing as you grip, hold, or squeeze the product. The buttons on the DR-05 also felt better than the ones on the H1.The audio quality is so close that I don't think you'd be able to tell the difference. I like the ease of changing settings and levels on the DR-05. It feels intuitive, and the display is easy to read. I bought the accessory kit (P/N AK-DR11C) to go along with this item, which includes a hotshoe mount for attachment to a DSLR or similar camera, dead cat, cables, and a carrying case. The cat works great; my only complaint is that it covers up the PEAK and REC LEDs when it's on. The DR-05 by itself comes with two AAA batteries and a 2GB MicroSD card, which gets you up and running quickly. Although it's a bit awkward, you can also use this device (with the included USB cable) as a MicroSD card reader for your PC.Overall, I am very satisfied with my purchase. Tascam has impressed me with the DR-05, both in terms of raw audio quality, and in terms of build quality. This is a device you can use with confidence without feeling like it's going to fall apart on you.

Il Tascam DR-05 è un ottimo registratore digitale che, pur facendo parte della categoria entry-level, fornisce delle prestazioni di assoluto rispetto. Il DR-05 permette di registrare con varie opzioni, scegliendo tra formato Wave fino a 96kHz/24-bit e Mp3 fino a 320 kbps. Viene fornito di scheda microSD da 2Gb ma può equipaggiare schede microSDHC fino a 32Gb. E' facile da usare per via del chiaro display retroilluminato e dei comandi semplici e intuitivi.Ho effettuato un paio di registrazioni "on air" e devo dire che i risultati sono molto buoni. Bisogna porre attenzione ai livelli di picco, per cui è consigliabile, prima di ogni registrazione, effettuare un pre-rec level al fine di ottimizzare il livello del volume in ingresso. Comodissima la presa mic/ext-in che consente di registrare o con microfoni esterni ausiliari o segnali di linea (uscite Line Out di mixer, riproduttori CD, TV ecc), per cui potrete fare a meno di portarvi appresso computer e schede audio varie.Per finire, il Tascam DR-05 rappresenta un ottimo compromesso qualità/prezzo, a garanzia del marchio che da sempre, è uno dei leader mondiali della registrazione professionale.