Sound & Picture - Issue 5, 2016

by Gerardo González

Review
Review:
Tascam DR-701D Recorder

The Tascam DR-701D six-track field recorder is a great portable backup recorder and an excellent audio upgrade option for DSLR shooters who want to capture better sound for their projects. The DR-701D offers solid sound quality with a minimum operation workflow for audiovisual recordists. I would say it is one of the best, most affordable options for ambisonic microphones or any 3D virtual reality (VR) audio application.

Overall, the DR-701D is a major step forward
for the Tascam portable recorder series. The unit
features four XLR inputs with low-noise HDDA
mic preamps and a high-quality headphone pre-
amp. It offers a stereo mix option in addition to
ISO tracks, allowing for a total of six tracks to
be recorded at the same time. Possible record-
ing modes include mono, stereo, 2 mix (or ste-
reo mixdown), dual mono, dual stereo, and gang
trim, which is especially useful for VR audio re-
cording. In my opinion, the DR-701D records and
monitors cleaner audio than any other compara-
bly priced recorder on the market.

This improved addition to the DR series includes a useful feature that synchronizes the camera and the recorder’s transport, allowing start/stop, record, and clock via the HDMI ports. This allows image and sound to be locked with no sync problems, which is very useful for vid-eographers or audiovisual recordists.

Another new feature is the option to receive timecode from a BNC connector, either fed with a constant connection or “jam synched” when needed. The recorder can receive timecode directly from a camera via HDMI, and features a built-in SMPTE generator. The unit runs with a temperature-compensated crystal oscillator as its internal clock.