Review: Tascam DR-05 V2 & AK-DR11G

I’ve just bought the Tascam DR-05 V2 sound recorder to improve engine sound quality while riding my bike, so the sound will be a lot better in the upcoming videos.

Reason why I’ve bought the Tascam DR-05 V2 and not the Zoom H1 is maily because of the price.
The Tascam costs me 129€ including the accessory kit while the Zoom H1 costs 10€ extra and has some problems regarding the battery cover.
The Tascam also has a better finish than the Zoom.
Also, using the onboard Sony microphone, there isn’t a lot of engine sound, except when I’m riding under 30km/h.

Packaging:
Seems decent, A lot of information on the box itself. Not a blister, so it’s actually a semi-professional recorder.
The Tascam DR-05 is packaged with a styrofoam wrapping.

Initial thoughts:
The Tascam DR-05 looks and feels like a decent, well built, quality piece of equipment.
It’s fairly easy to navigate through all the different menus, and there are even some functions I don’t even use.

 

Accessories:
In the box you get:
– 2x AA batteries
– Mico SDHC 4GB Class 10 card (already in the recorder)
– USB cable
– Multilingual instruction manual
– Guarantee card

I also have bought the AK-DR11G accessory kit, which includes the AC adapter, windscreen, grip and carrying case.

The accessory kit is also compatible with the DR-40 and DR-07MKII

Implementation:
The recorder is “mounted” between 2 pieces of foam, cut from an old foam pillow. Then, I’ve put the recorder in between, making sure the microphones are sticking out on top.
Just make sure that you’ve taped up the battery cover, it can come loose when removing the DR-05 from the foam.
As an extra, I’ve installed the windscreen/mircophone muffler on top to lessen the wind noise.

I sync my audio to the video using the good old program “Windows Movie Maker”.
It’s easier and much faster than using Adobe Premiere CC or Sony Vegas Pro.

The audio is still not perfect, but I’m working on some settings.

Verdict:
It’s relativly cheap compared to the Zoom H1, considering the build quality and the form factor. Upon looking at a comparison between the DR-05 and the H1, there wasn’t much of a difference between both of the devices based on sound quality.

Sample video: