Zoom’s PodTrak P8 is a standalone mixer and recorder for capturing your group podcasts

If you’re looking for a standalone device that will enable you to record your podcast posse - in a socially-distanced way, of course - allow us to point you in the direction of Zoom’s new PodTrak P8 podcast mixer and recorder.

Billed as a complete podcast studio, this enables you to plug in up to six mics via its XLR inputs and record up to 12 tracks simultaneously. We’re guessing this should be enough for most round-table chats.

Each channel has its own volume slider, mute button and ‘on air’ indicator (you can turn this off to talk to contributors ‘behind the scenes’), and there’s a dedicated channel for recording remote contributions from your phone. This comes with a Mix-Minus function that promises to prevent echo and feedback from the caller’s phone.

You’ll also note that there are nine sound pads. These are assignable (13 sounds - including applause and laughter - are preloaded) and four banks means that you can have up to 36 sounds ready to go. Once you’ve recorded your podcast you can make basic edits on the 4.3-inch touchscreen display, which enables you to make settings and keep an eye on levels, too.

PodTrak P8 has six headphone outputs with individual volume controls and can record directly to SD cards of up to 512GB in size in 16-bit/44.1kHz WAV format. An optional Bluetooth adapter enables you to record calls wirelessly.

PodTrak P8 certainly looks like a pretty comprehensive podcasting solution, and has the added advantage of containing a 2-in/2-out USB audio interface (useful when you want to livestream your podcast). If runs on either battery power (up to two hours from four AAs) or the supplied AC power adapter.

Find out more on the Zoom website. The PodTrak P8 is available now priced at $499/£459.

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