Topic: Edirol R-09 release information

[poorlyconditioned]

Is there anyway to tell if I'm running line-in, at what point I'm adding gain to the signal, or is it all attenuation when recording via the line-in?
dB-

Hey, can you please answer one more question?  Is there gain/attenuation available on line in?  If so, how much?  I'm wondering if one could run "hot" mics directly into line in like I do on my Minidisc.  Both line and mic seem to go through the same preamp, though, so maybe it would just be better to use mic on low sensitivity.  But you might need line in control if you're plugging in a preamp or board feed though.

Thanks
  Richard

The low/high gain effects the pre-amp inputs only. There are seperate inputs for Line and Mic - it's not just a signal input with a switch.
dB-

So, if I plug something like my CD player line out into this thing, there is no gain control?  Hmm.  I'm also thinking of getting a board patch, with maybe "hot" +4dBV outputs.  You could use an attenuator, but it would be nice if the box did that for you.

  Richard

[pgoelz]

It looks like the A/D chip is on the center board B pic. It's a Burr Brown/TI chip labeled AIC32I. The LV chip you guys asked about is labled LVU04A which is a hex inverter.
dB-

Well, then it is game over for trying to get Roland to increase the AGC decay time.... according the the AIC32 data sheet, the maximum decay time is 500 mS. 

DRAT.

Paul

[yarock]

I'll be getting mine on thursday, and hopefully use it on a video shoot where I'm doing sound on Sunday.I was about to order a 2gb Sandisk card, but someone on dvinfo.net mentioned that there's trouble with anything more than 1gb on the r-09.
 Anyone know about this?
thanks
yarock

[joekar]

I've been using two Kingston Elite Pro 45x 2Gig SD cards with NO problem......I'm waiting for the 4Gig format issue to be resolved and Kingston to make a 4g card before I switch..
Peace,
jk

[neutrino]

Is there anyway to tell if I'm running line-in, at what point I'm adding gain to the signal, or is it all attenuation when recording via the line-in?
dB-

Hey, can you please answer one more question?  Is there gain/attenuation available on line in?  If so, how much?  I'm wondering if one could run "hot" mics directly into line in like I do on my Minidisc.  Both line and mic seem to go through the same preamp, though, so maybe it would just be better to use mic on low sensitivity.  But you might need line in control if you're plugging in a preamp or board feed though.

Thanks
  Richard

The low/high gain effects the pre-amp inputs only. There are seperate inputs for Line and Mic - it's not just a signal input with a switch.
dB-

So, if I plug something like my CD player line out into this thing, there is no gain control?  Hmm.  I'm also thinking of getting a board patch, with maybe "hot" +4dBV outputs.  You could use an attenuator, but it would be nice if the box did that for you.

  Richard

I think you misunderstood. Yes, there is adjustable gain control on the line inputs.

[Gutbucket]

Got mine recently from Sound Pro's. Nice little unit.  Ordered the bodyglove case that showed up the next day, but not before I managed to drop it from a barstool to the concrete floor on a test run the first night.    Scratched the front a bit and the unit shut down, but worked fine when restarted.    I can't add much to what others have observed so far, but I'm impressed with the sound quality, ease of use and product design.  Good job Edirol!  I plan on using the unit to record live music, to capture solo guitar performance at home, and for ambience type recording.  My use reflects the wish list below.  Reverb settings for example would be very nice to use for quick playback of solo guitar, but are currently much too wet. Of course, anything can be improved..

Here's my R-09 wish list for Edirol:

Possibly firmware updateable:

1.  Use & format 4GB (larger?) SD cards.
2.  Control over wet/dry ratio for reverb in playback setup (much to wet now!).
3.  Ability to mark track points while recording.
4.  Balance control in recording setup for mic gain.
5.  Balance control in playback setup.
6.  Option to kill the red recording light.
7.  Seamlessly start a new file during recording on demand.
8.  Seemlessly save  and start a new file at the 2GB file limit (assuming larger card support above).
9.  Record to FLAC.
10. Play FLAC.
11. Record/monitor to computer through USB.
12. Record/monitor from computer through USB.

