- Professional quality digital audio recordings in Broadcast Wave Format
- Ultra compact size for easy concealment
- Records to microSDHC memory cards
- Wide range input gain adjustment for mic to line level signals
- Time code jam/sync from external source
- Standard Lectrosonics TA5M input jack
- Lectrosonics “servo bias” input preamp
- Solid machined aluminum construction
- Over six hours of operation on a single AAA lithium battery
When the distance is extreme or using a wireless microphone is not practical, the PDR recorder can travel with your subject and capture professional quality audio, synchronized with timecode. It’s tiny size is unobtrusive and easily placed in garments and costumes, and easy to conceal when used as a “plant” microphone to capture environmental or location sound.
With a time code sync at the start of the production, the audio track is easily placed accurately in the timeline of a video clip. The industry standard .wav (BWF) file format is compatible with essentially any audio or video editing software.
The recorder can also be tethered to a camera to capture a higher quality or backup audio recording. The headphone output doubles as a line output to feed the
AV input on a camera.
Recommended SDHC Cards
We have tested a wide variety of cards and these performed the best with no issues or errors.
Here is a list of our recommended SDHC Cards:
- Lexar 16GB High Performance UHS-I (Lexar part number LSDMI16GBBNL300).
- SanDisk 16GB Extreme PLUS UHS-I (SanDisk part number SDSDQX-016G-GN6MA)
- Sony 16GB UHS-I (Sony part number SR16UXA/TQ)
- PNY Technologies 16GB Elite UHS-1 (PNY part number P-SDU16U185EL-GE)
- Samsung 16GB PRO UHS-1 (Samsung part number MB-MG16EA/AM)
Accessories
Below are links to the current firmware versions for the PDR digital recorder.
This is a zip file, after downloading extract it into a temporary folder. Follow the instructions in the PDR Instruction Manual to update firmware. If you encounter problems while updating the firmware please contact the factory for assistance.
| Title | File Size | File Type | Date | Filename | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firmware: PDR v2.12 | 82 KB | zip | May 31, 2024 | pdr-v2_12.zip |
PDR Firmware Update v2.12 – 07 October 2019
- Fixed a bug causing the second and subsequent segments of a recovered long recording to have offset times.
PDR Firmware Update v2.11 – 23 September 2019
- Corrected a timecode jamming inaccuracy which could occasionally cause time to be early by as much as 3 frames.
PDR Firmware Update v2.10 – 15 April 2019
- Headphone output is muted upon entering TC Jam page, and unmuted when the TC cable is removed.
- The info page for a mounted SD card no longer shows the volume name, but instead shows the name of the next file to be created if a recording were initiated.
- The info page for a recording in progress no longer shows the word RECORDING but instead blinks a “REC” icon and shows the name of the file currently being created.
- The battery is required to be fresher than was previously required in order for a recovery operation to proceed.
- The “slow card” warning page has been made more informative. The “REC” icon continues to blink as the words “Warning: slow card” is displayed. The BACK button is soft-labeled “OK” to confirm.
PDR Firmware Update v2.04 – 25 July 2018
- Fix bug where not all segments of a very long recording have the same “take” number in the embedded iXML metadata.
PDR Firmware Update v2.03 – 04 June 2018
- Fixed a bug, introduced in v2.00, which caused a pop at the start of a recording.
PDR Firmware Update v2.02 – 04 June 2018
- Track list corrected in header iXML chunk, recording length / timecode no longer displayed in browse detail screen for unrecognized file types.
PDR Firmware Update v2.01 – 07 May 2018
- Fixes a bug, introduced in v2.00, wherein settings could not be unlocked from the keypad interface. Also, it is now possible to view most settings (without changing them) while locked.
PDR Firmware Update v2.00 – 20 April 2018
- Added support for industry standard iXML header data.
- Enhanced user interface with submenus and new functions such as jam from real time clock, scene and take numbers, longer file segment sizes, improved file naming, recognition of SMWB recordings, improved progress monitoring bargraph.
- Improved robustness in the event that data is inadvertently written to a card during the recording retrieval process.
- This is a major release with many new features.Please consult the release notes included in the firmware download .zip file for details.
PDR Firmware Update v1.15 – 29 August 2017
- No longer erroneously displays “must stop playing first” when no card is installed.
- Now cleanly reports “unknown partition type” when an incompatible card is inserted.
- If a key is pressed to reset the backlight after it times out, no action is taken for that keypress.
- If a successful Time Code Jam is performed while no card is installed, the unit will no longer erroneously indicate that a card is installed.
- Keypad autorepeat functions now work while a recording is in progress.
PDR Firmware Update v1.13 – 17 February 2017
- Fix a bug in 24-bit recording modes resulting resulting in the PDR occasionally “losing time” when writing to slower SD cards.
PDR Firmware Update v1.12 – 18 January 2017
- Fix a bug where time code “midnight” rollover not handled correctly for some frame rate settings.
PDR Firmware Update v1.11 – 17 January 2017
- Added timecode frame rate awareness so that the time displayed on the LCD and the “sample count since midnight” in the BWF file header chunk is correct for common frame rates. Previously the PDR displayed only “clock” time, regardless of the frame rate in use. In the case of frame rates that aren’t real time (NTSC time), this led to a discrepancy between the time displayed by the PDR and the time displayed by the timecode generator used to jam the PDR. Now the PDR time display matches that of the timecode generator for all frame rates. Detection of the proper frame rate is automatic when the PDR is “jammed” with timecode, but it can also be set manually by way of a new frame rate setting in the menu. Supported frame rates are: 30, 30DF, 29.97, 29.97DF, 25, 24 and 23.976 (a.k.a. 23.98).
PDR Firmware Update v1.10 – 9 December 2016
- Added a bit depth option, so recordings can be either 24-bit samples saved in 32-bit format padded with zeros (as previously), or saved in 24-bit format with no padding (which is more efficient). The default bit depth is now 24. This lowers the required SD card data throughput, thus improving the PDR’s handling of SD card latency.
- Fix bug wherein recovery of an interrupted recording could be done incorrectly if the recording mode setting (HD mono vs. Split Gain) were different during the recovery process than the mode in effect for the original recording.
PDR Firmware Update v1.09 – 7 November 2016
- First production release.
