Tascam DR-44WL Handheld Portable Audio Recorder with WiFi

I've been recording the fleeting moments of my musical life with the Tascam DR-100 II and DR-40 for several years and have been pleased with their performance. However, I'm always on the lookout for an upgrade and the DR-44WL is Teac's latest and greatest palm sized recorder. It sports new features over its predecessors--Wi-Fi, iOS app, larger LCD and better RFI shielding--but does operation and sound quality measure up? APPEARANCE & BUILD: The body—plastic with aluminum side panels—feels sturdy but is a far cry from the beefy metal body of the DR-100 II. The large monochrome LCD isn’t a touchscreen, but is easy to read and an upgrade over the DR-40 and DR-100. Unlike color displays, it’s visible in bright sunlight! A steel tripod socket makes for easy mounting on tripods and light stands. I use a small Arca quick release plate on the DR-44WL, allowing fast mount/dismount from ball heads. CONTROLS are ample but feel flimsy compared to the DR-100. Unlike the DR-70 and Zoom H6, it has a phantom power switch! Operation is intuitive save for setting levels: 1. press input level button; 2. select tracks; 3. turn level wheel; and, finally, 4. press input level button to exit level adjustment mode. Yikes, I actually had to read the manual to figure that out! The good news is paired stereo tracks, e.g., tracks 1 and 2, may be adjusted simultaneously, shaving off some toil. Channels of a stereo pair may also be adjusted separately, something not possible with the DR-40. The iOS app, Tascam Control, is smooth and superior to the physical interface of the DR-44WL, especially setting levels. After inputting a password it was up and running in a matter of seconds. The only gotcha is Wi-Fi mode goes through batteries much faster than physical controls so use the USB port for power or keep spare batteries for long sessions. CONNECTIONS: Combo XLR and TRS allow recording from external pro mics or line level sources such as mixers or outboard mic preamps. Mini or 3.5 mm TRS connectors are not directly supported but can be used with an adapter. In stereo mode, XLR inputs only work with tracks 3 and 4. Tracks 1 and 2 are reserved for the built-in mics. However, tracks 1 and 2 may be assigned to the XLR inputs in multi-track mode if that makes any sense. The DR-44WL has a switch to toggle inputs from mic, phantom power and line level. There are no digital or unbalanced inputs. A mini (3.5mm) stereo jack is the lone output source. So adapters are needed to interface with studio and home stereo systems. My SD card goes straight in my Mac for storage, editing and playback, so I haven’t bothered to hook up to anything. The DR-44WL has a mini-USB port for power or uploading to a computer, but not for playback or recording. BATTERIES: The DR-40 is an odd bird with three AA batteries in its belly. Thankfully the DR-44WL uses four AA batteries. I use Eneloop Pro rechargeable batteries and they last through an all day rehearsal. Standard Eneloop work fine also but the slightly larger size make them really tough to install/remove from the battery compartment. You can also power it from a USB port or most USB chargers. MICS & SOUND QUALITY: I record my rehearsals and live shows, so a fast and simple setup is paramount. The built-in X/Y stereo cardioid mics are a level better than DR-40 and DR-100 MKII mics: warmer and fuller bass and midrange but slightly bright in upper frequencies. Stereo imaging is excellent, with each musician precisely placed in the stereo field. Listen to my video with headphones and you can hear where each guitarist is sitting!. I loved the DR-40’s ability to switch between X/Y and A/B wide stereo and disappointed Tascam omitted said feature from the DR-44WL. Preamps are surprisingly clean: using a pair of KM-184 in a soundproof booth, I could detect no noise in classical guitar solos recorded at -12 and 75% gain. In other words, significantly cleaner than the DR-40 and perhaps slightly better than the DR-100 II. I only record soft finger picked guitars and the DR-44WL has plenty of gain, typically set 50 to 75% for -12 dB. RFI RESISTANCE: I’m surrounded by RFI: radio station transmitters and everybody is packing microwave emitting smartphones! Audio gear needs shielding or it records static, microwave beeps and classic rock stations! The DR-44WL has exceptional RFI shielding (DR-40 was a beeping mess around cellphones). Tascam had to beef up RFI shielding since the DR-44WL partners with iOS/Droid remote control apps. LAST BLURB: I'm pleased with the DR-44WL: excellent recording quality, good built-in mics, clean preamps, RFI resistant and great iOS remote control app. The cons are awkward level adjustment and controls feel flimsy. Considering the reasonable price and sound quality, the DR-44WL is a winner for me.

