Tascam has introduced two new digital audio recorders with WiFi support, the DR-22WL Portable Recorder With WiFi and the DR-44WL Portable Recorder with WiFi.
The DR-22WL, right, s the first portable recorder to include WiFi for transport control, file transfer, and audio streaming to your smartphone or PC.
Features:
- WiFi transport control for remote start
- File transfer and streaming to smartphones or computers over WiFi
- Free control and transfer app for iOS and Android
- Free file transfer software for Mac & Windows
- New stereo condenser microphones arranged in close XY pattern
- New mic preamp and A/D converters for better sound quality and longer battery life
- High volume recording – up to 120dB SPL
- 8-position Scene Dial for typical recording situations, including full manual setting
- Up to 96kHz/24-bit recording (WAV/BWF) or MP3 recording
- 1/8” stereo mic input with plug-in power
- 128×128 graphic LCD with backlight
- Supports up to 128GB microSDXC card (4GB microSDHC card included)
- Variable Speed Audition changes speed without changing the pitch for transcription or learning new music
The DR-44WL, right, is a 4-track recorder that includes WiFi for transport control, file transfer, and audio streaming to your smartphone or PC. Built-in stereo condenser microphones feature shockmounting and are mounted in a true XY pattern for perfect stereo imaging. A pair of XLR inputs is also available for 4-track recording, and all four feed an improved microphone preamp and AD/DA stage.
Features:
- WiFi transport control for remote start
- File transfer and streaming to smartphones or computers over WiFi (Streaming feature will be added in upcoming software update)
- Free control and transfer app for iOS and Android
- Free transfer software for Mac and Windows
- Improved stereo condenser microphones with shockmounting arranged in close XY pattern
- New mic preamp and A/D converters for better sound quality and longer battery life
- High volume recording – up to 132dB SPL
- Record stereo, four channel, or dual recording mode for a safety track in case of overload
- Multitrack mode with reverb for 4-track recordings on the go
- Up to 96kHz/24-bit recording (WAV/BWF) or MP3 recording
- Simultaneous WAV and MP3 recording
- XLR inputs with phantom power
- 128×128 graphic LCD with backlight
- Built-in WiFi network – connects directly to your smartphone without an existing network
- Supports up to 512GB SDXC card (4GB SDHC card included)
- Includes SD card, AC adapter, camera hot shoe adapter, soft case, hand grip, windscreen, and Micro USB cable
Pricing and availability are to be announced. See the Tascam site for more info.
This could be an easy way to add vocals and whatever to gadget and other apps that support sample import. Wifi makes sense. Worth considering.
Interesting, this could be the only direct way to transfer audio files from a field recorder to iphone/ipad.
Since they dont read audio files from sd cards or usb with the camera connection kit.
Interesting. I’m not sure how I feel about wifi being a feature though. It’s surely handy, but it adds cost, weight and significant battery use to a little device, and those are things I think you specifically design away from in filed recorders. It will be interesting to see if this becomes a standard feature on all devices going forward, or just an interesting experiment.
You can switch off the WiFi when not in use to save battery life. Not sure how it adds weight?
Weight comes from chips, antennae, and usually a bigger battery to compensate for the drain wifi puts on. Not a lot, but can add up on little devices.
Cool idea to add wifi!
Can this automatically sync new recordings to your computer?
A demo video for this would be nice. Also, price and ship date!
They don’t automatically upload, that would use up a lot of data on your plan if you weren’t careful. There’s an “upload to SoundCloud” function in the app, as well as buttons to share that Soundcloud link on Facebook, Twitter, and Google +. You can also email the files.
One cool feature is that the recorders can save WAV and MP3 formats at the same time. So you have an MP3 to upload right away and a WAV file to archive.
We’ll start on a video next week. Price is $149 for the DR-22WL, $299 for the DR-44WL, both available in October.
Jeff thanks for the feedback!