We've been big fans of Deity microphones for a while here at Editors Keys! We've used them on our cameras for our own reviews and for our on-location shoots as well, we think they're brilliant. So when we got the chance to talk to some of the team over at the Deity stall at this year's NAB show in Las Vegas, we all raced to the opportunity!
Mark had a little chat with Andrew Jones, the brand developer for Deity Microphones and he told us more about Deity's latest (not so secret) weapon: The 32 bit float PR 2 recorder. It's around the depth of an index finger and the width of two AA batteries, not very big at all! But as we all know, looks can be deceiving. This little pocket recorder is a 32 bit float stereo recorder, meaning that there's no need for mic checks or constant adjustments to gain/volume levels when recording - Once you hit record, that's it! No digital distortion or clipping audio levels, just smooth and uninterrupted stereo audio so that everything sounds perfect in your edits.
The PR 2 is also timecode enabled and, unlike other 32-bit float recorders available on the market, this one actually outputs the timecode as well. What this means is that if you jam sync the camera and pop the PR2 in your pocket, the video and audio would be in perfect sync, without any need for extra wireless bits and bobs. That all sounds cool, but what exactly is "32 bit flow"? In Layman's terms, when a microphone is exposed to very loud audio, the audio levels will "clip" or become distorted. Originally, if a microphone picked up and recorded this distorted audio then you'd be stuck with that unless you re-recorded, however with a 32 bit float recorder, the possibility of audio clipping in non-existent because there's so much headroom available that if levels get any noisier, the PR-2 will have no trouble with dealing with it.
What makes this little device ever more impressive is if you wanted more than just one unit recording, you can actually pair up to TWENTY devices to an iPad or a smartphone and then trigger all of them at the same time, and you can sync up the timecode for all of them. So if you and your 20 mates were looking to record a podcast, you'd be able to use the PR-2 to maintain a balanced and synced audio. Or on a smaller scale, you can use something like a 2-headed lavalier microphone plugged into just one of the audio ports on the PR-2 to record a two person podcast/interview with no problems.
All this power and capability packed into this little device which is no taller than a credit card and no thicker than a battery! Speaking of batteries, this little box holds 30 hours of battery life on 2x AA lithium batteries! So it'll just about last through one of your grandad's rants at your next family dinner! (Maybe bring an extra pair just incase!) It holds up to 128GB of storage on a micro SD card, with the audio files being around 1.25 gigs per hour on average. A little bit bigger than a normal 24-bit audio files, but this is 32-bit float!
The Deity PR-2 will be shipping around mid to late summer, so make sure you keep your eyes (and ears) peeled for that. You can stayed tuned over at deitymic.com for all their latest news and info. Were you impressed with what you've seen? What are your thoughts on 32-bit float? Have you used it in any of your recordings and if so, did you notice a difference? Let us know in the comments below and check out our interview with Andrew Jones on our Youtube channel! Stay tuned for more coverage of the 2023 NAB Show.
