New Music Gear Monday: Teenage Engineering TP-7 Field Recorder

I think every musician has a field recorder these days because they’re so useful. Recording song ideas, rehearsals, personal memos – it pays to have one to catch those moments that you don’t want to forget. While Tascam and Zoom (with Sound Devices on the high end) have dominated the market for quite a while now, a new entrant into the category has now arrived – the Teenage Engineering TP-7 field recorder.

The TP-7 has a lot of things going for it. It has the ability to record at 96kHz/24 bit, it can record 3 stereo or 6 mono tracks, it has a built-in 7 hour battery, it can act as an interface to computers and smart devices, and it even has a built in microphone for memos.

That’s not all. It has an always-on mode where it will spring to life with a push of a button to take a quick memo or record an idea, and it comes with companion iOS software with even a transcription feature. Plus it has 128GB of storage that should be plenty of most applications.

But It’s Different

Probably whats most unique about it though is the center piece of the TP–7, which is the motorized tape reel that lets you virtually grab your recording. You can use it for scrubbing, to pause, menu navigation and as visual feedback during playback and recording. A side-mounted rocker allows you to quickly scrub through your audio by pressing on the top edge to fast forward, and down to rewind. You can then watch the wheel spin as you hear your tracks scrub at fast speed. There are also some welcome yet old-fashioned Record, Play and Stop buttons on the bottom of the unit, as well as a very small yet easy to see display at the top right.

As far as I/O, the TP–7 features three stereo two-way mini-jacks that can be used as either inputs or outputs, and a stereo mini-jack for headphones and studio monitor output. There’s a USB-C connector that can be used for multi-channel audio interface, midi, data transfer and charging. Teenage Engineering also includes a 1/4″ to 3.5 mm jack adapter for either headphone or I/O use.

About the only downside is the price. The TP-7 retails for $1,499, but it is a very cool, well made device. It’s also not currently available yet, although it should be released shortly.

Find out more here.

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