Playing the Field

Oct 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Nick Peck

           
 

The FR-2 has two ports for storage: CompactFlash and PC Card. The PC Card port can use Flash ATA micro drives, which currently store as much as 5 GB.

In a professional situation, every moment counts, and searching for a parameter in a menu system can be difficult and frustrating. The FR-2 assigns all the most important recording parameters to hardware knobs and switches that you can see and change at a glance. That includes knobs for sampling rate and bit depth and switches to select 48V phantom power, a 100 Hz highpass filter, and mono or stereo operation. The FR-2 reminds me of a Dodge Dart: it may not be the smallest or sexiest-looking ride available, but it is solid, dependable, and easy to drive.

The FR-2's Achilles' heel has to be its battery system. It uses 8 AA batteries that should last for 80 minutes, according to the specs. They actually lasted about an hour for me, which means you would need 64 batteries in a single eight-hour day of field recording. Having several sets of NiMH rechargeable batteries would be an absolute must for using the FR-2 away from AC power; a far more hassle-free solution would be to connect a 12V lead-acid external battery to the FR-2's DC input. Fortunately, the FR-2's power-saving mode can extend battery life somewhat.

I have a few minor grumbles about the FR-2. The AC supply ($69) is a separate item to be purchased from Fostex. The FR-2 comes with neither a CompactFlash card nor an AC power supply. Every other unit in this roundup that relies solely on CompactFlash as a storage medium comes with a small card to get you started. I also wish the FR-2 had a ladder LED VU display like the Sound Devices 722 (discussed later in this article) does. For something as critical as constantly checking level, a dim LCD VU display just doesn't work for me. In addition, high-resolution files can get big quickly. Next time around, Fostex should consider putting in a faster data transmission protocol, such as USB 2.0 or FireWire.

I tried the FR-2 in a number of different environments for recording car doors and engines, birds and frogs in the wild, and a jazz-funk band rehearsal. In each case, the unit performed like a champ. The mic preamps are dead quiet and detailed, and I liked the solid feel of the unit's buttons. One peculiarity is that you have to press Rec Standby to finish recording; the Stop button is for playback only.

Overall, I was blown away by the sound quality and solid feel of the unit. It is clearly built to last and was designed with the needs of the field-audio professional in mind. At $1,500, it takes dead aim at recordists retiring their Tascam DA-P1 DAT recorders, and it makes an excellent upgrade. Most of my colleagues and I felt that the FR-2 truly had the best-sounding mic preamps in the roundup. If budget is an issue but getting the highest possible sound quality is important, then this is the unit for you. Aside from the annoying AA battery drain and Fostex's dubious decision to sell a unit like this without an AC adapter, I unhesitatingly recommend the FR-2.

EDIROL R-4

The Edirol R-4 is a 4-channel desktop-oriented portable recorder (see Fig. 5). At $1,895, it is shooting for the upper end of the affordable tapeless field-recorder world, and it has the feature set to justify the price. Four channels of recording set it apart from all the other contenders in this roundup. The extra power is perfect for recording a band rehearsal with separate tracks for different musicians, for recording quadraphonic ambiences (making it useful for film or video games), or for multichannel production recording. The R-4 comes equipped with a 40 GB internal hard drive, which can hold a lot more 24-bit, 96 kHz 4-channel recordings than a CompactFlash card could (a CompactFlash port is included, too). The unit has built-in stereo microphones and stereo speakers. A sturdy padded carry bag is bundled with the unit.

FIG. 5: The Edirol R-4 features four mic preamps, 4-channel recording, and a 40 GB hard drive.

The R-4's design favors desktop use more than over-the-shoulder recording. It is powered by 8 AA batteries or an AC adapter. For long jaunts away from power I would recommend getting NiMH rechargeable batteries or a lead-acid battery that could plug into the R-4's DC power jack. The recorder's look and user interface are classic Roland, and it is exceptionally easy to use, with a big user-friendly LCD display and dedicated rubberized buttons for most of the commonly used functions. The mic/line inputs are of the combination XLR/TRS variety, with switchable phantom power in banks of two tracks. Rudimentary wave-editing procedures let you trim, divide, combine, and merge files on the unit. I give the R-4 two big thumbs up for the shuttle and scrub wheels, which allow you to move through recorded material forward and backward to find the moment that you're looking for.

Like the R-1, the R-4 comes with built-in effects that can be configured for playback only or for recording and playback. Unlike the R-1's, the effects sound pretty good and are oriented toward optimizing the recording rather than the creative processing. The effects include 3-band parametric and 6-band graphic EQ, a noise gate, an aural enhancer, and a compressor/de-esser.