Tascam DR-05X

This is my first portable recorder, purposefully tried not to expect too much as it's the lower end of the options. Haven't used any of the built in effects, so cannot comment on them. I purchased this as a way to capture foley sounds, and use as a general recorder.

Pro's:

Sometimes you're in a situation where you need to start recording unexpectedly and quickly. I've tried to get something on my phone set up, but was always frustrated by the quality, lack of space, and clunky way of getting up and running. The DR-05X is great in this situation, you can go from powered off to recording in around 4 seconds.

Device is still receiving firmware updates from Tascam, mine was shipped with an older version and wasn't expecting there to be anything but after logging on to Tascam site a new one had been released within the last month or two. As the system is pretty basic there were only minor tweaks, but even though it's not particularly old I appreciated that it was stil being thought about. The update process is very easy.

Size is great, fits in a pocket, bag just fine, and is a nice size to hold in the hand. I have no problem popping out somewhere, taking my keys, wallet and phone as usual, and the Tascam for a quick foley session.

Battery life has so far been great, came with a pair and haven't had to change them yet, even with the backlight on the display set to be permanantly on.

I record purely at 96/24 with no effects, pads, or limiting. So far everything has been better than expected. I was expecting there to be a slight dead zone in the stereo field in the center but this doesn't seem to be the case, and off-axis performance is also a lot better than expected, I feel a lot more confident in "setting and forgetting" rather than having to manouever the device to capture on the best axis. If you plan on using this for interviews, and worried about off-axis performance then you should be fine.

USB audio interface; I've not really examined the quality yet, but I had to use it in an emergency for a conference call - very quick to set up and the others on the call said I sounded great. This feature was so far down my list of "wants" when purchasing that I didn't care about it, but after having to use it in an emergency it's definitely something worth having! I don't know if it's possible, but being able to record to the SD card at the same time could make this a great tool for remote interviews

Con's:

I wish there was a little more damping on the mic mounts internally, whenever you move your hands around the device it's gets picked up and amplified because of the houseing. Having said that, if you don't move your hands, put it on the table or use a mount, you're good.

I purchased a windshield to go with this from Amazon, but as soon as you put something over the mics, you also cover up the LED's at the top and potentially some of the display. This looks like it will happen for any shield not just mine, This isn't a huge problem if you're careful, but worth bearing in mind.

Don't expect anything from the speaker, I wasn't so I'm happy, but it's not too loud, and sounds horrific - if you just want to check something in a pinch it's nice to have, but that's it.

The casing around the USB port is sharp and horrible, and the battery cover feels like it could come off with a litttle rough handling, it hasn't yet, but I am definitely aware of it, which is a shame because the rest of casing feels OK.

Overall, I am more than happy with this recorder. If you need something to capture interviews or an entry level location recording device, this is great.

The device came with the latest firmware version. The controls are intuitive, but with some professional features that I liked. The size, unlike cheap competitors, is more practical, with convenient buttons. Two batteries of the more common AA format, work from a power bank. Works with my android smartphone via otg. In PC audio interface mode, it works fine right away. An excellent real ASIO driver (easily found from the tascam website), on my PC with a buffer of 64, the delay is practically absent during software monitoring, while it is absolutely stable. Funny reverb (you can try using the device as a reverb, haha).
This device has replaced a whole suitcase of equipment for me in some situations. For field recordings, I had to take a laptop, an audio interface, two condenser microphones, two cables, two stands with me. At times it was overkill. And I needed a pocket recorder. Recording of choral singing, individual vocalists, as well as events where the on-camera microphone cannot cope.
There was a slight difficulty in finding a method for adjusting the microphone level, it turned out that the up and down keys are the level of the headphones, and the left and right keys adjust the microphone gain when the recording mode is activated. The "auto" mode is suitable for recording speech information, when you need to fix each word (the level is not adjustable), and the "limiter" mode is suitable for high-quality recording, affecting only the excess level, without damaging the entire signal.
For the price of one average microphone, I got a usb stereo microphone with quality capsules for everyday and specific work, a recorder, a low latency audio interface from a reputable brand.
cool!
UPD:
Yes, it picks up radio interference when placed on a wireles router, a dect phone, or near 3g / 4p base stations with a certain orientation. Specially went and looked for interference. I didn't notice it during normal use.