Tula Mic: A must for your recording needs

WHAT Tula Mic

WHAT IT DOES The first thing you’ll notice about the Tula Mic is it’s cool, retro look, but there’s nothing retro about its performance. The pocket-size microphone is packed with features beyond just being a recording device. It links to a computer with a USB-C connection but also works as a stand-alone portable audio recorder with 8 gigabytes of internal memory. The battery will last for up to 14 hours of portable recording with the noise reduction off and 10 to 12 hours with it on. Audio clarity is superb. It’s available in cream, red or black.

THE COST $229

AVAILABLE FROM tulamics.com

WHAT’S HOT Recording is done in two manners. The cardioid unidirectional polar pattern is highly sensitive to sound directly in front of the microphone. With the omnidirectional recording, audio is gathered equally from all directions. Changing between recording choices is done with a mic select button on the side.

The Tula is about the size of a deck of playing cards and on the side is a 3.5-millimeter input for your headphones or a lavaliere clip-on microphone. A flip stand is great for rotating it to the angle needed.

A pair of LED lights on the front indicate when recording is taking place as well as memory and battery levels. Controls are on the side for gain up and down, forward, back, mute, volume, recording on and off, play, power and noise reduction.

Getting recorded files off the Tula is simple. Just connect it to a PC as a drive, which allows the recorded .wav files to be copied in the same way files would be copied from an external drive.

WHAT’S NOT It's pricier than its competitors, but it's also more versatile.