Hardware revision:
(future model release)

a. Threaded boss for tripod/micstand built into case (like a camera)*
1. Better battery door.
2. Optical digital in.
3. Metal case.
4. Battery charging using the external power connection.
5. Power through USB.
6. Option to use other mic power standards (5v, 10v, 48v) other than 3v. O.K. if only available when using external power.
7. Stronger headphone amp (to drive Etymotic 4S to louder level).
8. Battery charging through USB.

(*edited to add this important feature wish)

[neutrino]

I'll be getting mine on thursday, and hopefully use it on a video shoot where I'm doing sound on Sunday.I was about to order a 2gb Sandisk card, but someone on dvinfo.net mentioned that there's trouble with anything more than 1gb on the r-09.
 Anyone know about this?
thanks
yarock

There are plently of people here recording on 2gb cards with zero reports of any issues. I've used both Sandisk and Transcend 2gb cards without issue.
dB-

[skies]

I have one of the hundred r-09's that have been shipped to the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), so I've been told. *proud*
Some things that I find of importance:

The light weight that "makes the device feel like a plastic toy" is great. It is caried easily in your pocked not only becouse of the size, but also the weight.

I find the self noise quite high. Somewhat equally to a sharp MD-recorder I owned a while ago. The internal mics are quite sensitive, they record louder than the Audio Technica AT822 microphone. Stereo field of the internals is close to mono however.

The red Recording LED's are very bright, but can come in handy when checking from a distance if the device is still recording . A custom function to turn that off would be a good idea, however.

A function to record ASAP is missing in my opinion. One has to turn on the divice by pressing the little button on the left for a second, wait for the animation and then press record twice. It would be a good idea to add a custom function to record as soon as possible after pressing the record button shortly one time when the device is off.

edit: Oh, one more thing, the AGC (Auto gain control) is completely useless. I think there will be more complaints about this. But then, who needs auto gain when recording in a 24-bit resolution?

edit 2: I forgot to mention something else, too.. I use the menu more often than the finder. Another good idea would be a custom function to swich the proirity of the two. (Now, one has to hold down the finder/menu button for a second or so to see the menu, and short-press to see the finder).

My 2 cents

[tonyvt]

 My new Edirol R-09 arrived today and I am stoked!!!

It arrived just in time to give it a quick test before I load it in my bag and head down to Bethel to see Phil and then to Greyfox for the remainder of the week.

[BohemianCoast]

I'm a complete newbie to Tapers Section and I'm not sure if this should go in this thread or somewhere else. I'm currently using a minidisc (MZ R70) and a Sony ECM-719 mic to record in the most slapdash and casual way imaginable. We like to be able to listen to music from the weekend in the tent on Sunday morning and the car on the way home. Tapes I record typically include some or all of... crowd noise, child noise, random swearing from when I tipped my beer over the programme, singing along with the choruses, that sort of thing... But I have fun. Nevertheless, I am not creating rare archival recordings here.

But I am becoming seriously fed up of minidiscs (the 1x transfer speed, the ultralossy compression when I transfer them from ATRAC to MP3 to put on my Mac/iPod, the tendency for gigs to run just slightly longer than 80 minutes causing the MD to cut out halfway through the incredibly weird and rare song they're doing as their encore with all the guests, the way I can never find enough blank discs when packing on Friday, the fact that I can no longer rely on being able to get fresh discs in a random high street in an English market town, that sort of thing.) So I was wondering about buying the Edirol R-09 instead. A few questions:

1) Will it work with my mic -- ie, is the plug-in power a standard setting? I couldn't tell from the net. I think I'd mostly want to carry on using an external mic just because I tend to tuck the recorder away in a bag somewhere when recording, and I don't think the budget will run to R-09 + pile of SD cards + new mic.
2) How heavy is the R-09 compared to a MD? The specs I've found indicate that the R-09 is 145g including batteries, and the MZ R70 is 115g excluding (so about 138g with 1 AA); is that right? When purchasing gadgets I'm extremely sensitive to both extra weight and volume (though I do count the fact that I won't be wandering around a field with a bag full of randomly mislabled minidiscs).
3) Recommended UK suppliers?
4) Have those who've been using this in earnest been using NiMH? What brand and what power rating, and what sort of battery life are you getting? Effective low battery warnings on rechargeables?
5) Recommended SD card brands?

