by Steve Cunningham
My old DAT recorder, the Sony gray-market-special from Japan that I bought in 1988, finally died. Actually it’s not dead, but it’s been eating tapes, and it will cost far more to fix than it’s worth. So when I heard that Fostex was finally shipping their new FR-2 portable field recorder, I called my buddy Rick and begged him to send one over. It’s time to leave the DATs behind, doncha think?
The Fostex FR-2 is a portable stereo recorder that records stereo digital audio directly to either Type II Compact Flash memory cards or PCMCIA 1.8" hard disks. When you’re done recording, you just stick the card or HD into your laptop or desktop PC and edit the .BWF file. Unlike other memory recorders, the FR-2 records only uncompressed digital audio at either 16 or 24 bits, at sample rates from 22.050kHz up to 192kHz.
This unit is clearly designed with field recording in mind. It’s small and light (about 3 lbs. without batteries), and completely solid state — there’s no tape, no heads, and no moving parts. In short, there’s nothing mechanical to fail. It runs for a couple of hours on eight AA batteries, or you can connect it to an optional AC power supply.
The FR-2 functions in the studio as well, with built-in AES/EBU digital in and out, and both connectors for a PC keyboard and for connecting it directly to a computer. In other words, it has pretty much everything you need to replace that creaky old studio DAT recorder, plus the ability to take it for a long walk.
LOTS IN THE BOX
The FR-2 records mono or stereo digital audio in linear Broadcast Wave (.BWF) format. As mentioned, it records either 16 or 24 bit resolution, at sample rates of 22.050, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, or 192kHz.
Although the case is plastic, the FR-2 seems quite solid, and feels as if it could withstand anything short of a direct trip to a hard floor with little or no damage. All the switches are properly recessed except for the volume control, which can be push/clicked in for protection and push/clicked out again for use.
The front panel is dominated by the backlit 132 x 65 dot matrix LCD display, which is clear and easy to read. The top of the display features a double-size ABS (absolute) counter in hh:mm:ss format, while the bottom of the display is home to the left and right meters, the time and date, and a battery level indicator. The center of the display shows the current file name and the record time remaining. There’s no secondary information on the display to confuse you — the FR-2 uses a menu system to access that sort of thing.
The FR-2 is a fully hands-on device. There are no remote control inputs, infrared receivers, or footswitch inputs anywhere. Instead, Fostex has equipped this beast with dedicated buttons and knobs for all the things you need to do in a remote recording situation.
To the left of the display you’ll find the aforementioned Monitor knob for controlling the volume of both the internal speaker and the headphones, with the headphone jack just below. To the right of the display are the various buttons you’ll need to set and step through “cues” or markers in your recording, along with a combination data knob and Enter switch. Pushing on this knob takes you into the menu sections, where you can set preferences, format memory cards, choose the digital I/O format, and so on. Also of note here is a button to turn off the display backlight to save battery power, and another button to un-mount the memory card before removing it.
On the right side of the front are the concentric input level controls, Peak LEDs, the Record button, and the Record Standby button. Sliding the REC to the right will initiate recording at any time, no matter what mode the FR-2 is in. The REC STBY button serves to put the machine into “input monitor” mode, and also to stop recording (although there’s a STOP button on the top, you can’t use it to stop recording). Both these buttons are large and surrounded by guards that will keep them from being accidentally bumped, although the buttons themselves don’t feel as positive as I’d like them.
IN ‘N OUT
On the right side are the unit’s two balanced XLR inputs, which operate at either line or mic level. The line level input spec is nominally +4 dBu — perfect for connecting most pro gear. The mic level input spec is -68 dBu, which is sensitive enough for the vast majority of microphones. Phantom power is available on both inputs, and is activated with the small toggle next to the XLRs. Next to the XLR inputs are the analog outputs, both on gold-plated RCAs, with a nominal output level of +4 dBu.
Closest to the front panel on the right side is the power on/off switch, which takes the form of a momentary toggle switch. It looks cool, but requires that you study the display when turning the machine on to make sure you held the switch long enough. Below this are the two slots, one for a Type II Compact Flash memory card, and one for a PCMCIA ATA hard drive card. Two green LEDs next to the slots tell you when it’s okay to remove the memory card (you want to pay attention to these).
The left side of the FR-2 is where you’ll find XLR connectors for digital in and out, plus a USB-A connector for a PC keyboard and a USB-B connector for hooking the unit to a computer. Next to these is the DC input for use with the optional AC power supply. Also on the left is a removable panel for installing a timecode reader/generator, an option whose cost is estimated to be around $600 when it becomes available.
The transport buttons located on the top of the case take care of playback, including fast-forward and rewind. Above these are switches for setting the bit rate (quantization) and sample rate, for engaging the built-in limiter, and for turning pre-record on and off. When active, the pre-record function records constantly into a circular memory buffer whose length can be set as a preference. When actual recording begins, the contents of this buffer becomes the beginning of the actual recording, and ensures that you don’t miss anything at the beginning of an audio event.
Also on top is a built-in speaker for monitoring, and the controls for each of the two analog inputs. These include line/mic switches, trim controls, and high-pass filters that are fixed at 100Hz and 12 dB/octave. The trim controls cover a range of 34 dBu — from -30 to +4 when set to LINE, and from -60 to -26 when set to MIC.
