i'm looking at the h4. i guess myy biggest want is the best sound. anyone have a pick in that regard?
The mic, and how it is being used may be considered 90-95% of the audible recording quality.
Preamp is next in importance with A/D being dead last.
If this is true, then internal deck mic qualities may be a major consideration in deck model choice if expecting to use these for serious interests. Both R-09 and H4 have internal mic feature.
Next is the deck's mic preamplifier and it seems with all three choices discussed so far, noise is the most common shortcoming for at least acoustic source recording. Microtrack's preamp may be slightly quieter than the others in this regard. See review graphs on noise at:
http://www.sonicstudios.com/r-09revw.htm and
http://www.sonicstudios.com/mt2496rv.htmUsing the internal deck mic leaves no external solution to preamp noise, but using external mics leaves possibility of very good to excellent audio performance quality using external preamplifier going into deck's analog LINE input. So all three decks have about equal potential of being at least adequate for audio recording quality using outboard mic preamp.
If external mic and preamplifier is being considered, then deck choice issues are reduced to logistics of price, size, and ease of powering for needed time. Minor considerations are flash memory card size capability that might limit recording time with higher quality file modes.
For these considerations, R-09 is smallest and easily powered for up to 9 hours on 2 AA, and with latest version 1.10 firmware for ability of handling up to 32 gig SDHC cards, this deck IMO tips the scale for most practical deck ONLY if up to 24bit/48K sample rate wav type recording is adequate for your needs. Most seem to feel this is quite acceptable file quality.
On the other hand, H4 holds potential for higher quality 24bit/96K mode feature, but flash memory size seems limited to 2 gig and this results in limited recording time when operating at highest resolution/sample rates.
This is where the Microtrack may have advantage (regardless of powering issues) with both 24bit/88.2-96K rate modes, and handles largest CF type flash available.
So choosing best low cost deck for sound-quality is maybe not so simple to answer in a general way, but is most dependent on how the deck is being used and recordists file quality requirements.