I am trying to decide on a good reasonably in-expensive hand-held recorder - (Zoom H4n / Edirol R-09HR / Sony PCM-D50 for example) I would greatly appreciate hearing some thoughts or suggestions/recommendations!
A few days ago I was researching the market for a good portable recorder, and I found a site that has same sources recorded with different models, perhaps you can google it. I can definitely say that built-in mikes were crap on all except for Edirol, Zoom and Marantz (yes, Sony and Olympus were unacceptably bad). These three had pretty much identical quality, with good lows, smooth mids and crisp highs, so I'd select one based on features and size. Zoom's got cardioid mikes vs. omni on Edirol and Marantz, but strangely I did not hear any difference, and Zoom is quite an unnecessarily bulky thing.
I previously had a R-1 and the quality was stunning, and R-09 should be even better. But Marantz (is that 620?) is looking cool, too, and I'd be choosing between these two.
Oh yes, check out M-Audio's MicroTrack too. There also appear great new external mike offers for iPod touch and iPhone, but only 16 bit for now.
My last suggestion is to check reviews for 1) preamp noise, and 2) mike spatial diagram (cardioid should capture less unwanted ambient sounds and room reverb).
Thanks for the advice. I am intrigued by the Zoom's 4 channel recording capability. It has 2 XLR/balanced 1/4 inch connections, phantom power, the ability to use the 2 internal and external mics at the same time, or use the 4 channels for multitracking! Not too shabby for such an inexpensive unit! I like the Edirol's display and it appears to have higher quality construction. I have listened to some demos and they all sound pretty good to me! =)
It depends on what you will be using the recorder for. I wanted the best portability so I got the Edirol, and I can say it's built extremely well. If you check out the acoustic percussion in my Drums expansion for Fantom-G, they were recorded with the R-1.
Zoom looks nice, and I'd check the reviews on it's noise levels and how they compare to 09.
