Thank you for purchasing a PicoRecorder! We hope this product will bring you satisfaction for many years to come.
Take some time to read this user manual since the PicoRecorder is more complex than basic wireless audio receivers, and you may miss some features.
The PicoRecorder software is regularly updated with improvements and new features, and this manual covers the latest firmware version.
The PicoRecorder is composed of the following:
The PicoMic is a high-end, ultra-compact wireless microphone that integrates a digital microphone capsule with a wide dynamic range, and also offers the option to connect an external microphone.
It is provided with many accessories, including color windshields, color clip covers and a USB-C to microphone cable.
Before you can use your PicoMic wireless system, make sure to:
Please note that the POWER button is not touch-sensitive; it must be pressed firmly to start or stop the recorder:
On the main screen, you will find all your microphones (up to 6), the two audio inputs, and the stereo output.
Tap a microphone or channel to show a small toolbar with more options.
Each microphone shows a smart VU-meter that is used both to monitor the mic audio and set the gain that is used to make up the output:
Unlike some recorders, each gain selector is hardwired to its own channel. You can’t reassign a selector to another channel or use it to control a selectable mix of channels.
Tap a mic to select it (it will become orange), and display a toolbar with more options:
Pairing links your PicoMic to the receiver, so the PicoRecorder can automatically connect to it when powered on.
Just connect your PicoMic to the PicoRecorder using the provided USB-C – USB-C cable.
If needed, the PicoRecorder will update your mic firmware, and the pairing is automatic.
My PicoMic won’t pair! What should I do?
Your PicoRecorder will automatically connect to your PicoMic when started.
However, you can disconnect it by tapping the corresponding toolbar button (“DISCONNECT”), and reconnect it by tapping “CONNECT”.
When the PicoMic is placed in the travel case USB-C dock, it will appear as “IN DOCK” and will effectively be disconnected from the PicoRecorder (and won’t consume any power).
Just remove it from the USB-C dock and it will reconnect automatically.
Each mic can be muted on the left or right of the PicoRecorder audio output.
When a mic is muted on both L and R output, the VU-meter becomes grayed as a visual indication:
⚠️ Muting is not the same as disconnecting the mic.
In this mode, you can still see the audio levels, and the mic is still recorded to the SD card in the RAW multitrack file.
However, the mic audio won’t be on the output at all. These mics are also given lower priority over the radio link, so they will be the first to drop out in strong interference situations.
This mode allows you to completely mute a microphone on the output, while still recording it for potential use later.
| If your mic is… | Muted | Disconnected |
| Radio link | Audio is streamed normally to the PicoRecorder | No radio connection |
| Mic power | Power consumption is the same as a connected mic | Powered off – can last several months |
| SD card recording | Mic is recorded in the RAW multitrack file | The mic is not recorded |
| Audio output | Mic audio is not on the output | Mic audio is not on the output |
If you need to quickly limit the audio to a single microphone or input, use SOLO mode. It will mute all other channels and restore the original configuration when you exit SOLO mode.
Like Mute, Solo only affects what you hear on the output mix: it never changes the RAW multitrack recording, and it is independent of the Audio routing assignment.
To access the settings menu, select the mic on the main screen, and tap the “SETTINGS” button in the bottom toolbar.
Model / firmware: the model and firmware version of the PicoMic.
Currently, the PicoMic 3 and PicoMic 3 Pro are supported.
HP filter: enable / disable a 100 Hz high-pass filter.
This filter helps reduce the typical hum from AC systems, fans, and similar sources. We generally recommend leaving it enabled.
Used mic: allows you to force the use of the PicoMic internal mic, or an external one (connected with the provided USB-C adapter).
In AUTO mode, the PicoMic will detect the small power consumption of any mic connected on its USB-C adapter, and automatically use it instead of the internal microphone.
The PicoRecorder provides two 32-bit audio inputs (A and B), each one being a mono input.
Both inputs provide plug-in power (3.0 V), so they can power small lavalier microphones, or mics that need a voltage bias to work.
Once again, tap an input to show a toolbar with options:
This is the main analog output: a high-quality stereo output with a locking TRS connector.
We strongly recommend using the supplied locking TRS-to-TRS cable.
