ROLANDR-07 High-Resolution Portable Audio Recorder, Ultra-Portable Recorder with Wireless Listening And Remote Control, Black

Sadly I no longer have this recorder. I returned it to Amazon because I bought new and they supplied me with a unit with scratches on the screen and a broken SD card slot unfortunately.However, I have had this recorder amongst my collection on two separate occasions and it’s great. It’s easy to use, the inbuilt mics are high quality, and handling noise is minimal which means you can genuinely hand hold it whilst recording if you are careful.I have a lot of these recorders. I have a bit of a problem with buying more and more of these. This is the only reason I didn’t get another R07, because I already have a lot of others and I decided I don’t need another in the end. However, do miss it I have to admit. Having a lot of experience with these handhelds and audio equipment in general, I wanted to share some points on this recorder. I tend to use these things for sampling and field recording so you know what my application is.The price is great and it fits in the hand really nicely. It captures sounds that are a good reflection of what is really there. What I mean by this is that there isn’t much colouring on the recordings (like excessive bass or too much presence). The audio has a very natural sound, which is great for tweaking in post production with EQ if you fancy it.Battery life is good and allows for a good amount of recording. I particularly like the built in Bluetooth - it always worked perfectly with my iPhone 14. I also found that there was a little app for the R07 for controlling the device via Bluetooth from your Apple Watch if you have one. This worked fairly well, but did have a tendency to freeze on the watch face so I’d recommend using Bluetooth control with your phone for no issues. However, it is handy to be able to control it too with a watch. I have the Sony A10 and OM Systems that both also have built in Bluetooth but, as far as I’m aware, there’s no option to use an Apple Watch with those so it was a nice little extra with the R07.There’s a lot of options and formats for sample rates and bit rates etc which you can select based on what is best for you and your purposes.Honestly, my only gripe with the Roland R07 is that I have quite large fingers and found it difficult to get the microsd in and out of the unit. This may explain why the one I received already had a broken micro SD card door.Other than that, I don’t have anything negative at all to say on the R07. It’s a good size, good quality and pretty robust piece of kit.The R05 (the predecessor to the R07) was metal and felt even more sturdy. I missed the metal from the R07 I have to say as the R05 just felt more solid overall and i wish Roland had used metal on the R07 too and it provides extra strength and also helps reduce handling noise even further. Having said that, the R07 is still brilliant quality - I just missed the metal 🤘The self noise of the device is OK. I’ve heard far worse in other devices I’ve used. As always l, it’s just about having a good signal to noise ratio to hide the noise. You can also remove some noise in post with a bit of light EQ or other plugins or just keep the gain as low as possible and record as close to the source as you can.I have also used external microphones plugged into this with plugin power via the 3.5mm mic input (Clippy em272’s) and this is as a great experience and provides some even better results than the inbuilt mics are capable of.I am hoping the Roland will follow on from the R07 with a 32 bit Float version sometime soon. That would be sensational and would be an instant purchase for me regardless of how many of these I currently have.

Excellent recording device. It records really well. The only thing i’d change about it is the GIANT red light that constantly shines when you start to record. It’s kind of a give away to security at gigs if you’re spotted with it. I’ve put some tape over it to dull it down it a bit. The presets that are programmed work well. If you go manually, just remember to change the input audio level because it’s set to zero! Otherwise you’ll be recording silence. Guess who learned the hard way?

I got one last autumn but unfortunately it was stolen. This is my second one. I have not used it on live recording yet but the recording from line input is very good. It is well designed to fit into my palm and the build quality looks good as well. One drawback is the back light gone off too early which is not helpful in low light situation. Another problem is the sd card is difficult to remove and insert due to the confine space inbetween the mics.

I'm very impressed with this recorder and to me it's greater in orders of magnitude above my previous Tascam DR-05X. The sound is warm and rich (which I like). The mics are so sensitive, I'm almost afraid to breathe whilst recording and it handles a fair amount of pressure. I would go as far to say that it is at least comparable to my old Sony M-10, but with a much better sound stage/stereo image. As for the SNR, noise is barely noticable below 75% input gain, I see no need to use external mics with this device, which is exactly what I want.My only gripe being, transfer rates from the supplied micro SD are pretty slow, <2MB/s, but I can live with that, or use an adaptor, or purchase a faster card. Some people have reported that it's tricky to get the SD card out, I didn't find it a problem.According to my test recordings, you can't go wrong with this device.

I received this item and upon opening realised that it has been opened and used before with scratch and scuff marks on the screen so it was returned for refund

Much better built than anything Zoom has ever produced. Better mic amps too. Such solid build-quality. Impressive sound quality with built-in mics, sadly no balanced XLR input for external mics but there wouldn't be room.So easy to use. I use it as a reserve recorder for oral history recordings, but have also made radio packages too and gathered sound effects in the field for documentaries.The main thing is you can carry it at all times and not worry about its build quality causing failure. Better battery life than Zoom H1.

£170 & it doesn't come with the specialist cable to transfer files.Similar micro USB cables used for charging devices won't work.

Small, convenient pocket size - more convenient than Zoom h4n (bigger than h1n). Good sound quality. Easy to use, I found it easier to get on with in comparison with the h4n. I particularly like that we can monitor using bluetooth earphones (albeit slightly delayed due to the inherent weaknesses of Bluetooth). Make sure you upgrade to software v 1.1 which adds some features.I was disappointed that they don’t include a windshield though: third-party ones are expensive. And I would like to be able to set my own text (eg scene number) into the file names.