TASCAM DR-40X 4-Track Portable Handheld Field Recorder — 2 XLR/TRS Inputs, USB Audio Interface, Dual Adjustable Microphones for Stereo Recording of Music, Audio for Video and Podcasting

This is by far the best handheld recorder I've owned. I thought about giving it 4 stars because of the poor documentation/owner's manual, but the recorder is too good.A word of advice. If you plan to use external microphones, save yourself a lot of time and frustration. Be sure you have "Balanced" cables to connect the mic to the recorder. I had to work my way through a number of after-market "How-to" presentations to learn this.But before you decide on an external mic, give the onboard mics a try. I use my recorder to record our church's sermons. I want to keep as much equipment out of view as possible, so I mount the recorder on a low-profile tripod on the podium and point the mics toward the speaker. I use the stereo position. The sound quality is excellent. And audience noise is minimal. No regrets.

I am not an audio recording expert or professional at all -- just a hobbyist. I bought this to use with my drone so I can capture my local city's 4th of July fireworks display and record audio to go along with the drone's video. For that purpose it worked very well. The red audio clipping light kept going off during recording when there were loud explosions, which worried me, but the limiter did its job and the explosions sounded great. It also picked up the quieter sounds, like the softer crackling noises, even about 500 feet away.The interface is intuitive and easy to use. The batteries lasted a lot longer than I needed, and I appreciate it can use batteries or USB power. Also I was able to easily transfer the audio via USB cable.The only downside I can find is that the windscreen can push the two microphones back together a little, if they are oriented away from each other. I "fixed" this with a very low tech solution: I folded up a small piece of paper towel, wrapped it in duct tape and shoved it in between the mics to keep them separate.

I tested out the field recorder one night to record some background stuff (croaking frogs and crickets). It did that well but my location is close to a natural gas pipeline / pumping station so it picks that up to. Not the fault of the recorder but it shows the sensitivity of the built in mics. What I really love about the DR40X is the ability to move the microphones from a close XY pattern to a wide one (YX I guess? lol)., I haven't learned the UI yet so some of the functions I will have to get to know over a period of time. All in all, I'm glad I bought the recorder. I haven't tried it with music yet but samples that I have heard online (via Youtube) has me rather impressed. Plus, with 2 XLR inputs on the bottom of the unit, I can plug in higher quality condenser mics (DR40X has phantom power) and record 4 channels if I so desire. Last but not least, there is NO reason to buy Tascam's power supply in order to save on batteries. Here is what you can do: The unit runs just fine using a micro USB to USB-A cable hooked to a computer, external battery, or a charger wall-wart with a USB-A output (obviously using a USB-A to micro USB cable). Take your pick.

A coworker recommended this to me. I use this product to record interviews for a radio station, but also for my video production needs as well. I can tap into an audio system directly thanks to the XLR/TRS ports available, and it works fantastic for when I am hired for capturing speeches or presentations. My colleagues in radio refer to TASCAM as the brand for quality audio equipment.Now, my weakest link in production is video, when it used to be audio. This device features automatic limiting, a full size SD card slot, and two built in directional microphones that have flexible adjustment. You are guaranteed to get better audio than your standard built in camera.My only critical note is that when I was trying to preview an audio file on the device, it froze while seeking to a specific point in the audio file, hence the loss of a star in this review. It was an awkward moment when trying to preview audio I captured on behalf of a client, but other than that, it is a slick device.Also, I purchased a used model, and it was worth the savings. Couldn't notice a single scratch. I'm not sure if it is capable of charging rechargeable AA batteries, but I can survive. So far, this has helped me for 6 hours of back-to-back audio capturing nonstop while still having at least a third of battery life with some mid grade rechargeable batteries.I would definitely buy one of these again.

I needed something to record my short stories and voice-over work while on the go and while this does require some learning and testing as you go, it's been a joy to discover all its bells and whistles. There are 2 internal stereo microphones that you can set in 2 configurations (A-B and X-Y). It's perfect for ASMR recording if you're into that. There are also 2 XLR inputs and you can plug in microphones that require phantom power (although make sure the mics require phantom power before you turn that feature on or it will blow your mic) which will give you 4 microphones altogether. It can even do overdub which is great for voice-over and role-play audios. It can do punch-and-roll although I haven't mastered that one yet.My favorite option is the Dual recording where it records 2 tracks with the second track recording lower than the first in case you end up peaking or get distortions. I don't know my tech terms but hopefully you get what I'm saying. It's pricey if you're buying it only as a regular recorder but if you do voice over and role-play audios like I do, it's perfect. It records in wav, mp3 and one other format I don't use and can't remember what it is and I usually record in wav, transfer to Audacity for post-production, then export as mp3. I've also recorded in mp3 for direct upload but it's better to record in wave and clean up everything (mouth sounds, clicks, etc) in post later.It can also serve as an interface if you want to record directly to your computer although I haven't tried that yet since I bought it so I could use it on its own while on the go.