The Best Field Recorders for Portable Audio

Field recordings can be used to capture lectures at school, record audio for a video shoot, serve as a mobile podcast studio, collect samples to use in your music, and even create IR (impulse responses) for building custom audio effects.

The Zoom H1essential is a significant step up from the Zoom.

The Tascam DR-40x doesn’t support 32 -bit float recording.

Tascam PortaCapture x8 has an 8 -gig internal memory and 12 hours of battery life on a single charge.

Teenage Engineering's TP-7 field recorder has a spinning wheel in the middle of the device that mimics a tape reel or record.

He has been covering consumer technology for more than 15 years and most recently was the managing editor at Engadget , where he led a global newsroom and helmed the site’s product coverage, including reviews and buying guides. In addition to reviewing laptops, 3D... Read moreParker Hall is a senior editor of product reviews at WIRED. He focuses on audiovisual and entertainment products. Hall is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music , where he studied jazz percussion. After hours , he remains a professional musician in his hometown of Portland , Oregon ..