New York, NY—January 2019… An 18-year veteran of SiriusXM Radio, Jake Glanz is currently the massive audio entertainment and subscription media company’s Senior Broadcast Operations and Engineering Director. From the start, he and SiriusXM have relied on TASCAM recorders. “We’ve been using TASCAM here from Day 1,” Glanz confirms. “I think the first CD-R products were the CD-RW2000s, then we went to the CD-RW901s, and we’re currently on the SS-CDR250N.”
TASCAM’s SS-CDR250N is a two-channel combination CD and solid-state (SD Card) recorder for network applications and offers a variety of remote control options. An FTP client function is included, enabling automatic uploading and downloading of recorded files. “We like the SD Card flash capability,” reports Glanz. “And with the SS-CDR250N, people with mobile content can just walk in, and we have the ability to ingest the content immediately, which is a great feature.”
SiriusXM has invested in several models of TASCAM DR-series mobile recorders. “Our ENG component of Sirius XM has many field reporters and stringers,” Glanz notes. “We’ve been using the TASCAM DR-10X portable recorders since they came out. The Howard 100 news crew started with those.” TASCAM’s compact DR-10X attaches to a handheld microphone for the ultimate compact news-gathering recording system. Its Dual Recording mode captures a copy of the audio at a lower level, so if there is distortion you have a backup safety. “Having dual file recording built in was a great lifesaver,” Glanz asserts. “And the DR series recorders are very easy to use. We’ve had some entry-level people running these devices, so it was very helpful that they are user friendly.”
The TASCAM DR-40 handheld four-track recorder is another favorite at SiriusXM, with its extended battery life and internal condenser mics that are adjustable from XY to AB position. “We probably have hundreds of those out in the field,” Glanz estimates. “The TASCAM DR-100mkIII is another great product because of the built-in dual-battery function.” TASCAM’s top-of-the-line handheld recorder, the DR-100mkIII records with to 24-bit, 192 kHz fidelity. Its dual battery structure allows the built-in high-capacity lithium-ion battery to be used in concert with AA batteries for extended operation—a significant advantage for field recording.
The SiriusXM news team also relies on TASCAM’s DR-44WL four-track handheld digital recorder. The DR-44WL is well known for its high-quality built-in condenser mics, locking XLR inputs that access TASCAM’s latest mic preamps, and rich-soounding, low-noise audio performance. Especially valuable for SiriusXM is that the DR-44WL also offers remote control via Wi-Fi. “We do a lot of press conferences where we can’t sit near the podium,” Glanz explains. “With the DR-44WL, our reporters can navigate through the recorder’s GUI on their iPhone while the DR-44WL is plugged into a press feed. That’s a very helpful feature.”
With its reliance on so many different TASCAM digital recorders, some of them in large quantity, it’s clear that SiriusXM’s long-time relationship with TASCAM is as strong as ever. “TASCAM’s making it easy for us,” concludes Glanz. “We love their products.”
