Audio recorder help - zoom h2

[FotherMucker99]

What sort of issues has he had with his R-09? I know of quite a few tapers who use one, I do as well. Never had a single issue with mine.

It's a professional recording unit and thus I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who's right about to get into audio recording shows.

An iRiver with decent battery box and decent microphones sounds better than any edirol r-09 can do.
IMHO!

[maidencolorado]

It is a field recording unit and probably the most popular among audio tapers I've come across. Far from a professional unit, that would be more along the lines of the Edirol R-44. And if it were a professional unit that can be outmatched by the iRiver, I'd have to say Edirol would have done themselves a disservice by releasing it.

I've been nothing but happy with the results I've attained with my simple setup of the R-09 > CA9100 Preamp > CA11 mics. Some of them are being used in official capacities by the bands, either in official releases, on their websites or as promotional releases.

I was simply asking what issues were had, which wasn't answered by your response in any way.

[FotherMucker99]

Well it might not be the most professional one, but it surely is not produced for beginners.
It's too complicated/pricey for a beginner, imho.
In comparison to an iRiver at least.

To answer your question: With fuckup I didn't mean the actual edirol r09 HR causing problems.

The battery running time when recording on the internal mics is not the best, unless you have some really good batteries, which again is an extra investment.

SD Card, extra investment.

Also in a stealth taping situation I would imagine it to be quite difficult to achieve good results and yet not get caught.

I would recommend it to people who don't need it so much for stealth taping (band practices, bands who give permission for recording one of their live shows etc.) and don't want to play around with external battery boxes/preamps/microphones etc...

The cost/performance ratio is not met IMHO. Especially if you want to use it for stealth taping and have a limited budget.

Decent External microphones > edirol r09

I didn't say it's bad- I just don't recommend it. The internal microphones are actually pretty good.

[maidencolorado]

OK, fair enough, was just curious as to what the problems were. With a pair of standard AA batteries, I usually get between 5 and 7 hours of record time, with better rechargable batteries, I get about 17 hours. The cost of SD cards is dropping, I just picked up some 16 gig cards for less than $20 each.

I have actually used mine for almost every recording I've made, both stealth and open. Once you are used to it, you pretty much set the levels and go. I've yet to get caught by security. It is a small unit, with settings that are easy to reach and adjust. No real reason to get caught unless you are being careless.

Grand scheme of things, with most of the modern recorders, the strong or weak point is the microphones. Better mics will result in better recordings, so there we agree. I was one of the tapers who bought the first thing I saw, wasn't happy, upgraded, wasn't happy, upgraded to the R-09. It is easier to use than the previous 2 units I had. I wish I had gone with the R-09 to start, as then I wouldn't have thrown the money away the first 2 times. That is the most cost effective route to go. Look at the units in your general price range and pick the one with the most opportunity for continued use.

To the OP, I have no personal experience with the iRiver units, so can't give a personal experience. I do have the R-09 and can attest to my happiness with it. My recommendation, look for recordings made with the various recorders in your price range and listen to them. It will give you a good idea of the possible results. As was mentioned, mics are the key link, location and crowd also make a huge difference in making or breaking a recording. Experience also counts for a lot, as you know being a filmer. No matter what you choose, your results will get better each time out.

[Crazytallicafux]

since upgrading from my Panasonic Md to my Edirol 09 H-R i have been very pleased with the results. For Stealth Taping buy an external mic as i have and you will more than happy with the results!

[shownomarcy]

Thanks for every info and experience. Seems to be a hard theme

So anything I choose, Im gonna seek good external mics too for sure. One more question: how much can an external mic cure the sound?

[maidencolorado]

Internal mics will improve the sound quite a bit. The main thing with the recorder is, of course, the recorder, the internal mics are added so they are there. Different recorders have differing quality of internal mics.

Another issue with the externals is that you can clip them to a hat, shirt, glasses and so on, then put the recorder in your pocket. With internals, you are much more limited in what you can do with the recorder, so it is easier to record with externals.

Check out the samples that digitallive posted at Metal Devastation, he used the internal mics on the h2 with mixed results. I recorded some of the same shows with my R-09 and CA-11 external mics. I'll post some samples up wen I get a chance.

[tikimaize]

I love the Edirol R-09HR. It is my first and only recorder I've used. If you cant afford mics at first the internal mic is decent (check out my Metallica show Feb 2nd recording from Newark) which was recorded with the internal mic and was the first show I ever recorded. It did require some remastering. I also purchased CA-11 mics recently and my Slayer show came out even better. I did not have any issues or find it hard to use. Before I recorded my first show I blasted my stereo and played with the different settings to get a feel for what sounds best.

Limiter Off (be sure to adjust the input level to avoid distortion)
Low cut (depends on the amount of Bass) I had it off for Metallica and Slayer
Mic gain on low if using battery powered mics, high if using the internal mic.

Hope this helps a bit.

[shownomarcy]

I love the Edirol R-09HR. It is my first and only recorder I've used. If you cant afford mics at first the internal mic is decent (check out my Metallica show Feb 2nd recording from Newark) which was recorded with the internal mic and was the first show I ever recorded. It did require some remastering. I also purchased CA-11 mics recently and my Slayer show came out even better. I did not have any issues or find it hard to use. Before I recorded my first show I blasted my stereo and played with the different settings to get a feel for what sounds best.

Limiter Off (be sure to adjust the input level to avoid distortion)
Low cut (depends on the amount of Bass) I had it off for Metallica and Slayer
Mic gain on low if using battery powered mics, high if using the internal mic.

Hope this helps a bit.

looks good and your bootleg sounds nice, I have it

[shownomarcy]

oh, well I thought to post one more to close this topic I was thinking over many times this thing and finally I decided to cost more either and have a hopefully really good gear.
So I finally bought Edirol R09HR!
My experiences in short: I was really satisfied after the first show! So far was at 3 event and I can say, I like it!
It's really easy to use (though I read a lot about it on taperssection) but all you need to do to set the input level and push rec, so its cool.
Here you can check out a song synched to my video: (just a little eq done by me, so a bit better sound than the original raw file)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RWerq-LWaQ

Thanks, Marci