Without any doubt, this is an excellent recorder, mostly because it's multifunctional and universal. Suitable for interviews, nature sounds recording or music recording. The sound is good, although there is a little amount of background white noise, but this is not critical. It's rather easy to tune, each channel has its own settings (input, level, FX). There was SD card included for 4 GB, better than nothing (I instantly replaced it with 64 GB one). Direct wifi function works properly via special app, so you are able to control the device remotely, within basic functions (rec/pause/play, basic settings, etc)... but unfortunately sounds are not transmitted to mobile phone (neither life playing/recording sound, nor in the form of wav/mp3 files), this is sad, but also not so critical. In general I definitely recommend this product, it worth its price for sure.

First off, this is a very reasonable performing audio recorder, with some very useful functions, and then some. I'll let you read other reviews on the the audio performance. They have more equipment to give an objective review. In summary, at least for a user who wants good quality recording over whatever video capture device's in-built mic, this is far better and great for the price. I love the dual-level record function. It saved me a few times from clipped recordings. There are some bonus functions which I would say are gimmicks and are just wasting system memory - metronome, tuner. However, the biggest beef I've to complain, and which I cannot provide a 5 star is the Wifi function. I purchase this in 2017. At the time, it was a pretty new unit. The Wifi was unstable. Wifi Firmware was v1.0. The unit would attach, then when using with the DR Control app, will freeze/drop connection ... and it will be an irrecoverable situation. You cannot restart the app to save it. There doesn't seem to be a timeout to monitor and recover. The unit will then be essentially zombie mode. You've lost control of it! 2 years later, now in 2019, the firmware is at v2.1. I was hopeful this instability issue would fixed. I just did another try, and again it froze after just a few mins. I tried to adjust the levels at the time. So all-in-all the Wifi control is a great idea, and is a critical function, if it worked. My use case is that I put the recorder to the front of the stage to capture better audio, while I am at the back to video. I am sure this applies for wedding videographers. Right now, that function is as good as useless (maybe its more stable if you just use it as start-stop recording only), and losing control is just unacceptable. I really hope that Tascam can just remove useless stuff like the metronome, tuner, and insert a hearbeat/health check routine into the Wifi function so that the unit will self-check, and reset the Wifi upon losing connection with the client (phone/DR Control app). This is very very critical so that you don't lose control of the unit no matter what. Due to this, I still have to put the unit into 'dumb' record of the entire event, while I go to another section to do the video. It was a great and revolutionary idea to wirelessly control the unit. But alas, Tascam failed to stabilize this feature, and its basically useless. Other than that audio wise, its great. But then if the Wifi feature is so unstable and practically unusable, then why need to shell out extra for the function? Tascam - please do something about it. I am very very sure your test units are behaving the same, as can be seen by the many reports of this!

Per me che non avevo grandissima confidenza con le registrazioni audio, devo dire che questo prodotto è stata una rivoluzione. Utilissimo e abbastanza facile da usare. Ottimo e maneggevole sia per matrimoni che per registrazioni musicali e di eventi. Le piccole dimensioni e la buona durata grazie a 4 pile stilo AA lo hanno reso un compagno di lavoro insostituibile. Buoni i microfoni in dotazione, registrano un suono pulito e senza troppi disturbi.

