In the past I have attempted to record audio on a portable device, a MiniDisc player to be exact. And while this produced very nice results, I’ve wanted to be able to get very high quality recordings with something that didn’t require a backpack and a Shirpa loaded down with batteries. Well, Create Digital Music has an article on just such a device, the M-Audio FlashTracker. The details are subject to change, but so far it will be capable of encoding a variety of 24 bit/96kHz files, USB 2.0, has multiple line-ins (mic, line, digital), and is small. I currently have a number of M-Audio products, the Delta 1010, DMP-3, Studiophile DX-4 and a Midisport 2×2. All of these products are of a very high quality and I have absolutely no regrets with any of them. If the price point of the FlashTracker is low enough (as most of M-Audio’s gear is) and the storage is not some goofy proprietary medium, I will definitely consider adding this to my collection of recording equipment that I use far too infrequently.
There are a number of competing products, but they are all too expensive or do not encode at a high enough rate. Edirol has had the R-1 out for a while now, but I think it is priced a tad high (a quick search on Froogle lists $439.00). Some “professional” equipment goes for even more.
