Mandozzi Elettronica DART-2 from Switzerland

I was looking since a long time for an easy, elegant, light - but not a toy - portable field-recorder... 

Mandozzi's DART-2 represents a viable, cheaper and elegant option to a Nagra or a Sound Devices 722... maybe a poor man Nagra;-)

Yet, I love this machine no frills and vintage look, opposed to the more commonly found Chinese miniature digital recorders with built in cheap mikes.

This way I'm able to use my Sennheiser Dummy head, or the Neumann USM 69 (yes, the DART-2 has a Phantom 48V) or my STC/Coles 4038 in Blumlein pattern to record every gig, concert, rehearsal, whatever I'm able to get!

... the above without hurting my back, as moving any reel to reel... or getting an embarrassing (low) quality - i.e. that nasty digital 0 db overload -  from my iPad and iRig mike.

Thanking Thomas Schick.