I doubt it's snowing much in Anaheim, but TASCAM is plowing through the portable recorder industry at Winter NAMM 2009 where the DR-100 joins the DR-07 on the new release list. The DR-100 portable recorder is a more advanced recorder with the appropriate features to call itself so.

The DR-100 builds off of TASCAM's original DR-1 recorder with an added pair of phantom power XLR mic ins. It also includes four built-in electret condensers -- two with cardioid pickup patterns and two with omnidirectional patterns -- and its very own speaker for playback right off the unit.

The DR-100 is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, included with the unit, or by four AA batteries. Who knows? Maybe one AAAAAAAA battery powers this bad boy up, too. TASCAM Marketing Manager Jeff Laity took the opportunity to talk a bit about this serious handheld recorder.

"TASCAM's HD-P2 has been the only choice for professionals who need great-sounding recording, XLR mic ins and SMPTE timecode. The DR-100 is the latest in a line of rugged recorders, going back to TEAC reel-to-reel recorders carried by G.I.s in the Vietnam war. The compact size is ideal for pros who don't need the timecode features of the HD-P2.”

Other features include analog line ins and outs, a mounting hole, a wireless remote control and audio editing features. Like most of the products TASCAM has been putting out recently, it has the ability to loop and slow down audio without effecting pitch, so why don't you stick that in your mounting hole and smoke it?