Recorders with unbalanced inputs can make for a very portable recording rig; but there's a perception that this involves some compromise on sound quality. So I thought it would be interesting to throw a few of these recorders together to see how they compare.

While we're at it, it seems interesting to compare the built-in mics of these recorders (the ones that have decent built-in mics) against what you can achieve with a simple pair of external mics; so that's here too.

Unbalanced Recorders


Top view of the test rig, with the LS-10, DR-100, DR-05X, and DR-701 all set up.

The truly small recorders here are the Olympus LS-10 and the Tascam DR-05X; for comparison, I've added two larger recorders which have both styles of input, the Tascam DR-100 and Tascam DR-701.

The external mics in all cases are the Micbooster Clippy EM172 mics with unbalanced 3.5mm connections, set up in AB. For the DR-100, the builtin mics tested are the "Uni" mics, which really seem most relevant here. (For more information and tests of the DR-100's mics, see the DR-100 article.)

Each recording was boosted in post to -24LUFS. The recorders, mics, and the amount of boost applied are shown here:

Recorder Mic Boost
DR-701 3.5mm Clippy EM172 +29.54 dB
DR-100 3.5mm Clippy EM172 +13.83 dB
LS-10 3.5mm Clippy EM172 +6.57 dB
DR-05X 3.5mm Clippy EM172 +11.48 dB
DR-100 Builtin "Uni" +30.08 dB
LS-10 Builtin XY +14.01 dB
DR-05X Builtin XY +31.19 dB

Here are 1-minute excerpts from the recordings.

Tascam DR-701 Unbalanced
The Tascam DR-701, recording two Micbooster 3.5mm Clippy EM172s in an AB pair.

Tascam DR-100 MKIII Unbalanced
The Tascam DR-100 MKIII, recording two Micbooster 3.5mm Clippy EM172s in an AB pair.

Olympus LS-10 Unbalanced
The Olympus LS-10, recording two Micbooster 3.5mm Clippy EM172s in an AB pair.

Tascam DR-05X Unbalanced
The Tascam DR-05X, recording two Micbooster 3.5mm Clippy EM172s in an AB pair.

Tascam DR-100 MKIII Built-In Uni
The Tascam DR-100 MKIII, recording from its built-in "Uni" mics.

Olympus LS-10 Built-In
The Olympus LS-10, recording from its built-in XY mics.

Tascam DR-05X Built-In
The Tascam DR-05X, recording from its built-in XY mics.