I bought an original Edirol R-09 when it first came out (in Japan) and it changed my life. Of course any other similar recorder would have also changed it. When it finally died after many years, I figured the cost of repair would be enough that I might as well buy a new recorder as whole generation of newer devices had come along. I bought a Tascam DR-3. Now there are some really cool features on the DR-3, but there is one glaring omission that I have (not) been seeing on recent video recorders as well, namely, the lack of a pause button. I don't know if that is important to you, but it is crucial to me. As a composer, I play a bit, pause, think, record a bit more. Anyway, I went and had my original R-09 repaired. I will say that the R-09 seems to be overpriced compared to the competition.
I'm sure any of these digital recorders will be great for you, Anthony, if you don't have one, I would assess your needs and make sure the features you want are included, for example: pause, external mic input, manual record level, ability to play back different formats and sample rates, speaker, effects such as reverb, variable playback speed etc. A few points I can compare: R-09: I like how I can drag something directly from iTunes into it, when connected to the computer. I can drag to the DR-3, but unless I open up its folder and put the file in the sound folder, it doesn't show up. The R-09 will play certain mp3 files that the DR-3 won't. R-09 fast forward and reverse get progressively faster the longer you press the button. The DR-3 seems to ff or rev at a constant speed which isn't very fast if you are dealing with a 40 minute lecture. Also, pressing the ff or rev button the DR-3 is tricky. It often jumps to the beginning of the track when I just want to rewind a bit. DR-3: Can play back at different speeds. This is handy if I want to re-listen to a lecture I've already heard at a faster speed to review it. The DR-3 will remember the last file you played and open to that on boot up. The R-09 starts at the beginning every time it powers up and you have to search or skip to the file you want. The DR-3 can rewind past the beginning of a song on into the previous song. This is handy if you want to get to the end of a long piece. The R-09 can't do that. Probably far more information than you wanted. On Jun 17, 2012, at 12:21 AM, [email protected] wrote: > Anthony: I would like to put in a plug for the Edirol R-09 recorders from > Roland. They are among the most compact and lightest of the pocket > recorders. The original version was made in Japan, but has a relatively > fragile design for the door that covers the memory chip slot and the > batteries, and it is limited to 2 GB SD cards, because it was on the market > before the SDHC standard was issued. The newer model designated R-09HR > supports the larger SDHC cards and has a better design for the battery cover, > but it is made in China. The price is under $300 in the US, and some are > available used on E-Bay for under $200.The recording formats include > CD-quality, 44.1 or 48 kHz WAV files at 16 or 24 bit depth, or 7 different > MP3 compression algorithms. The internal mics are good, with perhaps even a > bit too wide a frequency response for recording in noisy environments. I > find that for the performances I have recorded at the LSA Seminars in the > chapel at Case Western University, ! I ! > get more hiss and rumble (i.e. more high end and low end data) than in > recordings made with Zoom recorders at the same time. In any case, if you > really do want to make commercial CDs, you will want to purchase high quality > external microphones that you can place and aim independently. Regards, > Daniel Heiman To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
