Best Hand-held Recorder??

Hey guys what's up. I'm in the market to purchase a new hand-held audio recorder and wanted to see what you guys have experienced with hardware such as this.

The main reason I'm looking into purchasing something like this is that I use a lot of samples, ambience, and environments in my music and I would love to have something that really does a great job in capturing all of these sounds.

The three products I'm looking at are:


1) Zoom H4:



More info: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/H4/


2) Zoom H2:



More info: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/H2/


3) Edirol R-09HR:



More info: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/R09HR/

---------------------------------

You can also listen to some samples from each one of these devices by visiting the links below:

1) Zoom H4 samples: http://zoomh4.net/video

2) Zoom H2 samples: http://zoomh4.net/video

3) Edirol R-09HR samples: http://www.edirol.net/downloads/en/R-09HR/R-09HR_Sample.html

Oh and by the way, the links to the H4 and H2 samples are the same cuz that same page contains samples of both players.

Thanks guys!

I just got my wife the Zoom H2 and it rocks. I'm blown away. I was very skeptical, but it really works as advertised.

I have a Micro BR that works very well for me for writing.

4 independent channels w- each channel having 8 virtual channels

built in effects, condenser mic, drums with about,
heck, I can't remember between 200 to 300 drum patterns
I use a 2 gb SD card with it.......and the coolest part is I can upload
all the tracks with a click to Sonar for editing.
They run about $229.00us but I got mine for $200.
over dubs or just redo the whole track, you'll have 32 tracks if need them + the rhythm tracks Stereo drums

Boss Micro BR

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=818

Michael

I've tested the Edirol R-09HR and the Zoom H4. The Zoom device had by far the best microphones.

Who cares about over dubs if you're not making a record on the thing. Just buy more memory. It's cheap and you can record as much as you'd like, even the stuff you (at first) don't think you'll be using


Marius

I had an H4 for about a week. Cheap plastic case and not well built. Sounded OK. Menu-and-thumb-dial interface sucked. Returned it. POS. Bought a TASCAM CF field recorder - more gooder!

The nice thing about the H4 is that it doubles as a USB audio device... so if you're doing alot of remote stuff, you can do your recordings with the H4 (the built-in mics are decent, as mentioned, or plug in your own), then when you get back to the laptop you can plug it in as a standard USB storage device, transfer the data, then you can switch the H4 over to audio interface mode. Unfortunately, the interface mode is limited to 48kHz max, which for some isn't an issue. Also, the Zoom ASIO drivers were crap last time I tried them, almost a year ago... however, you can get decent latency with ASIO4ALL, which effectively interfaces with the Zoom using WDM/KS through the standard MS USB audio driver.

EDIT: just checked the manual... the real issue with the H4 as USB audio interface is that it's limited to 16-bit operation. However, ASIO4ALL will make it appear as 24-bit device for driver-level compatibility with SONAR or whatever, it's just that internally the audio device is literally running in 16-bit operation. Practically speaking this means that if you're using it to mix in SONAR you can either live with whatever quantization noise is introduced at the end of the chain, or you can stick a dither at the end of the master chain to truncate the mix all the way down to 16-bit with dither before being sent out to the device (still through a 24-bit driver connection). On the other end, I assume that anything recorded through the device is limited to 16-bit, even though A4A tells the app it's a 24-bit stream and the app happily writes it to disk as such... so you would lose headroom on the recording side. Anyway... the point is: it works well as a quick-n-dirty audio interface for output on a laptop, but it's not going to replace any dedicated, high-end interface any time soon. BTW, I have not done any recording tests to verify that the device is actually limited to 16-bit operation in interface mode -- e.g., manual could be wrong, or could simply reflect limitations of Windows MME drivers and not the device itself.

The H4 allows for XLR or 1/4" connections... is there any one else doing that.

I recommend the H4.

I got the H2 first week of June this year and for the price is a great little unit. for quick recording, the unit does what it says it will do
and comes with everything to get started.

Ed

I've been using the H2 for recording barbershop chorus rehearsals, both in stand-alone and as a USB device routed into Adobe Audition v3 (v1.3 firmware allows for using the H2 as a device with the new ASIO device driver for windows). BTW, firmware v1.4 is now available.

I've been happy with both the mic quality and the quality of the recordings.

One other to seriously consider:

The OLYMPUS LS-10.

Street price is about $300.

