A Great Little Recorder

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Art Hovey
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A Great Little Recorder

Post by Art Hovey »

I have owned and used reel-to-reel tape recorders, cassette recorders, DAT, and CD recorders over the years, but a couple of weeks ago I obtained something that beats them all. It's an Edirol R-09, by Roland. No moving parts; it records on an SD card. (I found a 2 Gig card on Amazon for $15.) It can record in 24-bit, 16-bit, or in several different levels of MP3. It has a good pair of built-in condenser mics; it also has mic and line inputs. It connects by USB to your computer for downloading and editing sound files. It runs for several hours on two ordinary AA cells. The controls are much simpler than a digital camera, the sound quality is amazing, and it is the size of a pack of cigarettes.
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Post by THE TUBA »

I love mine.
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Post by Allen »

I got one last year, and have been quite satisfied with it.

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Post by MartyNeilan »

Using the built-in mics, how is the low end for recording tuba?
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Post by pierso20 »

a trumpet playing friend of mine recently bought a recording device that attaches to your IPOD...and WOW, it records very very nicely!

There's lots of nice things you can use nowadays that dont cost a lot money. Just gotta find em. :P
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Post by John Caves »

How many $'s is this wonderbox?
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Post by UTTuba_09 »

$360 on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Edirol-R-09-WAVE- ... 915&sr=8-1

Bought mine last week, it lives up to the hype, it's one of the best portable recorders on the market...
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Re: A Great Little Recorder

Post by ken k »

Art Hovey wrote:I have owned and used reel-to-reel tape recorders, cassette recorders, DAT, and CD recorders over the years, but a couple of weeks ago I obtained something that beats them all. It's an Edirol R-09, by Roland. No moving parts; it records on an SD card. (I found a 2 Gig card on Amazon for $15.) It can record in 24-bit, 16-bit, or in several different levels of MP3. It has a good pair of built-in condenser mics; it also has mic and line inputs. It connects by USB to your computer for downloading and editing sound files. It runs for several hours on two ordinary AA cells. The controls are much simpler than a digital camera, the sound quality is amazing, and it is the size of a pack of cigarettes.
Sounds like a very cool device. i will have to check it out. Also since it is the size of a pack of cigs, i could wrap it up in the sleeve of my t-shirt..... :-)

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Post by ken k »

I assume it has headphone jacks to listen to the recording without downloading??? (probably a silly questions but I know nothing about these)

Also how does this compare to the Zoom H4? I see the Edirol is about $100 more than the Zoom.

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Post by UTTuba_09 »

Yes, you can listen to your recording on the device right after recording...

As far as comparison with the Zoom recorders, I have friends that have the either H4 or the H2, nobody seems to have any visible problems with those recorders. I do know that if it comes to space/weight of the device, the R-09 is MUCH smaller than the H4, and a little bit smaller than the H2. Even with two good AA batteries in it, the R-09 only weighs 4.5 ounces. The on-board mics are very HQ of the R-09, especially for their size. So I'd say, if you want the latest, lightest, smallest and best all-around, I would highly recommend the R-09, if it's not in your price range, then the H4 or H2 should do nicely.

Plus, if you do end up buying the R-09, I would HIGHLY recommend purchasing the stand/carrier made by Roland/Edirol. It's a bit pricey, but it will protect the device really well...
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Post by pulseczar »

I'm trying out an Edirol R09 right now. The transient noises sound great; the bedsheets rustling, the clack of my valves sound good but the tuba sound isn't that impressive.

I'm testing it out in my bedroom so is it a problem of acoustics and/or mic placement?
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Post by Art Hovey »

The recorder does not lie. It records what it hears. You may find it slightly less discouraging if you turn on one of the reverb features on playback, but it's not going to make you or me practicing in a bedroom sound like Oystein B. in Carnegie recital hall.
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Post by pulseczar »

Well, I just put on the low cut (gasp) and it sounds alot better. The 'roominess' is gone.

I'll post more once/if I get to A/B it with some other setups.
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Post by GC »

There's a good head to head comparison of Edirol vs Zoom in the customer reviews on Amazon.
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Post by jtuba »

Where did you get one that came with a 4GB card? Mine came with a 512 MB card. I didn't know about the USB mic feature either, I'll get right on that.
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Post by fireatwil »

I bought a Zoom H2 a few weeks back. The seller threw in a 2GB memory card on the deal.

For $200 it is really a great little recorder.

It is very easy to use and the internal mics work very well. One thing that I have observed is that placement is very important. It will even pick up heating and air units when they are on. I even picked up the noise from a spotlight cooling fan one night. So you have to watch out where you put it when recording.

I have been very happy with my H2. Battery life is fine (I use rechargable batteries). And it was very easy to hook up to my PC (USB) to move my files.

I was afraid that I would have to shell out $400+ to get a decent recording device. But the H2 does a great job at half the price.

Willie
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