Topic: what should I buy?

[-igor]

I am trying to decide to get the h4 or the R09. I would want to use both internal and external mics. I would be plugging in condenser mics.

What I don't get about the R09 is the 1/8 input. Does it not have phantom power hence not take condensers? Would dynamic mics not suck for field recordings? And also one channel seems like a huge limitation.

The H4 seems quite promising. I don't really care that it's bigger and I like the fact that it has the XLR inputs. I heard though that using its phantom power drains the batteries right away.

Another thing is that I would want to use it for film dialogue and sound with a shotgun mic. They are usually battery powered. Would the R09 take it?

I was planning to use my akg 3000 but am disillusioned by the lack of the R09's phantom power and the battery draining  phantom power of the H4.

[keyclick]

The (R-09) mic and line in's are both 1/8" stereo pairs, so there are indeed 'two' channels, not 'one'.
The (R-09) mic input does supply a ~3 volt DC mic power signal if you enable it. Not enough for some
mics, but sufficient for others. I think using any recorder thats powered by two double A cells
will drain faster if using it for phantom power. Perhaps you should look into a battery box/preamp.

I have the R-09 by the way. Me likey!

Greg

[guysonic]

Low level nature recording works best with battery powered condenser type mics.

Dynamic mics have way too low an output and need an exceptionally quiet preamp with higher gain than found in most low cost minidecks. 

Exception is Sony's costly D1 flash portable with VERY quiet analog input design.

I found the H4 way too noisy and band limited for serious consideration.  The R-09 is way better in most ways, but still requires an external preamp for satisfaction with having natural sound interests.

See partial technical review of H4: www.sonicstudios.com/zoomh4rv.htm
For R-09 review go to: www.sonicstudios.com/r-09revw.htm

[-igor]

yeah I definately need it for low nature type recording but I honestly am not willing to buy anything else like a preamp or other mics. I was under the impression that I could use my akg 3000 with it. Is the r09 internal mics any lower than the microtrack's? because I had one before and it sounded good, I just returned it because at the time I needed money for something else and also hated it's deal with batteries, slow loading and necessity of much button pressing.

[Jamos]

yeah I definately need it for low nature type recording but I honestly am not willing to buy anything else like a preamp or other mics. I was under the impression that I could use my akg 3000 with it. Is the r09 internal mics any lower than the microtrack's?

I think if you aren't going to use any external preamp, that neither the R-09 or MT2496 would be sufficient for use with an AKG C3000...atleast to obtain any satisfactory sounding results. 
I'd suggest stepping up to one of the Marantz recorders or the Fostex FR-2LE.

[Dede2002]

The (R-09) mic and line in's are both 1/8" stereo pairs, so there are indeed 'two' channels, not 'one'.
The (R-09) mic input does supply a ~3 volt DC mic power signal if you enable it. Not enough for some
mics, but sufficient for others. I think using any recorder thats powered by two double A cells
will drain faster if using it for phantom power. Perhaps you should look into a battery box/preamp.

I have the R-09 by the way. Me likey!

Greg

Ditto

[-igor]

I'd suggest stepping up to one of the Marantz recorders or the Fostex FR-2LE.

my budget is no more than 400

[guysonic]

yeah I definately need it for low nature type recording but I honestly am not willing to buy anything else like a preamp or other mics. I was under the impression that I could use my akg 3000 with it. Is the r09 internal mics any lower than the microtrack's?

I think if you aren't going to use any external preamp, that neither the R-09 or MT2496 would be sufficient for use with an AKG C3000...at least to obtain any satisfactory sounding results. 
I'd suggest stepping up to one of the Marantz recorders or the Fostex FR-2LE.

Yes for the FR-2LE, at least with true balanced input mics.  NIX on at least the low costing Marantz (stock) models with noisy pre's, but might be OK if Oade modification works miracles to heal shortcomings.   None meet the budget limitation.