Yup. you're probably suspicious of an audio product from a camera maker. So was I.
I need a portable field recorder real bad right now so I read this thread and then did about 3 hours of online research.
The user reviews were the by far the best of any portable under 800.00 - as were some professional reviews and comparisons I found.

I only want the recorder to use its built-in mics. I have other larger rigs for using separate mics and all that.
I want the best sounding recorder as is.
I can't do $500 bucks for one this year.
Something that takes up no space and I can just point it at something and get the best quality sound recording possible.
Yes, it does 24-bit/96khz.
And MP3's. It's an MP3 player too.
No, it doesn't act as a USB audio interface for your computer.

A large number of people all said basically the same thing:
Better construction quality that the ZOOMs.
Far better audio quality than the ZOOM HD2.
Audio was generally regarded as equal to the $500.00 Sony PCM-D50.
Easier to use and figure out than nearly any of them.
Better display screen.
Way smaller than the HD4.

For the purpose I want: Location music, speech, and sound effects recording to apply to professional video productions. For when I can't use my MICs/Cables/PREs/PowerCords/Recorder set-up.
I'm ordering one when I finish typing this.

I spent a lot of time reading reviews and searching threads on gearslutz before deciding on the Edirol R-09HR.

You know, there is no best one--it's what's best for you. In the end, I decided my big needs were sound quality, size, and ease of use. I handled the Tascam DR-1 at Guitar Center and realized that size matters a lot to me, and it's just too big. And when I started thinking about features like sound on sound, etc., I figured, I've got a studio--I just need to capture ideas when I have them or collect samples. The Edirol is shirt-pocket tiny and got great reviews for its condensor mikes and noise floor.

I've been very happy with it, but YMMV.

ORIGINAL: DaneStewart

One other to seriously consider:

The OLYMPUS LS-10.

Hey man thanks for the great info. I went ahead and did a Google search and found an amazingly thorough review of this recorder. Just click the link below:

http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/digitalmedia/2008/05/22/olympus-ls-10-recorder-review.html?page=1

There are also various sound samples included in the review and what I really like about the sound quality of this recorder is that it makes you feel as if you're right there in the same room or environment that you're trying to record. Very warm, homely, and inviting.

My ultimate test of a great hand-held recorder is how well it captures an acoustic guitar and of course voice. Check it out and I'm seriously considering this one over the rest I've heard about.

Oh and holy sh*t!!! Did you guys know that Scott Garrigus is on here??? Damn man, that guy's so cool and I've been learning from his Sonar 7 Power! book that I just purchased not too long ago. Scott, if you're reading this, I tried to pm you but you've disabled that function. No problem though, I completely understand. I just wanted to personally thank you for providing such valuable information. Thanks man!

ORIGINAL: The_Kiss

Oh and holy sh*t!!! Did you guys know that Scott Garrigus is on here??? Damn man, that guy's so cool and I've been learning from his Sonar 7 Power! book that I just purchased not too long ago. Scott, if you're reading this, I tried to pm you but you've disabled that function. No problem though, I completely understand. I just wanted to personally thank you for providing such valuable information. Thanks man!

Hey Kiss,

Yep, I've been around for a while. Here as well as my own DigiFreq Music Technology Forums. I didn't realize I had the PM disabled, but you can always reach me either over at my forum or via my main site: http://www.garrigus.com/

Thanks for reading my book! I hope you're enjoying it.

Be sure to check out my free music technology newsletter as well (if you haven't already):
http://www.digifreq.com/digifreq/

Best,
Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series. Get Sonar 7 Power & Sound Forge 8 Power - Today! Go to: http://www.garrigus.com/ - http://www.musictechshop.com/ - http://www.cooltechshop.com/

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Did a few test piano recordings last year with a borrowed Zoom H4 and was amazed by how good it was for the money. Particularly when using it with the Audio Technica AT825 stereo mic which is also fairly inexpensive. Photos and recording links are here:

http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?/topic/1/20074.html

Also own the older R09 (not HR) and its mics are a bit noisier than the H4's. But works and sounds just as good as the H4 with the AT822 which has a 1/8 inch out. If money is no object, Sound Devices just released an 8-channel version of the 4-channel recorder also pictured.

Howard

I know this Olympus is a very high quality company. When they make something its going to be well made. They are an optical company first and foremost. They specialize in finely made optical instruments. I wouldn't hesitate in getting any of their products. That would include an audio device.