We do not recommend using TRRS cables (i.e., connectors with four contacts instead of three), as they can cause unstable audio.
It can be used to connect to:
It supports a wide dynamic range and can produce both low-level (mic-level) and high-level (line-level) signals.
The maximum output level (in dB) is set in the Settings menu / Audio output:
The PicoRecorder can be connected to other devices in USB-C and will act as a USB stereo microphone (outputting the L / R OUT signal).
A big advantage is that the signal path is entirely digital, so you won’t have any analog noise issues.
This works with virtually all USB-C host devices, such as:
You have a small indicator that shows the streaming status.
Audio streaming is initiated by the smartphone/tablet (typically when an app enables the microphone), and the PicoRecorder indicates whether audio is actually streaming over USB or not.
The PicoRecorder offers several different gains, and it’s important to know what each one does.
Check the diagram below, showing a setup where we have:
The audio path is explained as follows:
The different gains uses are explained below:
The PicoRecorder is able to record the audio on an SD card.
To start / stop the recording: tap the REC key on the touch screen.
Once recording is running, a new panel will appear on top of the screen:
Each time a recording is started, two files are created (with a new file number):
The files are organized into daily folders, such as /20260410/….
Due to limitations of the WAV file format, WAV files can’t be bigger than 4 GB.
Once a WAV file reaches 4 GB, it will be closed and a new file will be created:
…001__RAW.WAV — [split] –> ….001__RAW.1.WAV — [split] –> ….001__RAW.2.WAV etc.
No audio sample is lost; the files can be concatenated together to recreate the audio as if no split had happened.
The same split behavior will happen when a PicoMic connects while the recording is already in progress (since a new track needs to be added).
To avoid creating huge files with little to no audio, the multitrack RAW file only includes tracks for currently connected microphones and enabled inputs.
If a PicoMic becomes connected while the recording is in progress, there will be a split of the multitrack file to add the new track (since the number of tracks in a multitrack file can’t be changed dynamically). If the microphone is disconnected, the track won’t be removed, it will stay in the multitrack file but have no audio on it (this avoids creating many files if the connection is unstable, for example).
Only modern SDHC or SDXC cards are supported. Old SDSC cards are not supported.
Both FAT32 and exFAT partitions are supported. We normally recommend using exFAT (most SD cards come already formatted in this format).
About SD cards performance: recording up to 10 channels in 32-bit float can result in fairly high throughput. Two factors need to be considered for performance:
High-performance SD erase / formatting: thanks to its low-level access to the SD card, the PicoRecorder can issue special commands that instruct the card to perform a full erase (almost no SD card reader can do that). This restores the card’s original write performance, and you can use it on any of your SD cards; even ones you also use for video, etc.
If you have SD performance issues (you will get a warning if anything happens during a recording), we strongly recommend trying formatting your SD card with the PicoRecorder and check the results.
The PicoRecorder includes an internal full-fledged timecode generator.
The point of timecode is to synchronize all your audio / video devices including timecode generators before your day of shooting.
Then having all the audio / video files timestamped with the same timecode allows to synchronize the audio(s) and video(s) timelines perfectly, without needing to synchronize them manually (which typically needs the famous “clapperboard”).
This implies that all of your devices include a timecode generator and use it to timestamp all files — typically by storing the file’s start timecode in the file metadata.
This is what the PicoRecorder does: each saved WAV file includes, in its metadata, the current timecode at the moment the file’s first audio sample is recorded. You can see it when you import the file in software that supports timecode (e.g. DaVinci Resolve) where you can see the timecode being shown:
In theory, you should also use a camera that has a built-in timecode generator and puts the timecode in the video files metadata.
However, in many cases, you won’t have such a camera and this is where LTC timecode comes to help.
The PicoRecorder allows you to send the timecode in an audio way to the camera, so that the timecode is recorded on one track of your camera video files. Typically on your video files, you will have the L audio being the timecode, and the R audio being the PicoRecorder main audio output.
Using appropriate software able to decode that audio timecode (i.e. “LTC timecode”), you can now have video files with timecode — even though your camera doesn’t support any timecode at all. Software like DaVinci Resolve supports that audio timecode in video files.
Timecode is just a way of expressing a number of video frames since a “zero time” reference.
