When it comes to recording things like band practice, lectures, and interviews the plain digital recorders often are lacking when it comes to getting quality recordings. Zoom has offered its H2 recorder already and it is one of the more popular handheld recorders out there.

Zoom has now announced its latest handheld recorder called the Zoom H1 Handy Recorder. The device uses the same mics in an X/Y pattern as the larger H2 uses. It can record in 24-bit 96 kHz stereo quality.

Alesis has come out with a product recently that takes advantage of the popularity and significant storage capacity available in the Apple iPods with a new digital stereo recorder that integrates with the media player. The ProTrack Stereo Handheld Recorder has sleds built into the design to securely dock your iPod inside and use it to store and playback digital audio recordings.

The ProTrack comes with two built-in stereo condenser microphones to pick up ambient sound, or you can plug in external mics or line-in audio sources to the 1/4-inch jacks. The recorder, like the iPod itself, is truly portable and runs up to five hours on four AAA batteries and can fall back on an AC power adapter if needed. They’ve even included a threaded mount on the bottom to hold it steady with things like a camera tripod.