The battery compartment is on the bottom of the FR-2, and judging by the latching scheme it’s clear that Fostex expects that this recorder will be abused. The cover is affixed with two plastic snaps on the door itself, as well as a coin-edge-size screw tab that keeps that cover closed in all eventualities. If you’re not going to use abuse the box then you can forego the screw tab, but it does provide an extra measure of safety.
Another nice touch is the inclusion of large rubber feet, four on the bottom and four on the back, that let the FR-2 rest easy on a tabletop. Snaps on both sides of the unit accept the included shoulder strap for more mobile use.
OFF TO THE RACES
With all its dedicated controls, the FR-2 is easy to use right out of the box. Load some batteries and a memory card, set the recording format with the controls on top, connect a microphone, and hit REC.
Because the FR-2 always records into a memory buffer internally, when you stop recording (using the REC STBY button, remember) you have to wait about ten seconds while the machine writes the contents of the buffer to the memory card, and then sets up for the next recording. There’s no avoiding this delay, and it’s a minor annoyance.
Even with the trim controls set as high as possible, there were still acres of headroom left when using an RE-20 microphone. In fact, I found that I could get right on top of the mic and still not come close to peaking the preamps. In a live VO session using a couple of phantom-powered Sennheiser 416s, I did have to back the trim down a little. Inserting a separate mic preamp into the chain gave me plenty of gain at the recorder’s input, of course, but there was still more than enough headroom to avoid clipping.
But having said all that, these are really nice-sounding preamps, really nice. Very clean and quiet, even with the trim cranked. There’s just not as much gain there as the specs would have you believe, but there is all the headroom you’ll ever need to record sound effects at a construction site.
A separate issue is the constant use of the memory buffer, and what may or may not happen if power is lost while recording. During normal use with batteries, an audible warning will sound as battery power reaches a critically low level. Shortly after that, the display will show “battery empty!” at which point recording stops altogether, the contents of the buffer are written to the card, and only then does the FR-2 shut itself down. I experienced this several times during evaluation, and at no time did I lose any data when the batteries went dead normally. However, the manual warns against data loss if power is suddenly cut. Indeed, when recording on battery power only, if I popped a battery out then I lost the entire recording. Word to the wise — don’t open the battery compartment while recording (duh!).
Speaking of batteries, the FR-2 does eat ‘em. Fostex claims two and a half hours from a set of 2400mah NiMH rechargeables. I used 2000mah units, and couldn’t get past about 90 minutes continuous. But if you’re using rechargeables, it’s a good idea to take an extra charged set anyway, so just plan ahead. Note that the FR-2 will not charge any type of battery.
The manual is complete enough, although it could use some editing — it would appear to be translated from a Japanese document by a non-native speaker, and a few things are just plain wrong. In fairness, the blatant errors are listed in an addendum for software version 1.03 that was included with my unit. However, it would still be worthwhile for the company to pop for a better translation to clean up some of the grammar and spelling errors.
THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS
Transferring and editing from the memory card couldn’t have been easier or faster. I used a Compact Flash card and a USB reader to do the transfer, but you can just as easily connect the FR-2 directly to a PC (or Mac - OSX only) using the built-in USB port. In that case it’s not necessary to remove the memory card — you just press the data knob to get to the menus, and scroll to USB Mode. Another press of the knob and you’re ready to plug in. The memory card will show up as a separate volume on your desktop, allowing you to cut, copy, and paste as you wish. Or just import a recording directly into Pro Tools, Vegas, or your choice of editor. This I like a whole lot.
On the other hand, I was disappointed to see that file markers set during recording didn’t show up correctly in either Sound Forge or Adobe Audition. The markers I set were visible, but they were all logged at time 00:00:00. This bears further investigation, as I discovered it too close to deadline to follow with Fostex. More on that later.
The FR-2’s wide range of sample rates is good news on several fronts — the 22.050kHz rate is quite sufficient for recording interviews and speech in general, and saves space on the memory card or HD. Other memory recorders let you record in MP3 or MPEG-2 compressed format, which will yield smaller files and thus more recording time, but the price of compact flash cards have dropped in the past two years, making storage less of an issue. Besides, I’d rather compress the files myself later when I have a chance to audition the results before committing to a particular compression rate.
On the hi-fi side, the ability to record at 24 bits and up to 192kHz is a real advantage for sound effects acquisition — you can readily hear the difference between 16 and 24 bits, and the support for higher rates will be good news for Pro Tools HD users. In addition, the FR-2 conveniently supports 44.1kHz, while the Panasonic PMD690 memory recorder has a fixed sample rate of 48kHz, making it necessary to sample rate convert everything. Not so with the Fostex unit.
I also like the option of using PCMCIA hard drives. The prices of these have fallen, while the capacity has increased. As I write this, I’m looking at several websites that are selling 5 GB Toshiba PCMCIA hard drives for anywhere from $135 to $180. If you’re recording mono at CD quality, that’s over 15 hours of recording time. Should be plenty.
I like this recorder. It sounds good, it handles high sample rates, it’s rugged, the transfer time to computer is essentially zero, and at $1499 list it’s not out of line price-wise. If you do remote recording, you need to look at the FR-2.
The Fostex FR-2 Field Memory Recorder carries an MSRP of $1499, and a street price of under $1300. The optional AC adapter is $69.95. For more information worldwide, visit www.fostex.com.
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