This is my first post in this great forum.
I play the classical guitar and I am in need of a decent but rather cheap recorder. My bugdet comes up to 250 EUR (340$ approximately) at the moment.
I 've been searching and reading so much that I have even got really tired, cleaning the house seems easier than all this try to choose a recorder.
I am a newbie neophyte to taping, but after reading some stuff in the forum and also in threads similar to mine, it is now clear in my mind that I need external mics and battery power supply etc. to have some good results. However, this a step above my knowlegde, budget and time right now and I am, definitely going to stick with the recorder's internal mics. Another reason for this is that I move a lot by train and aeroplane in long distances and I am unable to carry too much equipment. External equipment might be something to look up to in the future.
I really need some advice that takes into account that I will only record solo classical guitar (in my practice room and stage as well, but never open air). The thing is that classical guitar is a quiet instrument when compared to the piano, the violin, wind instruments and practically almost every other acoustic instrument. It's range, depending on the tuning is aprroximately 80-1000 Hz and if you add harmonic notes it reaches 1300 Hz in a pretty low volume.
It has become quite a nightmare to choose one, I just cannot understand which one fits me better, I really can't choose one.
Anyway, after some research a narrowed down my list to the following recordes:
Sony PCM-M10: What I read about its internal mics is controversial but what I finally get, is that it's stereo image is not decent enough (because of it's omni mics), but I don't know if this is really important in my case, that is, recording solo guitar. On the other hand, it seems to be the most quiet, in terms of self-noise, something that probably suits me, as the guitar produces low volumes.
Olympus LS-11: Seems to have a better stereo image than the Sony (directional mics).
Olympus LS-14: Haven't found almost nothing about it, but it is in my bugdet limits.
Tascam DR-40, DR-2D: Quite noisy, as people say, maybe that's a problem for my low volume recordings, but these are presented as decent recorders with good sound quality.
Zoom H4n: Seems that this device, as all Zooms, is not highly appreciated here. I have the impression though, that is has decent internal mics and it easily produces a beautiful, but stylished sound, that is to some extent unrealistic.
Any other recorder is accepted, if you propose it. I think that there also many others Tascams that I did not come across, for example.
Size, built and ergonomy do not really matter to me now, I just want what fits better my purposes, in terms of sound quality.
Thanks in advance!