But instead of using large numbers to do so, it uses the H/M/S notation:
Ext. TC Sync: lets you sync the PicoRecorder’s timecode to an external timecode source — useful when another device (a camera, a master timecode generator, or a second recorder) is acting as the timecode “master” for your shoot and you want everything to share the exact same time reference. To sync:
From that point, the PicoRecorder keeps running on its own ultra-stable TCXO clock, so you can disconnect the master and the two will stay in sync throughout your shooting day.
The color of the timecode shown on the screen indicates whether the PicoRecorder has been synchronized recently with an external timecode source.
| Timecode color | Meaning |
 |
The PicoRecorder has not been externally synchronized within the last 10 hours. |
 |
The PicoRecorder was successfully synchronized from an external source connected to IN B less than 10 hours ago. |
After an external sync, the timecode remains green for 10 hours. This gives you a quick visual confirmation that the recorder was jam-synced recently.
The 10-hour period is intended to cover a typical production day. Over time, the PicoRecorder’s internal clock may drift slightly from the external reference, so a new sync is recommended before the next session or whenever precise timecode alignment is required.
After 10 hours, the timecode returns to yellow to indicate that the last external sync is no longer considered recent.
First, timecode is only useful if you record audio to the SD card and later need to synchronize that audio with your video files.
If you connect the PicoRecorder’s audio output to your camera’s mic input and use that as your main audio, timecode isn’t necessary.
If you need to synchronize your audio and video files (basic setup):
Tap the “SETTINGS” key on the right of the screen to enter the settings menu:
Firmware: shows the PicoRecorder firmware version. Tap the UPDATE button to start the Firmware update procedure.
Date / time: opens a dialog allowing you to set the current date and time, that is used to mark your audio files date/time.
This time is retained as long as the PicoRecorder’s main battery isn’t completely drained. If you leave the PicoRecorder for several months with the battery nearly empty, the date and time may reset.
Flip display: rotate the screen by 180° to allow mounting the PicoRecorder upside-down.
Regulatory info: shows radio certification information.
The Audio routing dialog lets you choose, source by source, what goes to the left and right channels of your stereo mix.
Each row is one side of the output. Tap a source to toggle it — orange means it is sent to that side, gray means it isn’t. Light a source under both rows to keep it centered, or under one row only to pan it hard. The buttons are 1-6 (the PicoMics), A / B (the audio inputs), and TC (timecode).
Routing only shapes the stereo mix — the L + R OUT feeding the AUDIO OUT jack, headphones, USB audio, and the OUT.WAV recording. It does not affect the RAW multitrack file, which always records every source untouched, so nothing is ever lost.
Timecode (TC) is a special case: it goes only to the AUDIO OUT jack — not the headphones, USB, or recording. This is the same control as the LTC output in Settings / Timecode, where you also set its level (MIC or LINE).
Headphones: set the headphones output volume.
Audio out: set the amplification of the analog audio output.
Changing this value won’t affect the recorded level of the OUT channel, nor the USB audio output level.
Output test tone: when you connect the PicoRecorder to a camera, you need to set the camera’s input level correctly. If it’s set too low, your recordings will be quiet and hissy; if it’s set too high, loud sounds will distort. The Output test tone makes this easy: it plays a steady tone at the loudest level the PicoRecorder will ever send out. You then simply turn up your camera’s input until its level meter sits just below the top — and you know your camera can handle anything the PicoRecorder sends without distorting.
How to calibrate your camera:
That’s it! Your camera input is now matched to the PicoRecorder. Loud moments won’t distort, and quiet moments will stay clean and clear.
This dialog will show you the SD card information, and allows you to format it with the PicoRecorder recommended settings.
Check the timecode settings dialog.
The touch screen can be locked by tapping the “DOT” key on the right of the screen.
When the screen is locked, an unlock slider will appear on the bottom of the screen:
The PicoRecorder will automatically shut down after 5 minutes if no PicoMics are connected and no audio inputs are enabled.
In all other cases, it will not shut down automatically unless the battery becomes low.
The PicoRecorder is made to be an evolutive receiver, and many features can be added through software updates.
At PicoGear, we take firmware updates very seriously; our previous systems have received updates for 5-6 years.
If you have any feature ideas or requests, please let us know!
We’ll do our best to include them in future updates whenever possible.
