Topic: Edirol R4 review

[Nick's Picks]

HI all...
www.nickspicks.com

come n get it!

please lmk of typos, un-truths or anything dis-agreeable that I can address.
I just posted it, and i'm still sort of proofing it, so things will change.  but i'd appreciate some feedback.  areas I should elaborate on..etc.

Thanks a +Ton

[bhtoque]

Hey Nick,

Not bad overall, but I disagree with you on the headphone part. It might be due to the ety's, but I have no problem monitoring on the R-4, and the headphone amp is almost twice as powerfull as the UA-5's. I'm sure a big pair of cans won't yeild the same results, but I've been able to drown out everything, to the point of discomfort, with the R-4's headphone out.

JAson

[Nick's Picks]

Hey Nick,

Not bad overall, but I disagree with you on the headphone part. It might be due to the ety's, but I have no problem monitoring on the R-4, and the headphone amp is almost twice as powerfull as the UA-5's. I'm sure a big pair of cans won't yeild the same results, but I've been able to drown out everything, to the point of discomfort, with the R-4's headphone out.

JAson

its the Etys Jason.  They make all headphone jacks sound great.
Using several pairs of phones, i've put it up against the FR-2, DAP1 and a MME and it sucks...just like the Ua5 jack.  same exact POS.

Hey...where are your contributing comments?
I need a BIG PM from you!

[Genghis Cougar Mellen Khan]

HI all...
www.nickspicks.com

come n get it!

please lmk of typos, un-truths or anything dis-agreeable that I can address.
I just posted it, and i'm still sort of proofing it, so things will change.  but i'd appreciate some feedback.  areas I should elaborate on..etc.

Thanks a +Ton

+ Thanks for the review Nick!

[dgodwin]

Thanks.. I think I know what recorder I want to get next.  Anyone want to buy a sbm-1 ps-2 and a jb3?     +t

[kgreener]

+T Nick, nice job.

[bhtoque]

Hey...where are your contributing comments?
I need a BIG PM from you!

I'd posted my thoughts in the other r-4 thread, and in reading the review, I thought you had incorporated my comments already. If you want me to put it all together I can, but the headphone part was my only comment about what you wrote. Oh, and that the limiter seems kinda steep to me.

JAson

[Nick's Picks]

ok then..
a big +T to you Jason for "helping" me out.  i'm sure it was your pleasure.


the limiter...who uses that any way?
I see it handy for the rare occasion i'm recording something very quite that I have to crank to get levels, and then to be burried by the crowd applause.  that would be a good place for it.

what intriges me, is using the 6-band EQ for recording purposes.  hmmmm.....
the only way it would work out would be if you could monitor the recording *exactly perfect*, which means Ety's.  I"ll have to pick up a pair for myself.

Regarding the headphone amp (again).  If you say its better than the UA-5, then you would know best as you have both.  But with any other headphone, it sucks.  I'll revise my comments on that to reflect more accurately.

[kgreener]

So I've been corresponding with Doug recently regarding the R-4, and here are a couple of selected thoughts from him:

"We will offer MODs to it at some time in the future. We will wait until they become easier to get! Right now, like the FR-2, you need to run it line in for PAs and that way it can be a bit noisy. Once they get easy to keep in stock, I will work out a MOD like what I did for the UA5s and then they will be damn nice"

"What would you think of a T/W MOD R4, that is 2 channels of each?"

"yes, I am only going to do MODs to the units we sell and I want to wait a bit to be sure they get all the kinks out BEFORE, I MOD it!"

So, I'm like really anxious to go out and get one of these, but wondering if I should wait for Doug to start modding them before I buy one, cuz I won't be able to get it modded after the fact.  But from reading Nick and Jason's reviews, it sounds like they're pretty good right out of the box.  But who knows, Doug might not start modding these until next fall for all I know, and I don't know if I want to wait that long.

Anyone have any thoughts on this "dilemma"?  Mucho gracias.

[Nick's Picks]

I think that out of the box it is much nicer sounding than the stock UA5, but not quite as nice as the + mods that Doug does.  The preamp can be noise when running cranked up, but you'll never need to crank it to the point of it becoming noisey, IMO.  I know I wont.  When I last used mine w/the Pelusos, I ran the -10db on the mics themselves as well as line in on the R4.  I still never pushed the gain plast 12 o'clock.  If I had left the mics un-padded, then I would have used barely any gain at all.  that would eliminate the noise part, had it been an issue.

One of these w/the mods would be the sickest rig alive.  Especially if they are the same caliber of the UA-5 upgrades. 

[Tim]

I'd be pretty leary of eqing in a live situation where you can only listen over headphones and have no access to monitors

[Genghis Cougar Mellen Khan]

I'd be pretty leary of eqing in a live situation where you can only listen over headphones and have no access to monitors

Seriously, what's the point?  I could see it being a gripe for playback after a show, but live?

[bhtoque]

ok then..
a big +T to you Jason for "helping" me out.  i'm sure it was your pleasure.

Yeah, it was a real burden to have a month of free use of a $1500 24/96 hard drive recorder. I wish everybody on TS.com would put me through the hardships you have Nick.

the limiter...who uses that any way?
I see it handy for the rare occasion i'm recording something very quite that I have to crank to get levels, and then to be burried by the crowd applause.  that would be a good place for it.

That's where you would need it. But it kicks in @ -10db at 1:3 ratio. A little too steep, and not adjustable.

what intriges me, is using the 6-band EQ for recording purposes.  hmmmm.....
the only way it would work out would be if you could monitor the recording *exactly perfect*, which means Ety's.  I"ll have to pick up a pair for myself.

I'd try it out, especially to fix a boomy room, but you could just eq in post, so I don't think it would see much use.

Regarding the headphone amp (again).  If you say its better than the UA-5, then you would know best as you have both.  But with any other headphone, it sucks.  I'll revise my comments on that to reflect more accurately.

I can't remember if Jason and I plugged his Grados into it, but all I used in the field were the er-6's.

JAson

[Colin Liston]

Is this thing the same as a 4 track recorder?  My buddy is seriously considering getting one of these, and if he does I will be able to use it, out at shows which will be mighy nice!....
But he wants a 4 track 24/96 machine.  I'm not sure I know exactly what "4-track" means, but if this records 4 individual tracks, is that the same as "4 track"?

colin

[JasonSobel]

I can't remember if Jason and I plugged his Grados into it, but all I used in the field were the er-6's.

when you first brought it over to my place, I think we just went digi-out to the grace 901 and then to the grado's.  I don't think we listened through the headphones straight from the r4.