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    HomeGadgetsMedia GadgetsRoland R-07 Review - a Musician's Audio Recorder

    Roland R-07 Review – a Musician’s Audio Recorder

    The latest Roland R-07 is a high-resolution audio recorder, with its sights pointed directly at the musician. Positioned as a workhorse device, the R-07 also has some pretty sophisticated features that are higher-level than your normal recorder.

    Design

    The Roland R-07 is slick. Available in red, black and white, the recorder is smaller than your wallet and is really nice looking. Ergonomically, all of the controls can be controlled with the thumb, and it fits really well in your hand. The rubberized back helps with slippage, vibration and reduces handling noise, and the lightweight and diminutive size allows you to fit it snugly in an instrument case or pocket.

    Roland R-07

    Performance

    The R-07 rivals some of the high-end recorders, thanks to its versatility and performance.  For starters, it records sound with extreme precision and detail. Its super crisp sound is captured by the 2 built-in mics, although there’s an input for an external mic if you need it.

    Sound can be recorded as mono or stereo files up to 320 kbps. And this is when it gets interesting. The Roland R-07 offers a Dual Recording feature that makes simultaneous recordings in both WAV and MP3, so if there is clipping or the mics gets overburdened, you have both recordings to edit together.

    Control-wise, touching the Rehearsal button brings you to 9 presets, referred to as “Scenes”, which instantly can adjust the input levels, limiter, recording mode and sample rate. Some of the Scenes include Vocal Memo, Loud Practice, Vocal, Loud Practice and Music HiRes, and all of them can be customized to your linking and saved for later.

    RC

    Yes, there’s an app for that. The Roland R-07 can be remote controlled via Bluetooth from iOS (including Apple Watch) and Android devices via the associated app. From here you can adjust levels while you’re recording, such as the volume, speed and Scenes. Playing your recordings back with the Roland is easy with wired or Bluetooth wireless headphones, or with the built-in speaker. Streaming to wireless headphones is aided by the Qualcomm aptX technology. An on-board graphic tuner rounds out the spectacular features the R-07 possesses.

    Roland R-07

    Bottom Line

    The Roland R-07 is a winner. While it’s sophisticated in its abilities, its extraordinarily intuitive to use for almost anyone, and yet its higher-level features allow musicians to really take advantage of its professional controls. It’s available for around $230, and you can find it at many music stores around the country, as well as online.

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    David Novak
    David Novakhttps://www.gadgetgram.com
    For the last 20 years, David Novak has appeared in newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV around the world, reviewing the latest in consumer technology. His byline has appeared in Popular Science, PC Magazine, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Electronic House Magazine, GQ, Men’s Journal, National Geographic, Newsweek, Popular Mechanics, Forbes Technology, Readers Digest, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Glamour Magazine, T3 Technology Magazine, Stuff Magazine, Maxim Magazine, Wired Magazine, Laptop Magazine, Indianapolis Monthly, Indiana Business Journal, Better Homes and Garden, CNET, Engadget, InfoWorld, Information Week, Yahoo Technology and Mobile Magazine. He has also made radio appearances on the The Mark Levin Radio Show, The Laura Ingraham Talk Show, Bob & Tom Show, and the Paul Harvey RadioShow. He’s also made TV appearances on The Today Show and The CBS Morning Show. His nationally syndicated newspaper column called the GadgetGUY, appears in over 100 newspapers around the world each week, where Novak enjoys over 3 million in readership. David is also a contributing writer fro Men’s Journal, GQ, Popular Mechanics, T3 Magazine and Electronic House here in the U.S.

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