Is there a definitive field recorder we think you should buy? No. Do we have opinions about all the choices that are out there? You bet. See a summary of our humble opinions in the chart below. Click on the name of each recorder for the full Transom Tools review.

	Model	Pros	Cons
	Sony PCM-D50	good sound quality with external mics, adjustable built-in mics, sturdy construction, large input gain knob, 4 gigs of internal memory, good battery life, hardware switches for many functions.	Built-in mics are very wind sensitive, windscreen is expensive, cannot record mono files, 1/8" mic input, a little too large to be pocket-sized.
	Marantz PMD 620	good sound quality with external mics, small, light, one-button record, config presets, mono recording, gapless track marking	audio delay in headphones, poor placement of headphone jack, audible button clicks, no digital input, 1/8" mic input
	Marantz PMD 660	XLR inputs, good meters, recording config presets, mono recording, gapless track marking	hissy with some dynamic mics, input distorts with some condenser mics, comparatively large and heavy, no digital input.
	Zoom H2	4-channel surround recording, good built-in mics, very small, inexpensive, easy to use, quick start-up.	loud hiss on external mic inputs, clipping on line-input, no digital in, no phantom power, mini jack only external mic input.
	Zoom H4	easy to use, good built-in mics, XLR mic inputs, phantom power	fine input volume buried in a menu, built-in mics very wind-sensitive, case transmits handling noise, single channel recording complicated to set-up, unintuituve menu navigation, no digital input.
	Edirol R-09	ease of use, small, hardware switches or buttons for major functions	noticable hiss on all inputs, no digital in, no phantom power, mini jack only external mic input.
	M-Audio Microtrack 24/96	balanced mic inputs, digital input, clean sound, mono recording	built-in rechargable battery not field-swappable, non-standard phantom power voltage, TRS mic inputs not as convenient as XLR.
Tascam HD-P2		XLR inputs, excellent sound quality, optional padded case, good meters, large display, gapless track division, configuration presets, time code for sync to video or film	larger and heavier than other recorders, plastic case, expensive, menus can be hard to navigate, low gain for dynamic mics, speaker is on by default if no headphones connected.
Sound Devices 702/722		excellent sound quality, metal construction, flexible recording options, reliable meters, long recordng times possible to 722's hard drive, gapless track marking	expensive, heavy, larger than the pocket recorders, batteries hard to recharge in the field.