Product Comparison: Tascam DR-44WL vs Zoom H6

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Tascam DR-44WL Handheld Portable Recorder with WiFi

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Best Pick

Zoom H6 Six-Track Portable Recorder

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General Specifications

Brand

Tascam

Zoom

Model

DR-44WL

Origin

Japan

China

About the Product

TASCAM's DR-44WL is the latest recording innovation from TASCAM. It starts with high-quality stereo condenser microphones, updated with a new XY pattern and high-performance mic components. Two locking XLR inputs feed TASCAM's latest microphone preamp design, with the lowest noise level and richest sound available in a portable recorder.

Here at Zoom we've been building innovative products for the past thirty years. But with the revolutionary H6 six-track recorder, the bar is raised further still. Four interchangeable input capsules – X/Y, MS, Shotgun, and Dual XLR/TRS Combo – make the H6 the ultimate chameleon of the audio world, and its advanced preamps make it the best-sounding one too. Whatever your application – live recording, professional film/video work, live broadcast or electronic news gathering – the H6 can handle it with ease.

Key Specs

Maximum Recording Time

12 hours

21 hours

Voice-Activated Recording

Yes

Frequency Response

20Hz to 40kHz

Recording Quality

96kHz, 24bit

Number Of Recording Modes

Maximum Recording Time
Voice-Activated Recording

What customers say about "Key Specs"

Tascam DR-44WL Handheld Portable Recorder with WiFi

After a lot of research on different audio recorders, I finally--and happily--ended up purchasing the Tascam DR-22WL recorder. My main purpose for this recorder was for recording work meetings, lectures, and audio overlays for making video tutorials.
The quality of the recording in rooms that echo or rooms that have white/background noise is excellent. Voices are crystal clear.
Overall this is a good product. It produces high-quality recordings with good balance and is very user-friendly. If you are a teenager you can probably figure out how to work this thing in 30 minutes or less.
I've been using the Tascam DR-44WL for a almost a year now. The recordings have been flawlessly capture. The only flaws are my mistakes with mic placement and level settings, but this little gizmo always gives me a clean and hiss free recording.
Voices with sibilants are really hard to get right. I can't vouch for instrument recordings or concerts or the loud setting but voice can be amazing with this thing.
The sound is fairly decent using the internal microphones, but the screen is just about unreadable even if you adjust the contrast.

Zoom H6 Six-Track Portable Recorder

Out of the box the H6 allows me to capture 4 XLR inputs along with the X/Y mics for general sound pickup. Controlling gain on each mic is as simple as adjusting the knobs.
I use this on a regular basis , The sound quality is excellent and I love to change heads .
This recorder had exactly what I needed to isolate input tracks and allow for individual editing of each mic.
This recorder captures high quality sound and with the different attachable microphones, you can customize it to specific situations.
The sound quality and applications with this are terrific. I can use my Canon Rebel camera with it's top quality video and combine it with this for superior audio.

Size & Weight

Height

6.3 in.

8.39 in.

Width

3.1 in.

Depth

1.7 in.

1.88 in.

Weight

8.8 oz.

14.46 oz.

What customers say about "Size & Weight"

Tascam DR-44WL Handheld Portable Recorder with WiFi

The size of the recorder is perfect. It fits well into normal sized pockets.
However, I'm always on the lookout for an upgrade and the DR-44WL is Teac's latest and greatest palm sized recorder.
Sweet and comfortable.. Very light and the you pick up is equal to a larger size mixer.
The unit is rather big in size for my small hands, but if I setup on a gorilla pod, size doesn’t really matter.
Feels cheap. compared to my Sony, the TASCAM feels like a toy, like its too light for its large size or something

Zoom H6 Six-Track Portable Recorder

The device feels solid but not excessively heavy, allowing me to toss it into any bag without considering or feeling the extra weight, even loaded with 4 AA batteries.
I wanted so much to love this product. It is built like a tank, light weight, and portable.
The build quality of the h6 is great, feels sturdy but definitely doesn't seem like the device to survive a fall.
This was a lot bigger in size than I was expecting.
The size and shape make it awkward to put certain places and all the optional adapters (such as shotgun, voice over mic) are mediocre.

Features

Display Type

128×128 pixel oversized graphic LCD with backlight

2" full-color LCD

Computer Compatibility

Yes

Cue Marker Function

Yes

1-Touch Recording

Yes

Supported File Formats

WAV, BWF, MP3

WAV, MP3, BWF

Integrated Speaker

Yes

Interfaces

EXT MIC/LINE 1/L and 2/R terminals (XLR/TRS), SD card slot, Line out 3.5mm jack, MicroUSB port

Line out 3.5mm jack, Remote jack, MiniUSB, Phone 3.5mm jack, Mic/line input jack, 4x XLR/TRS combo connectors

Extras

Sharing the Recorded Audio Files in other Apps and Cloud Services, Renaming or Deleting the Files, Renovated Graphic Design Allows Easy, Intuitive Operation, Peak Mark function, Protect function, Marks available during playback, High-Quality Condenser Microphones, Cardioid Condenser Mics in an X-Y Pattern, Shockmount Design Reduces Handling Noise, Dual-Level Recording Feature Helps Prevent Overload, Remote Wi-Fi Control

Gain controls, Phantom power for all main inputs: +12/+24/+48V, Virtual VU meters, Up to 99 marks per recording, Built-in effects, MS decoding, Normalize, Divide, and Trim editing, Mounts directly to tripod, mic stand or DSLR, Low-cut filter, Variable playback speed, Six-track simultaneous recording

Cue Marker Function
Integrated Speaker

What customers say about "Features"

Tascam DR-44WL Handheld Portable Recorder with WiFi

The recording is far superior to an iphone recording app. Odd ball use case: if you are having weird sounds in your engine, this recorder will perfectly pick them up and allow you to send the file to or replay for anyone for diagnosis.
Got it working w/i 30 minutes out of the box and then recorded a 2 hour live performance! Didn't use WiFi feature though it works great in testing.
The mic pickup is unreal even off the back of the unit. The recording revealed all kinds of stuff, conversations in the audience, the slap of the bass strings against the fret board. Unreal.
Combo XLR and TRS allow recording from external pro mics or line level sources such as mixers or outboard mic preamps.
Often does not record from external inputs, you have to reboot and then you can record. I would choose a far more robust recorder than this for location or concert recording. I expected better from quality from Tascam.

Zoom H6 Six-Track Portable Recorder

It gives you the ability to adjust gain for audio input as needed. It comes with accessories for multi-purpose function. It is all-digital and gives you .wav format audio files which are portable across systems.
With the H6, the battery doesn't drain as quickly, you get the four XLR inputs with one more port for a Zoom extension mic. The dials on each input are very easy to change on the fly.
This product is a bit pricy for what it does, but what it does, it does well. It's pretty, easy to use, and has 6 inputs (including the attached microphones).
The H6 gives you three powering options: 4 AA batteries, a USB cord that you can plug(via a iphone plug) into the wall, or to charged USB battery. I've used on one project thus far and it sounded great.
The H6 is the top of the line, can't wait to get the shotgun attachment and the attachment to allow 2 extra channels. So easy to use, you don't even need the manual.

Warranty / Certifications

Manufacturer Warranty

1 year(s)

Certifications

CE, RoHS

FCC, CE

Other Information

Manufacturer

Link

Manual

Download