I've been testing it for a couple of days.Problem 1. It still has that useless and fragile extend USB A connector, AND NO USB C. It HAS to charge through the extended USB A thing, and this WILL break because its thin metal, and good luck finding a USB A port that supports the rest of the device at just the right way.Also try and find a USB-A at all. It would be OK if it charged from a power bank or a smart power supply, and it kind of looks like it did, till I plugged it into a regular computer port and it started charging even though it said it was full.This is a hang over from Sony'1 30$ recorders, which by the way, sound about as good.2. Trying to find the right cable to use a receiver for an Rx Tx system is a nightmare. After several tests, the TRRS to TRS did not work at all either way you insert it. TRS to TRS did and a TRRS to TRRS seems to work better somehow.BUT what should be a stereo file from 2 mics to a stereo Rx is one mono file. I have used this system even on a phone and I got a stereo file I could mute one side of, or adjust the audio separately. This just give you fake stereo with 2 identical tracks even though the two mics are getting different inputs.That is practically fraudulent.IMPORTANT UPDATE: Working with the Saramonic 2X Tx 1X Rx system, I DID GET a real stereo file with two different left and right! So the issue may be compatibility with various systems.The audio clips easily. So you have to dial the inputs down a LOT to make sure it doesn't clip, and then you have kinda poor audio you need to work on a lot in the post.To be honest, I found the old $35.00 (more or less) Sony recorder that looks very similar and has the same extending USB A charger not much worse and it is ONE TENTH the price.I'll do some more tests and see if I can get a proper stereo file out of this one. At the moment, I am very disappointed with this. But at least it recorded for a solid hour without stopping. the quality of the sound was just poor as hell as all.IMPORTANT UPDATE: After more tests and using the Saramonic system, the audio was good. Useable for sure. And plugging the lav right into the unit gives quality sound.I was using a Ulanzi wireless system with a quality lav mic on one of the Txs.I would and will likely do a lot more testing to see how to make this product useful in professional work, but really I shouldn't have to. What kind of cable should be info easily found, and how to get some kind of peak limiting at least.The built in mic tests are no better. You actually have to have the mics pointing at you to get decent sound. If you lie it flat for a subject who would then be speaking over the sides of the mics, it sounds like they were in the next room from you when you listen back. So you need to find a way to put this up on some kind of mic stand with the mics pointing at the person speaking if you want anything better than a phone recording. Which means bringing more gear with you.I bumped this up to 4 stars because more tests with more compatible gear made it useable for pro purposes. But having to set levels with the rehearsal thing is a problem. Auto limiting would be better. People don't stick to a certain volume when they are expressing themselves.The thread size looks right for mounting a tripod stand attachment. The sort of thing you put on a Camera. So it's meant to be mounted on a monopod or something. But it would be WAY WAY WAY better if you could lie it flat on a podium or table and get decent sound from the talent. The mics are very directional.IF you get everything perfect, the levels, the positioning of the device and all, then you get useable sound.Still, I need to do a lot more tests.I'll re edit this or add things as I learn more. I hope people find it useful.The lessons are: Don't buy this is you want something easy to useand don't Trust Chat GPT to suggest products to you. It lies. All the time.UPDATE: Did some tests with the Saramonic system using a TRS - TRS cable and got MUCH better results. Definitely use the Rehearsal function to check levels before recording. But people tend to speak more softly when rehearsing than when live.The audio quality when set to max is good though. Also plugging a Lav mic right into it gives good results. So this IS and CAN be useful for professional purposes, but, adds layers of complexity where you may want something that auto-levels the input.Still working with it.

