Recording - October 2010 - 37

adjust the record levels of the incoming line signals—very handy indeed. Back home I tried the 2-Mics vs 4-Mics modes, and I could hear the ambience change in my headphones when I switched to 4-Mic mode, providing a broader image. Playback There are several settings for playback. A track can either be played “once” (selfexplanatory), or you choose “loop” (the track keeps repeating), or “loop all” which repeats the entire track list. Under Playback—Special there is a bass compensation on-off option that the website defines as “bass compensation for reducing the proximity effect in closemiked situations”. This is not so—it is not a reduction but a pronounced bass boost, either on or off, not adjustable. There is also a 3D option (not available simultaneously with bass boost), and there is some DSP going on that widens the soundfield and seems to put lower frequencies far left and right, with a slight delay like a bounce off side- or rear walls. An acquired taste, could be useful on some files. Playback can be selected for a stereo track, or for just the left or right track. That’s not all that significant for tracks recorded with the built-in mics since they are so close together, but with fully discrete imported

line signals that can make a difference. Finally, Vocal Cut is available during playback—it worked quite intensely, and cuts a wide swath through the frequency spectrum. Extras There are a number of effects available during playback: Room and Hall reverbs each offer adjustment of Time and for Level (depth); Chorus offers control over Rate and Level; Delay lets you adjust Time and Feedback. All pretty standard, although not usually found on devices of this size. Then comes the Pitch Shift where you can create a transposed version of the original, up or down by 12 steps in semitones, and hear original and copy both together—or not, depending on the Mix setting you choose. Create intervallic ghost voices or sing along with your (heavily munchkinized) alter ego! You adjust the parameters for each effect in Menu Mode, then you activate one effect at a time from the Effect tab on the PalmTrack’s front surface. These effects enhance playback for fun, and any more should not be asked of them, but that they do well. There are two levels of Vocal Enhancement available during recording, said to “boost a vocal’s frequency band while lowering the others”. I heard no discernible difference,

with or without music playing behind my speaking voice during the recording. Finally, there’s a built-in chromatic tuner—you calibrate it to a Hertz number between 435 and 445, and you play or sing a pitch and the screen tells you the pitch and how close you are to being in tune. Since the PalmTrack is always sensing incoming signals you don’t need to switch it to Record Standby in order to use the tuner—just go to the Tuner screen in the Utilities Menu. To transfer your recordings to a computer, it’s best to use a card reader. If you connect the PalmTrack via its USB, use fresh batteries and disable Auto Shutoff before the transfer, it can take a while, and if the PalmTrack shuts off you’ll have to start from scratch. Finally If the extras sound like they are something you need to have on a pocket-sized recorder, check them out. But it’s the basics that the PalmTrack does well—record at a variety of sample and bit rates and in a variety of file formats, all from an ergonomically well executed design that gets the job done with a minimum of fuss. Price: $199 ($149 street) More from: Alesis, www.alesis.com.

http://www.alesis.com http://www.hybridmic.com http://www.hybridmic.com

Recording - October 2010

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