Die internen Mikrofone haben eine exzellente Audio-Qualität. Bemerkenswert ist, dass der Rekorder saubere Mitten und brillante Höhen liefert und dennoch auch tiefste Bässe aufzeichnen kann - mit anderen Worten, es haut einen echt vom Hocker. Dabei sind die internen Mikrofone extrem neutral, ohne Färbung, sehr natürlich. Und ausreichend laut sind sie auch. Verglichen mit dem Zoom H5, Zoom H4n Pro, Tascam DR-40X sind die internen Mikros klar besser. Für DR-40(X)-Besitzer: Die XLR-Vorverstärker sind nicht anders als am DR-40(X). Im direkten Vergleich ist keine Differenz nicht auszumachen, sie klingen identisch. Wahrscheinlich sind die Vorverstärker die Selben. Wobei sie klanglich bei beiden Rekordern natürlich nicht schlecht sind. Die WLAN-Verbindung funktioniert perfekt (iPhone7). Eine klare Empfehlung für diesen Rekorder. Für einige wirkt der DR-44wl billig: Ich konnte das nicht feststellen, die Verarbeitung ist gut und über jeden Zweifel erhaben. Für mich macht er einen qualitativ hochwertigen Eindruck.

Tiene buena claridad en el sonido, una vez que entiendes como esta el menú es fácil de operar Las entradas externas tienen buena amplificación en caso de tener una señal débil

Estamos delante de la sucesora de la DR-100, grabadora que en mi caso viene a sustituir, es de menor tamaño y peso. La construcción es sencilla, domina el plástico en todo la GRABADORA, los conectores si que son sólidos y hecho en falta la doble batería de la DR-100. El funcionamiento es correcto con la gran calidad de sonido que ofrecen las TASCAM, ojo que todos los menús están en ingles, se agradecen las 4 pistas de sonido con controles independientes y si sacas las baterías para cargarlas tendrás que volver a poner la fecha y la hora, este fallo es imperdonable para una GRABADORA de casi 300 Euros. Estoy contento con la compra, es un buen equipo para registrar sonido en cualquier situación, se puede conectar a una mesa a la vez que registras el sonido a través de sus micrófonos y encima se controla desde el iPhone.

I've been looking for a portable recorder to better capture audio than I can get via my phone. Torn between this device and its sibling, the DR-22WL which is smaller and more easily portable, I finally settled on the DR-44WL when I learned about its dual recording capability - you can choose to make a recording in two different formats OR at two different recording levels simultaneously. With the latter, should audio levels get so high that the recording becomes limited/distorted, the lower level "fall-back" track can still be used. I have no experience of other recorders so can't comment on how this unit compares to them, but using it to make recordings of a couple of performances in Symphony Hall, Birmingham I was left astounded at the quality of the audio captured. The subjects offered a wide dynamic range and the dual level recording feature worked exactly as I'd hoped. Leaving the input level set to its default, the device captured perfect recordings across different musical groups. I'll need to spend a little time figuring out optimum input level settings, but in the meantime the device saves me from my own limitations. The Wi-Fi integration, I initially dismissed as something that would have limited utility but I wouldn't be without it now. Battery life has been great and the device has plenty of advanced features that I'm not ready to tackle yet; 4 track recording, Multi-Track recording, XLR Mic inputs, Mid Side Mic capability and track mixing functionality. Nice surprises were the inclusion of a metronome and chromatic tuner functions. The DR-44WL comes with a soft case, power supply, mic stand adapter, foam wind-shield and hot-shoe adapter that aren't supplied with the DR-22WL. It was also fitted with a Class 4 4GB Micro SD HC card and adapter, so there is no immediate need to buy one with the device unless you need something bigger. The device takes a second or so to switch on/off, and requires a deliberate action to slide a sprung switch and hold it in position until the unit activates/deactivates but this I see as an advantage and security against accidental operation. Once operational the device responds to button presses quickly. The record button requires two presses to activate. The first press initiates a 'record hold' function that lets you check inputs and levels and adjust them as required, the second press starts the recording. The only downside I've found so far is that the recordings the device creates expose weakness elsewhere - the wide frequency range captured by the device can't be reproduced by my favourite headphones so I'll have to replace those now too *sigh*