Roland R-07 Ultra-Portable Audio Recorder

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by Jeff LochApril 1^st, 2019

The Roland R-07 is a new ultra-portable audio recorder designed for musicians and filmmakers on the go. This tiny, compact, and lightweight recorder can follow you everywhere. Let’s take a closer look at it.

Roland R-07 Miniature Recorder

The Roland R-07 is a miniature, ultra-connected audio recorder. It’s only 61 x 26 x 103 mm for a total weight of 150 grams including batteries. The Roland R-07 is smaller than your smartphone for a reason: Roland wants you to bring it with you everywhere without even realizing it’s in your pocket. If you are a musician, the R-07 is an might prove to be an excellent alternative to recording memos on your smartphone. The best camera is the one you always have with you. Is the best recorder the one you always have with you?

The Roland R-07 features two omni-directional microphones on top of the unit. If you want to use another mic, for example, a lavalier mic to transform the recorder into an affordable “wireless microphone,” there is a 3.5mm jack input at the bottom of the recorder. Please note that the internal mic and the mic/aux in can’t be used at the same time.

The recorder runs on two AA batteries with a claimed battery life of 15 hours. You can also run the R-07 of the micro USB port on the right side of the unit.

The recordings are stored on microSD (SDHC compatible) cards. You can record in a wide variety of formats and resolutions; the full list is just below.

An Intuitive Recorder

The R-07 is a straightforward and intuitive recorder. All controls are on the front panel, under the small monochrome 128 x 64mm screen. You’ll find the record button, the playback controls, the mic input gain, the headphone output level, and the menu/scene/mark/A-B/rehearsal buttons.

The scene feature is pretty impressive if you don’t want to mess with settings too much. By selecting a scene, the R-07 can automatically apply the ideal settings: sample rate, record mode, limiter, low cut, and input level instantly adjust to their optimal settings. Of course, you can modify any of the settings if needed and save them for the next time.

Roland R-07 inputs and outputs ports

Wireless Capabilities Built-In

The Roland R-07 is a nomad device with Bluetooth built-in. To make it short, it means you can control, monitor and listen back wirelessly using supported smartphones, smartwatches and Bluetooth speakers. You have to download the R-07 Remote App – available for iOS and Android smartphones – turn on Bluetooth on the recorder, and that’s it.

You can remote control the R-07 from your smartphone/supported smartwatches. That way, you can efficiently manage your recordings and check that what’s being recorded is what you want, even when the R-07 is in its best recording location, and out of reach. Also, you can listen to your recordings on wireless headphones or Bluetooth speakers. These features are pretty handy.

A dual recording mode is included (One at full level and another at a lower level) as well as a “hybrid limiter”. Both are built-in to make sure you never ruin a take anymore, so  If something goes wrong and clipping happens in the main recording, you can replace that part in the edit with the lower-level backup recording. Hybrid limiting can handle this automatically, but I usually prefer to do it on my own.

Finally, for a touch of fun, the recorder is available in your choice of black, red, or white colors.

Pricing and Availability

The Roland R-07 is already available from B&H and CVP for $195.99. In terms of comparison, the Tascam DR-05X is cheaper at $119, but it’s way bigger and doesn’t feature any wireless control capabilities.

Do you think the compact form-factor of the Roland R-07 makes it an excellent tool for filmmakers? Let us know in the comments down below!