Is the R-44 the best sounding (stock), relatively inexpensive recorder still? I might be looking to move to this if it is.
I haven't heard of a better one. Johnny Fried Chicken Boy runs his stock with no pre in front and his pulls are great. Mine is modded, but I'm honestly not sure how much diff it makes since he and I have never A/B'd our stuff.
I can sing the praises of its ruggedness and reliabilty. Mine has never failed me, is easy to operate, has a decently small footprint, and is just kind of all-around-awesome
I've even stealthed with it before! (You can probably get about 4hrs out of it running P48 on one channel on 4xAAs). If someone gave me a 744, I'd take it, but otherwise, my R-44 is the best deck of its type I can imagine having.
If you don't need 4 channels, I'd give the Marantz 661 a look, and maybe one of the used FR2-LEs that go for dirt cheap here in the YS. Haven't used either, but both are smaller and have pretty long track records around here, as you probably know.