Tascam DR-10L

A lavalier microphone and ultra-compact digital recorder are combined in the DR-10L. It is a powerful problem solver that offers professional sonics and high convenience. It is designed for both the creative filmmaker and the busy videographer.

I have this here in a neat carrying pouch. It came with a long 3.5 mm audio cable and the Tascam recorder. The recorder is small and portable. Up front are the mini display and 4 function buttons. On the left are the SD card slot, a micro-USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone port. The power and record buttons, as well as the slider and volume controls, are located on the right. The back houses the compartment for the single AAA battery that this uses. There’s also a metal latch to hang on pockets and shirts. Then finally, up top is the 3.5mm audio input port.

This is where you connect lapel mics for interviews or sit-downs like this. On the subject of lapel mics, this came with one. And it includes an alligator clip just at the microphone’s end. It’s super firm and you wouldn’t have to worry about losing it. The other end is a TRS connector so NO, you can’t use this exact lapel mic for smartphones. The ring around it allows you to lock the lapel mic in the recorder. That’s a pretty neat minute detail that most manufacturers will not consider. Imagine recording an hour-long interview, only to realize that the audio cable fell out of the recorder when probably, the talent was sitting. Just imagine that.

To turn on the recorder, you would slide and hold down the power slider for about 2 seconds. Once powered on, you can control features like audio gain, recording mode, file names, file types, bit length, and formatting SD cards, among others. And to record, you slide and hold the same slide up for also about 2 seconds.

As you have probably noticed, the Tascam DR-10L recorder is pretty small, easy to conceal, and weighs 63 grams with a battery included.

The Tascam is able to record two audio files simultaneously at different levels

Another handy feature is the ability to connect via micro-USB and transfer all audio files directly to the computer. I mean, it’s not all the time that you have your card ready with you. And if that’s not enough, you can also power the recorder via the same USB port. There’s an option to select either POWER or STORAGE. So, if you have longer sessions, you can power this with a cable or power bank as well.

Still, on the subject of batteries and battery life, you can always monitor the battery level on the OLED display. This, along with being able to automatically save files before the battery runs out, is a big deal.

And if that’s not enough, the Tascam DR-10L recorder allows you to choose between five different gain levels or use the automatic level function. Where, if the input sound volume is too low or too high, the recorder would automatically increase or decrease the recording level to an appropriate value. This prevents distortion caused by sudden input overloads.

Even though the DR-10L is really small, it has a headphone output that allows you to check recorded data right away, and monitor the input during recording. Although you can connect stereo headphones, you will hear the same signal on both sides because it records in mono only. Note that, when you have headphones connected, the battery life will decrease significantly.

All of those are nice and interesting aspects of the Tascam DR-10L recorded, but how does it sound? Well, here is a test for you.

So for $180, you get this. Well, yeah, definitely. I can’t stress enough how many times this has saved us from terrible audio. You can easily connect this to an audio mixer from the DJ or whoever is handling the audio from the microphone with the right cables and get high-quality sounds for your final videos.