Topic: Which hand held recorder to buy?

[GATaper]

Thanks for reading. I have been taping since 1997 but have been out of the loop for a while. I am considering buying a pair of Core Sound HEB's and a small handheld recorder for stealthing. I hardly ever do open taping, so size matters. I was considering:

Zoom H2 - Excellent price and good reviews
Marantz PMD620 - Size, but bad reviews
Olympus LS-10 - Size, price and good reviews

Does anyone have any experience with the above three and HEBs?  Thanks for any suggestions. Also, if you think there are a better sounding pair of stealth mics that are the same size as the HEBs, I'd love to hear your thoughts on those as well.

Wes

[itook2much]

I have the same mics.  I really like my set-up running them into the Edirol R-09.  I haven't usd the 3 you've listed.

Welcome to TS.com.  Do a search.  I'm sure there are plenty of threads & posts about those recorders.

[Sunday Driver]

No experience with the HEB (I'm sure many others can post more...), but in terms of recorders, I would suggest the Edirol R-09HR over the ones that you picked. It is at just about the same price point and is perfect for what we do.

[Nixoo]

Indeed, I'd pick a R-09 above those, especially over the Zoom H2 which I've got as well.
The H2 isn't the best recorder, tricky levels and no real gain or attenuation which is all done in the digital domain.

[Belexes]

Another vote for R-09HR.  I own the R-09, but the new HR is a better model. (fixed the input problem)

[digifish_music]

Another vote for R-09HR.  I own the R-09, but the new HR is a better model. (fixed the input problem)

...and better internal mics, less hiss and diginoise.

This is a spectrograph of a sample powermonkey posted, unfortunately the original sample is no longer available and I deleted it too.

Max gain, internal mics, ticking clock - post normalized.

[flintstone]

IMHO, skip the H2 if you're planning to use the mic inputs.  The built-in mics sound good, however.

The R09HR ($350 new on eBay) is a great recorder, a big improvement.  To my ears it has a "warm" bias (an emphasis on low frequencies).  The Olympus LS-10 (about $300) is the opposite, a reduced level of low frequencies, particularly when using high mic sensitivity.  People who prefer the "warm" style of recording might say the LS-10 is "brittle" or "harsh."  People who like the highs might call it "clear" or "transparent."

Another recorder to consider is the Tascam DR-1.  It has very low self noise when set to Low mic sensitivity.   It falls somewhere between the R09HR and LS10 in tonal quality.  The DR-1 is a big bargain at $220 or so, but it's not constructed as well as the R09HR or LS-10.  The DR-1 uses a proprietary Li-Ion rechargeable battery.  A second battery costs about $45.

Flintstone

[morst]

A couple of feature comparison pages have been posted:

http://transom.org/tools/recording_interviewing/200703_recorder_reviews/
http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/compare-portable-recorders.html

Personally I have an H2, but have not used the line inputs since my mics have a preamp. The line input for the H2 is overly sensitive to what I would consider typical line level signal, but I purchased a pad cable (-11dB) and have been quite happy with the results, since then.

[digifish_music]

A couple of feature comparison pages have been posted:

http://transom.org/tools/recording_interviewing/200703_recorder_reviews/
http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/compare-portable-recorders.html

Personally I have an H2, but have not used the line inputs since my mics have a preamp. The line input for the H2 is overly sensitive to what I would consider typical line level signal, but I purchased a pad cable (-11dB) and have been quite happy with the results, since then.

+T thanks for the Transom link, not seen before. The reviewer seems to think the R09 was 'hissy' on the mic in, that is definitely not my experience. Give it a quiet mic signal and it's a happy camper.

digifish.

[aaronji]

Thanks for reading. I have been taping since 1997 but have been out of the loop for a while. I am considering buying a pair of Core Sound HEB's and a small handheld recorder for stealthing. I hardly ever do open taping, so size matters. I was considering:

Zoom H2 - Excellent price and good reviews
Marantz PMD620 - Size, but bad reviews
Olympus LS-10 - Size, price and good reviews

Out of curiosity, to which reviews are you referring?  I have yet to see a bad one for the Marantz and most of those for the Zoom H2 are pretty middle-of-the-road (they always complain about the mic-in noise)...

I have (and like) both of those recorders, but use them for different things.  The Zoom is great as (to quote someone from this board) "an audio point-and-shoot", but I like the PMD620 for use with external mics.  I haven't ever tried the LS-10, but I have seen some posts complaining about brittle sound and line-in level problems.

As others have posted, the R09HR is definitely worth a look, as is the Tascam DR-1.  You might also want to consider the Sony PCM-D50, although it is a bit bigger than these others.

[John Willett]

Of the three listed I would go for the Olympus LS-10 (in fact I am about to get one).

The only other two I would consider are the Edirol R-09HR and the Sony PCM-D10.

The LS-10 is the smallest, which is why I will probably get this one.

[sunjan]

Zoom H2 - Excellent price and good reviews
Marantz PMD620 - Size, but bad reviews
Olympus LS-10 - Size, price and good reviews

H2: not the best for external mics. Internals have good reputation though.
PMD620: sturdy, I haven't heard much bad abt it. But the R09HR has a better price point.
LS-10: with the HEB, I guess you will run them with the supplied bbox and go mic-in, right? In that case it might work, although the reviews have been mixed:
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,105411.0.html

Just to let you know that the line-in on the LS-10 is useless for stealthing with "our gear", since it requres a very loud signal, which most small preamps won't feed. So if you ever consider upgrading, LS1- is a dead end, unless you throw in a heavy-duty preamp (which would defeat the purpose of going stealth!). YMMV.

For those who are swayed by the tiny size of the LS-10, ask yourself if the 2-3 cm makes any difference in a real life situation! Surely, anyone can stealth an R09. Heck, I've stealthed a UA-5, H120 and mics, just last month. Use your jedi powers, and don't chicken out compromizing your gear...


I think the concensus here is to go for the R09HR. There are great bargains out at the moment. With e-coupons it can be had for less than $300, according to recent posts here.