I have a lot of these recorders, Zoom branded, at least another lower model Sony one, Tascam branded, just bought the ever disappointing and expensive Zoom F1 or whatever their tiny lapel mic is called. This wins out.This has a lot of features, and being way too amature to know the minutia of the features, I just go with basics and always use an external mic. I want to say I pair this up with the ECM 100 by Sony, my favorite lapel mic with great audio quality that's also in stereo for almost little money. I think they're 20-30 dollars depending on the availability.Recording highest setting is 24bit 96kHz PCM WAV format, sounds as good as my Zoom H6.Pros:-Size: This thing is small-Built in mics; what's neat about them is they can rotate inwards and outwards and everywhere in between, and the recorder will pick up on some orientations, again, not sure what that means, but the recorder apparently adjusts for their orientation.-Sound Quality, since 99% of the time I'm using the Sony Lav mic (purchased separately), I get whatever the quality of sound is from that mic, which is really good.-Supports any size MicroSD card you can throw at it, I've put 256GB and 512s in there no problem. Also has some built in storage right off the bat. I now just keep a 128GB in there since that's way more than I need for recording sessions.-Built in USB that's retractable. Neat and convenient.Cons:-Bluetooth, I don't get how to use it, I got my phone to pair once and then the app I guess was abandoned along time ago so nothing on it worked, and couldn't even pair older 2.1 headphones up to it so a wasted feature.-USB A Charging,. Neat idea to just build it into the body, so you're not looking for a cable, but also, means you have to allocate space for a big device (relative to other USB based connectors and thumbdrives), even when charging it. Should have come with a USB extender to kind of work around that issue. So if you're out and want to dump the files but you forget the extender at home, you're not completely out of luck.-Other reviewers are right, when using the built in mics, that thing will pick up any and all sound from your hands. Those mics are ridiculously sensitive.-Doesn't come with a clip option to put on a belt or back of pants. Does have a 1/4 20 screw hole on the back to mount to things which is nice.-I was using it to record a YT commercial for my friend, and one was set perfectly then the other device had one feature that was slightly off that destroyed the audio. We tried salvaging it the best we could but I don't know what was off on his that messed it up. This does have plug and play elements to it, but it also is very feature rich so not entirely beginner friendly.Conclusion:It's basically a Zoom H6 that you can shove in a pocket and only does two lines in. I love the sound quality you can get out of it, and the fact that it has proper stereo separation. As I've said, I have a lot of these of every different walk of life you can think of, and this is by far my favorite due to its size and sound quality.

Something loose inside the item rattles. The rattle can be heard in recordings. It’s an expensive portable hi-res recorder.. that rattles.

As others have mentioned, this thing is TINY. You can't get a sense of that from looking at the photos online, but when you get it in your hands, you see just how svelt this device is. It has a good quality feel, is logically laid out, and looks good, too. Most importantly, it does a very nice job of recording if you don't need XLR mics and just want a good, solid sound with a moderately low floor noise and excellent sonics. The microphones on this unit, protected by the bars that go over them, do an excellent job, and you may never need anything else. However, if you really need to use a specific mic, there is a 3.5" standard jack to attach an external mic. The unit records both in mp3 and lossless pulse code modulation (up to 96kHz at 24-bits) and I've made some really first-rate audio recordings using that format. The unit has 16Gb built-in memory, which is fine, but also has a micro SDXC slot, and I've put in a 400Gb card into it and it handles it just fine, so you can record hundreds of hours on a single card.This is really a nice player at a more than reasonable cost for what it does. The front display is easy to read and is large enough to get a lot of information on it. You can download the Sony software onto your cellphone and control recording (including levels) using the phone via a Bluetooth connection, which is really terrific. Oh, and by the way, the unit DOES have auto record level, but you would never know it ... you have to dig into the menu system to engage it (I can't figure out why this is so "hidden," but that's another matter). An easy five stars.Note:If you need an essentially "noiseless" floor, go for the Sony PCM-D100. Released in 2014, it is still the reigning champ of portable recording (unless you absolutely require XLR mics, which the D100 does not support). The recording ability of this unit is almost unbelievably good. It's pricey, but nothing in the product rage can match its microphones and preamps.

Update: I returned the recorder and got a New one. Used it once and then few months later went to use it and I have the SAME or SIMILAR issue as the first defective recorder. I have to say stay away – WARNING. Going from 5star then 3star to 1starUpdate: this recorded is about 20 days old and the power on stopped working. The display backlight will come on but no Power On message until you plug the device in to a USB connection (assume its the power turning it on). I will have to send it back. Going from 5star to 3star.Just received a day ago and I am impressed. Menus are intuitive. Had a slight issue Bluetooth pairing to the REC-Remote app and it was me, ill learn how to read someday : ). Looking at reviews on YouTube I know I have a good recorder here.