Many thanks, and if I've put this in the wrong place then sorry...

[Gutbucket]

My new Edirol R-09 arrived today and I am stoked!!!

It arrived just in time to give it a quick test before I load it in my bag and head down to Bethel to see Phil and then to Greyfox for the remainder of the week.

/hijack/ always wanted to checkout Greyfox.  Sounds stellar.  Maybe next year along with Merlefest I can manage a few trips outa FL again. With 4060>MMA600>R-09 in hand /hijack off/

[SunWizard]

1) Will it work with my mic -- ie, is the plug-in power a standard setting? I couldn't tell from the net. I think I'd mostly want to carry on using an external mic just because I tend to tuck the recorder away in a bag somewhere when recording, and I don't think the budget will run to R-09 + pile of SD cards + new mic.
2) How heavy is the R-09 compared to a MD? The specs I've found indicate that the R-09 is 145g including batteries, and the MZ R70 is 115g excluding (so about 138g with 1 AA); is that right? When purchasing gadgets I'm extremely sensitive to both extra weight and volume (though I do count the fact that I won't be wandering around a field with a bag full of randomly mislabled minidiscs).
3) Recommended UK suppliers?
4) Have those who've been using this in earnest been using NiMH? What brand and what power rating, and what sort of battery life are you getting? Effective low battery warnings on rechargeables?
5) Recommended SD card brands?

1. Plug power is 3.3v in the manual, I measured mine at 2.5v. It can be turned on and off.  It works great with my AT-853 mics, I have done > 12 hrs of recordings now with them on plug power, and they sound great.  I think it sounds much better than MD, very clean, and I think the 24bit A/D does give better quality even on my 16 bit recordings (very similar to my UA-5). I will post some more samples soon.  What are your mics?

2. It is very light and very small.  Those specs are correct.

3. Don't know.

4. I use 2000 mah NiMh batterys regularly.  I get always >7 hours and the low battery warning doesn't even come on.  This is with plug power on to a pair of AT-853s, doing 16bit/44.1 recordings.

5. I use the regular speed (slower and cheaper) Sandisk brand 2GB cards and have had no problems.  For long festivals I download them to a Flashtrax with 20GB hard drive.

[edtyre]

Hey Friends!

Got my R-09 monday and already recorded two shows with it.

I love the thing! The screen and level meters are easy to read and accurate.
The record and clip lights are are too bright, so i put a few small  stickers over
them until only a little light bleeds through (see pic below) Used Energizer lithiums
and have 6 hours recording in, and the r-09 still shows a full charge. Used Sandisk
2 gig cards without any problems at all.
Sound quality is very good. Check the CSNY show i recorded from close up.
There are 4 samples in the torrent.

<http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=102765>

Anyone using 4 gig cards with this yet?

ed

[joekar]

T+ for the CSNY show....Thanks

[drewloo]

Well, I've tried a Patriot 4GB card and a pqi 4GB card, both formatted on pc and neither worked in the r-09.  Format the card, put it in the r-09 and it said "no card", showed -230 mb available and couldn't be formatted in the r-09.  Fry's was out of the transcend card otherwise I would have tried that one.

update:  based on the fact that the r-09 showed negative capacity and displayed <no card> when powered up I assummed these cards didn't work and didn't try to record any long files to test it.  However now I see the Transcend card does the same thing I think that it's possible the above mentioned card might work just fine.