A Personal Journey Through the Equipment Behind Binaural Diaries
When I started Binaural Diaries in 2006, I had no grand plan. I wasn't building an archive. I wasn't curating a collection. I'd been inspired by The Wire magazine's Wire Tapper compilations and Aaron Ximm's Quiet American site, and I simply wanted to capture the sounds around me — to press record and share what I heard. The gear was almost beside the point.
Except, of course, it wasn't. Not really. The gear shaped what I could capture, how I could capture it, and ultimately what kind of recordist I became. Over nearly twenty years, with a sizeable gap in the middle for parenting and work demands, I've moved from a second-hand Sony MZ-R35 minidisc recorder and unbranded mics fitted inside a cheap headphone headset to a Tascam Portacapture x6 recording in 32-bit float with better binaural mics, hydrophones and contact mics. That journey mirrors the broader evolution of portable recording technology, but it's also deeply personal. Each piece of equipment came with its own lessons, frustrations, and revelations.
This article is a look back at that journey — not a gear review or a buying guide, but an honest account of what I've used, why I moved on, and what each setup taught me about listening.
From Minidisc to 32-Bit Float: Two Decades of Field Recording Gear
The Minidisc Years: Before the Blog
Before Binaural Diaries existed, there was a second-hand Sony MZ-R35 minidisc recorder and a pair of unbranded binaural microphones mounted in a cheap headphone headset. I can't say much more about this setup with any certainty. The mics had no brand name I recall, the headset was the kind of flimsy affair you'd pick up for a few pounds, and the minidisc format itself, while beautifully engineered, imposed its own compression on everything I recorded.
I'm not entirely sure whether any of these early recordings made it onto the blog. They may have done, in those early days when I was transferring material across formats and figuring out what this project was going to be. If they did, I can't reliably identify them now. The minidisc era sits in a hazy pre-history — the experimentation that led to something more deliberate, but wasn't itself documented with any rigour.
What I can say is that those early sessions taught me the fundamental lesson that still drives everything I do: the world is full of extraordinary sounds that we routinely tune out, and the act of recording them changes how you hear. Everything that followed was a refinement of that initial impulse.
The Zoom H2 Era: Where It All Properly Began
The Zoom H2 was the recorder that made Binaural Diaries possible. For the best part of a decade — covering almost everything on this site up until 2018 — it was my trusty companion. If there's a recording here from that period, the H2 was almost certainly involved.
What the H2 offered was accessibility. It was affordable, reasonably portable, and had a 1/8” plug-in power input, which was exactly what I needed to start using affordable in-ear binaural mics. For someone who wanted to get out and record without overthinking the technical side, it was ideal. Switch it on, press record, and you were capturing. That simplicity suited me at the time — I was more interested in what I was recording than how I was recording it.
Paired predominantly with the Sound Professionals SP-TFB-2 binaural microphones, the H2 formed the backbone of my binaural work for years. Those little in-ear binaural mics have been the most effective pieces of equipment I've ever owned — high sensitivity, discreet, and capable of producing remarkably immersive captures when worn in the ears. They slotted into the ear, sat flush, and faithfully reproduced the spatial world around me. Whether I was recording trains, markets, or the ambient hum of a city, the H2 and SP-TFB-2 combination rarely let me down.
Occasionally I'd switch to the Roland CS-10EM binaural earphones, which doubled as both monitoring headphones and microphones — a neat trick for fieldwork. I used these in Borough Market in January 2011, and they appeared in other London recordings from that period. They were a convenient option, though I always returned to the SP-TFB-2s for anything where I truly cared about the quality.
The H2 had its limitations, of course. Its internal mics were usable but unremarkable — decent enough for quick captures, but not something you'd choose for a delicate soundscape. The build was plasticky. The menu system was fiddly. And its preamps, while serviceable, introduced a gentle hiss that became part of the sonic signature of everything recorded through external mics.
But here's the thing: none of that mattered. The H2 allowed me to build a body of work that I'm still proud of. It got me into the habit of carrying a recorder everywhere. It made field recording feel accessible and achievable rather than intimidating. And it taught me that the most important piece of equipment is the one you actually have with you when the moment arrives.
The Sony PCM-M10: A Step Change
In 2018, after reading some excellent reviews — and finding that the Sony PCM-M10 was no longer available new, I picked one up second-hand. It was the beginning of a new chapter, though I didn't fully appreciate it at the time.
The PCM-M10 felt like a different species of recorder. Where the H2 had been functional and plastic, the PCM-M10 was compact, sturdy, and reassuringly well-built. It fit in a pocket in a way the H2 never quite managed. The battery life was exceptional. And crucially, the internal microphones were genuinely good — not just "acceptable for built-ins" but actually a viable option for proper recordings at 48 kHz/24-bit.
This was a revelation. My earlier article, "What Is Binaural Recording — And Why I Don't Always Do It", explores this shift in detail, but the short version is this: the quality of the PCM-M10's internal mics meant I could capture convincing stereo recordings without any external microphones at all. No clipping on binaural mics, no cables trailing from ears to recorder, no fuss. Just pull it from a pocket and record.
That convenience changed how I worked. I'd always been somewhat weather-dependent with the binaural mics — they sit in the open air, after all, and the slightest breeze turns a delicate soundscape into a rumbling mess. With the PCM-M10's internal mics, I could record in conditions that would have defeated the SP-TFB-2s. Wind screens helped, but there were always days when the built-in mics simply produced a cleaner result. My French Rural Ambience recording from June 2018 was captured this way, as were other recordings over the years that followed.
