Topic: Is the Edirol R-09HR a good recorder to use byitself?

[reorocks]

I'm thinking of getting an Edirol R-09HR. I recently got a Zoom H2, but it clips easily. I'm going to give it one more chance tomorrow. Anyways I was thinking about getting an Edirol R-09HR. Has anyone ever used this to record without mics? I'm sure for the price it would be decent. I was thinking about getting an Zoom H4 for cheaper, but it looks too big. Most of the bands I want to record I'll have to stealth. I could just get Core Sound Binaurals for cheaper, but its too much to stealth and I hear the Zoom H2 isn't good with ext. mics. I could get Church Audio mics with a preamp, but I read it takes 2 to 3 weeks to make and I want to record a band in 19 days. So that's a little too long to wait for mics. So my main concern is the Edirol R-09HR a good recorder to use without mics?

[nameloc01]

You could order mics from SoundPro and have them in a few days.

[fmaderjr]

Moke-

If you ever want to use your R-09 with the internal mics, get the Chris Church Micsketeer Mod:
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,98290.0.html

I can't tell you how great it sounds. In most circumstances it will sound pretty much identical to using external ST-11's > ST-9100 > R-09 Line in. Chris says to use externals & preamp for quiet stuff though. It won't distort at very high sound pressure levels (The Dickies) but I also recorded a few tracks of a college chorus and that sounded great too.

I recorded a few tracks of a friend's band with the R-09's original internals and never used them again. The lack of quality was immediately obvious. Not so with the Micsketeer. Best $139 I ever spent on taping equipment (I got both card & omni caps).

[atleast6characters]

OP - Here's a recording using only an r09's condensers

http://www.archive.org/details/brew2008-09-12.flac16

[atleast6characters]

Ooops..wrong one...here

http://www.archive.org/details/brew2007-09-05.flac16

[BitRater]

Moke-

If you ever want to use your R-09 with the internal mics, get the Chris Church Micsketeer Mod:
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,98290.0.html

I can't tell you how great it sounds. In most circumstances it will sound pretty much identical to using external ST-11's > ST-9100 > R-09 Line in. Chris says to use externals & preamp for quiet stuff though. It won't distort at very high sound pressure levels (The Dickies) but I also recorded a few tracks of a college chorus and that sounded great too.

I recorded a few tracks of a friend's band with the R-09's original internals and never used them again. The lack of quality was immediately obvious. Not so with the Micsketeer. Best $139 I ever spent on taping equipment (I got both card & omni caps).

The version done through the soundboard sounds a better, obviously, but the recording made with just the stock internal mics isn't terrible. At least it sounds OK to my one tin ear! 

[Scooter123]

I've pulled 2-3 tapes with it as a stand alone.  Unless you are within a few feet of the sound source it sounds "cavey."  I can post a recording source if you pm me--its on The Dime. 

I think just about any microphone would be a step from the built ins. 

I got AT CMC's and they are OK but I'm not entirely satisfied with them, and will be ordering new cards.  My DPA 2061 Omnis are beautiful sounding. 

[rastasean]

http://www.archive.org/details/BarryCooper2009-03-28
(non-music recording)

That is a recording I did with the built in mics and gain around 40-55 (i can't specifically remember what it was). the speaker was about ~15 feet from me and between him and I there was a room full of people. I am HIGHLY impressed with it as a stand alone voice recorder. I was hand holding the 09HR the entire time and there is little to no handling noise.

At my local music store I played with that tiny tascam recorder ($200 job, i forget the model number) and the handling noise on it was insane and there is no way to avoid it.

So consider factoring in handling noise during your 115dB recordings.

[Craig T]

in a pinch it's ok, but I found it needs some serious EQ help.  the closer to the sound source the better.  it will clip under high SPL's, so you can't get too close to loud sources.

[ironchef]

From my limited experience, the internal mics are OK, but I've had much better results with externals.  I'm using CMC-08s and am very pleased with them.  The internal mics seem muddy by comparison. 

[gambra]

Moke-

If you ever want to use your R-09 with the internal mics, get the Chris Church Micsketeer Mod:
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,98290.0.html

I can't tell you how great it sounds. In most circumstances it will sound pretty much identical to using external ST-11's > ST-9100 > R-09 Line in. Chris says to use externals & preamp for quiet stuff though. It won't distort at very high sound pressure levels (The Dickies) but I also recorded a few tracks of a college chorus and that sounded great too.

I recorded a few tracks of a friend's band with the R-09's original internals and never used them again. The lack of quality was immediately obvious. Not so with the Micsketeer. Best $139 I ever spent on taping equipment (I got both card & omni caps).

As far as I know, the mod does NOT work on the HR version of the R-09, only the original. The OP was talking about the HR version. Have you any samples uploaded of the modded R-09?