Portable Recorders as DAPs

[AudioStudies]

Thank goodness for that, for some reason, I just thought it was 1 folder, 1000's of files in a single folder

That would scare the shit out of both of us, LOL !

 

[AudioStudies]

conversion to something like FLAC anyway

I was surprised to learn that this Olympus can record to FLAC as well as WAV

 

[AudioStudies]

I have concluded that for decent sound quality in the $90 - $150 range that portable recorders are a pretty good option for use as DAPs. I like these two units that I purchased, but they do have limitations in file management, and the display screens could be a bit better. I don't think I would ever go much above this price point for a portable recorder if my primary interest is use as a DAP; rather only if I wanted to get into serious field recording (now my field recording will be very casual and limited). Great recording features start to kick in at the $300 price point with likes of the Tascam DR-100 MK III and upwards. However, you start to lose ease of portability for DAP use with those bigger units, and as TKS has pointed out, the DR-100 III does not have a state of the art DAC for playback. I think both the Tascam DR-05X and Olympus LS-P4 were good choices for me, and was pleasantly surprised that the Olympus can record to FLAC (as well as WAV).