TASCAM Announces DR-05 Portable Recorder

TASCAM announced Friday the DR-05, a handheld portable recorder. The device allows users to capture digital stereo recordings of live music or other events in a handheld form factor. According to the company, the DR-05 is “optimized for sound quality,” and includes a number of quality components.

The device’s design includes a dedicated power supply for the codec used to encode the sound, separate analog and digital circuit boards, and low-impedance circuit design. The DR-05 can record to microSD or microSDHC cards in either MP3 or WAV file, and it supports variable-speed playback without changing the pitch, as well as looping features.

TASCAM DR-05

Note that the DR-05 isn’t a Mac or iOS-specific device (though one can certainly import the sound to both, as well as to PCs), but we know there are a lot of musicians and other audio enthusiasts and pros among our readers.

There is a long list of features on the DR-05, included in full below:

• Handheld Portable Recorder
• Built-in Stereo Condenser Omnidirectional Microphones with sensitivity up to 125dB SPL
• Up to 96kHz/24-bit WAV (BWF) linear PCM recording
• Stereo MP3 recording from 32-320 kbps bit rate
• Peak Reduction function to set the optimum recording level automatically even in recording
• Limiter and low-cut filter to help prevent distortion
• Automatic or manual level setting
• Self timer recording starts recording 5 or 10 sec. after pressing the record button for waiting until you are ready
• Auto and manual track increment
• Variable speed playback (50%-150%) without changing the pitch
• Loop and repeat playback
• Level Align feature prevents uneven volume levels during playback
• Playback EQ setting
• Editing function (Divide and delete)
• Up to 99 mark points on each file
• Chromatic tuner
• 1/8” stereo mic/line input
• USB 2.0 port for transfer to PC and external power
• Up to 2-second pre recording buffer
• Jump back function returns to previous point with one action (1-10, 20, 30 sec.)
• 1/8” headphone/line output
• Built-in speaker
• microSD (64MB – 2GB)/microSDHC (4GB – 32GB) card slot (2GB card included)
• Powered by 2 AA batteries, AC adapter (optional: PS-P515U), or USB bus power
• Tripod socket hole
• Dimensions: 2 3/8” W x 5 9/16” H x 1” D
• Weight: 4 1/16 oz

The DR-05 is priced at US$99, and you can find more information on TASCAM’s Web site.