Recording - December 2009 - 38

BY LORENZ RYCHNER TASCAM DR-07 TASCAM is a division of TEAC Corporation, and both names have long stood for recording and other electronic gear. If you’re middle-aged you’ll remember the first TASCAM Portastudio that started the home-recording craze to which we’re all addicted now. Some of us are so long in the tooth that we even remember the groundbreaking and liberating TEAC A3340S Simul-sync 4-track (yes—real analog reel-to-reel tape with overdubbing and layering capability—a ’70s Wow!). Always keeping up with the times, TASCAM has a fine line of small but potent digital recorders, where the multitracking DP models are the successors to the Portastudio (DP=Digital Portastudio), while the DR models are stereo recorders. A handy hand tool You grip the DR-07 with one hand and it feels well balanced, with all controls situated so that you can operate them—should it be necessary—with the fingers of the one hand that’s holding the unit. Insert an SD Memory card on the left narrow side, add batteries in the well on the underside (2xAA), then power up the DR-07 with the button on the narrow left side, and slide the Hold tab next to it to prevent shutting it off inadvertently. Format the card (use the Quick Format option—the Full Format takes forever and your batteries might run out before it’s done the AC adapter is optional). Now you can use mostly your thumb to operate the unit—simply great when your other hand is occupied, like if you hold external mics with the other hand for example (a good idea, as we’ll see). Layout The layout is straightforward: Mics at one end, then the display screen, four tabs (Loop, |< >|, Playback Control) above two smallish buttons (Menu and Stop/Home) next to the prominent Record button, and below those the large multifunction wheel with Play/Pause in the center. On the right narrow side are the mini-jacks for Line In and the combo mini jack for Headphones/Line Out; the pair of Output Level controls are of the push-and-hold ± type, and the Record Level wheel is calibrated from 0–10.RECORDING DECEMBER 2009 Portable Digital Recorder Portability and power from a respected name in recording Between the two mics is the mini jack for an external mic, and on the underside there’s a screw socket (1/4") for stand-mounting. For more detail, look at the picture, and download the manual in PDF form from www.tascam.com/products/dr-07;9,12,3715,19.html In use Tap Record once and the red ring around the button flashes to indicate Record-Pause (Standby) status, while the screen displays the currently selected recording parameters. Your input choices are the built-in mics or some external mics (powered from the DR-07 if necessary) or a line input. You choose in Menu mode, not on the fly. You can also transfer files from a computer via USB, but while so connected the unit is otherwise inactive, functioning only as an external drive volume linked to the computer. The screen is backlit if you select one of 4 durations (from 5 seconds to 30 seconds); if the screen goes dark before you are done, tap a control that isn’t going to do anything else, like here the FF tab, and the screen lights up again. The meters are active in Recording Standby, and you can set a level, aided by the peak readout in dB. Clap your hands, for example, and as the meters fall away the peak is displayed for a couple of seconds. If need be, dig into the Menu and select input gain (low/mid/high), lowcut filter (off/40/80/120 Hz), and level control (off=manual, auto, or limiter). What file type would you like? Stereo or Mono (always on both L+R channels)? WAV at 44.1 or 48 kHz, at 16 or 24 bits? Or MP3 at one of 7 settings from 32 to 320 kbps? Take your pick. Time and money are no longer an object these days—with a modest 2 GB card you can record 3 hours and 12 minutes at 44.1/16 CD quality. Splurge for an 8 GB card and make that almost 13 hours! To start recording, either press the now-flashing Record again or use the center of the multifunction ring (the Play/Pause button). Either of those two will also pause the recording, while only the

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Recording - December 2009

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