Topic: Which recorder??

[emil077c]

Hi!

My name is Emil and I'm from Denmark. I'm a total newbie into this and I only got my interest because I attend a lot of concerts and hear a lot of bootlegs. Therefore, I decided to start recording the concerts I attend by myself - it could be nice to recall memories. And I've been searching a lot on the Internet and I have found some different recorders: Zoom H4n and Roland R-09HR. Which one of those do you think is the best?

My question is:
What recorder do you think is the best for recording at very loud volumes at concerts, and has the best quality??

I'm open to consider any recorder so don't hesitate to come up with suggestions

I have a budget on around $450.

Thank you very much in advance,
Emil

[Fried Chicken Boy]

Hi, Emil, and welcome to the Taperssection!

The folks on this board have a lot of opinions so you're bound to get different answers as to what recorder is the "best".  Given the choice between the two you listed, Zoom H4n and Roland R-09HR, I believe the Roland is a higher quality machine and would personally buy that one.  That said, the Sony PCM-M10 also has a great track record and is much loved by quite a few tapers and with good reason.  It's my understanding that the Sony is considerably more expensive than similar decks in Europe which has made people take a look at the Roland R-05; also good and made by the same company as the R-09HR.

Are you planning on using the built-in microphones on the recorder or will you purchase external mics to use with it?

[it-goes-to-eleven]

This question comes up a lot... Fortunately you have included the critical information on requirements that most omit:  budget and the material you wish to record

I assume $450 is your entire budget.  So you may want to consider a used recorder and some external mics, possibly with a battery box.

Buying new, the sony m10 is a great recorder and would be my choice.  But they are expensive.

Buying used, an R09 or R09HR might be had at a great price.  R09's sometimes appear for sale at $80-$100.    On ebay in very good condition, they seem to go for closer to $125-$165.

I've owned an r09 (and recently also an m10) since they came out.  For your use, an r09 will produce results comparable to an m10 or any other recorder.  You just need to treat the input jacks gently and not stress them by torquing a long plug.

Best results:  $80 for a used r09 and the rest on mics
Maybe a pair of Chris Church's mics.   That would give you great results.

[TimeBandit]

Today it isn´t  that necessary what recorder you choose.

The general option now is the Somy Pcm m10 because of it´s very long battery running time, especially when using hig quality rechargeables (Infinium, Eneloop etc). So with only one set of batteries you got enough juice
for a 3 day festival.

Better you spend more of your budget in mics and additional gear. Not the high priciest recorder brings the best result. It like to run a high end SLR with a crappy lens - no sense.
 it depends on the whole chain with mics and their placement.

[cashandkerouac]

Today it isn´t  that necessary what recorder you choose.

The general option now is the Somy Pcm m10 because of it´s very long battery running time, especially when using hig quality rechargeables (Infinium, Eneloop etc). So with only one set of batteries you got enough juice
for a 3 day festival.

Better you spend more of your budget in mics and additional gear. Not the high priciest recorder brings the best result. It like to run a high end SLR with a crappy lens - no sense.
 it depends on the whole chain with mics and their placement.

i agree.  as long as you're using external mics the recorder is just a place to store the data.  i use a Sony M10 and love it.  i do not recommend using the built-in mics on the M10. 

[stevetoney]

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,1152.0.html

 

Welcome to TS by the way and good luck with your recorder purchase!

[F.O.Bean]

Sony PCM-M10

[emil077c]

Hi, Emil, and welcome to the Taperssection!

The folks on this board have a lot of opinions so you're bound to get different answers as to what recorder is the "best".  Given the choice between the two you listed, Zoom H4n and Roland R-09HR, I believe the Roland is a higher quality machine and would personally buy that one.  That said, the Sony PCM-M10 also has a great track record and is much loved by quite a few tapers and with good reason.  It's my understanding that the Sony is considerably more expensive than similar decks in Europe which has made people take a look at the Roland R-05; also good and made by the same company as the R-09HR.

Are you planning on using the built-in microphones on the recorder or will you purchase external mics to use with it?

Thank you for your answer. It's my plan to start with buying a good machine with high quality mics (suitable for certain situations) and then upgrade to external mics. Is the PCM-M10 a lot better or just made of better materials or what? However, I am going to buy external mics later on, but as mentioned there might come situations where it's good to only have the recorder itself and then still be able to get a high quality sound.
Thanks,
Emil

[ScoobieKW]

I recently bought an M10, and didn't buy mics for the first month.

Here are two recordings I made with the onboard mics.

http://www.archive.org/details/mgg2011-08-13.m10.flac16

http://www.archive.org/details/pk2011-08-05.M10.flac16

Stereo image is weak as omnidirectional mics need more space than you can fit on a small recorder. Once you upgrade to external mics the M10 is a no brainer. The size, build quality (aluminum casing), preamp quality, and battery life make the M10 a very good budget recorder. Other than already wanting to upgrade to at least 4 tracks, I love this recorder.