I continued pairing the PCM-M10 with the SP-TFB-2s when conditions suited. The binaural effect is something the built-in mics can't replicate, and for those immersive, headphone-listening "sound photographs" that define what Binaural Diaries is really about, there was still nothing better. The train journey from Bruges to Brussels in October 2019 used the Luhd PM-01 in-ear binaural mics paired with the PCM-M10, producing one of my favourite spatial recordings. The Early Morning Birdsong recording from May 2020, captured at 05:30 on a spring morning in Bristol, used the same combination. Both are recordings that simply wouldn't have worked with built-in mics.
Around the same time I acquired the Clippy EM172 stereo pair, a versatile little pair of mics that could be arranged in spaced omni, ORTF, or near-coincident configurations. In truth, I didn't make much use of them at the time. They sat in the drawer more than they should have, waiting for the right project. It would be a few years before I'd revisit them and explore their potential.
The Tascam Portacapture x6: A New Toolkit
In 2026, I took a deliberate step forward. I'd been dipping back into field recording after years away - the gap caused by parenting and a demanding job, and I wanted a setup that would take me beyond what the PCM-M10 could offer. Enter the Tascam Portacapture x6.
The headline feature is 32-bit float recording, which adds different perspectives to recording approaches. With 32-bit float, the recorder captures an enormous dynamic range, meaning you can essentially forget about gain staging. A sudden loud sound, for example, a firework, a car horn, a thunderclap - won't clip and destroy the recording. The level can be adjusted after the fact without loss. For someone who records in unpredictable environments, that's transformative. No more anxiously watching levels when I should be listening to what's happening around me. I am still experimenting and building familiarity with this recorder. It’s more advanced configuration come with a learning curve.
The Portacapture x6 brings XLR inputs, which opened a door I hadn't previously walked through. The Earsight Binaural Stereo Pair (XLR) mics now had a proper home, and the JrF D Series+ hydrophone and JrF C Series Pro+ contact microphone brought entirely new sonic territories into reach.
Contact microphones are fascinating instruments. They don't capture airborne sound at all - instead, they pick up vibrations through solid surfaces. Wind is irrelevant. You attach them to railings, gates, bridges, machinery, or anything that vibrates, and they reveal a hidden layer of sound that exists beneath the audible surface. The JrF C Series Pro+ is an exceptionally well-regarded example, and I'm excited about what it might uncover.
The JrF D Series+ hydrophone similarly opens up the underwater world — ponds, streams, swimming pools. In a sense, these specialised mics have shown me that there are rich soundscapes to be captured regardless of the conditions above ground. When the weather defeats the binaural mics, the contact mic and hydrophone are still ready to go.
Alongside the Tascam, I invested in additional wind protection and Clippy lyre stand mounts from Micbooster.com, paired with a stereo bar and tripod. This rig allows the Clippy EM172s — those long-underused mics I'd bought years earlier — to be precisely positioned in whatever configuration suits the location. Spaced omni for a wide, natural soundstage. ORTF for a tighter, more directional capture. Near-coincident for something between the two. It's a versatile and adjustable setup that finally gives the Clippys the role they always deserved.
Lessons From Two Decades
Looking back across this arc, from minidisc to 32-bit float, from unbranded mics in a cheap headset to dedicated hydrophones and contact microphones, a few things stand out.
The gear matters, but less than you'd think. Each upgrade has genuinely improved what I can capture, but my favourite recordings span every era. Some of the best moments on Binaural Diaries were captured with the Zoom H2 and a pair of in-ear binaurals - equipment that today looks quaint. The magic was never in the equipment; it was in being there, being attentive, and pressing record.
Convenience is undervalued. The move from the H2 to the PCM-M10 taught me that portability and ease of use aren't compromises — they're enablers. A recorder you'll actually carry produces more recordings than one that's technically superior but lives on a shelf.
Curiosity beats methodology. Nearly twenty years of doing this has taught me that the most important thing is to record. To get out there, capture something, and share it. The technique matters, of course it does, but obsessing over method at the expense of actually pressing the button is a trap. I've used binaural mics, built-in mics, contact mics, and hydrophones, and the best choice has always been the one that suited the moment, not the one that satisfied a purist ideal.
What Comes Next
The toolkit feels more complete now than it ever has. With the Tascam Portacapture x6 at the centre, I can capture in 32-bit float without fear of clipping. I can pair it with the SP-TFB-2s for binaural work, the Clippys on a stereo bar for configured stereo, the Earsights for XLR binaural, the JrF contact mic for surface vibrations, and the JrF hydrophone for underwater sound. I am still learning to get the most out of these, and with the X6 there is a steep curve, but the variety is exciting. The PCM-M10 remains as a compact, go-anywhere backup that still produces recordings I'm happy to share.
After a series of long pauses, the years when other life demands pushed recording to the margins, having this range of options feels like starting again with two decades of experience behind me. The curiosity that launched Binaural Diaries in 2006 hasn't gone anywhere. If anything, it's deepened. There's more to listen for now, and better tools to catch it with.
The thread running through it all has never really been about a single recording technique, or a particular piece of gear. It's curiosity about the sounds that surround us every day. Keep recording, whatever the weather decides to do, and whatever equipment you happen to have in your pocket.