Topic: UK purchase on a budget - H2 or DR-07 or DR-08? Or other?

[crankup]

Ok apologies for a well worn question for my first post.  I have searched the boards relentlessly and have been reading similar questions for each of my budget recorders listed.  However a lot turn into "Get a sony m10".  They sound great, but in the UK the mighty global corporate chooses to sell them at £300 which is way out of reach.

I am purchasing primarily for my young daughter so she can record her songwriting on piano, guitar etc. I also want to record her school concerts too from the audience. 10yr ago I regularly headed out with a Sharp 722 minidisc and pair of SP stealth mics to gigs, and hope to do so again with this unit. I sold that 6yr ago and haven't followed the scene at all until now.  These budget units look great and so easy to use compared with my minidisc days! Getting audio back off a minidisc in real time - a labour of love!

I'm torn between the H2, DR-07 and DR-08. I'd like to hear from owners of these, especially if they have used 2 or all 3!
The DR-08 is the most expensive. Does it offer much over the other 2?  The H2 has a guitar tuner! Thats not a reason to choose it but it might split it in favour against the DR-07 if it comes down to the wire!
Anything else to consider?  Doing in £150 is my max and doing in less is more attractive.

Thanks for reading...

[dogmusic]

I've really enjoyed using my DR-07. I think it makes very serviceable recordings, and the controls are well laid out. It's also quite sturdy. If you don't need 96 kHz rate, then the DR-07 is the one I'd choose.

BTW, I also use and enjoy the Sony M10. Sorry to hear it's so expensive in the UK. Even here in Canada, it's about 35% more costly than Stateside.

Phillip

[pontiacb]

I've in the UK and been using the DR-07 for about 6 months now with both internal and external mics and I'm very happy with it, got some really nice recordings with both.  It looks and feels a bit plasticy, but  has stood up to a few knocks (It survived a festival).  I got mine for about £125 from Amazon.

[sunjan]

I'm torn between the H2, DR-07 and DR-08. I'd like to hear from owners of these, especially if they have used 2 or all 3!
The DR-08 is the most expensive. Does it offer much over the other 2?  The H2 has a guitar tuner! Thats not a reason to choose it but it might split it in favour against the DR-07 if it comes down to the wire!
Anything else to consider?  Doing in £150 is my max and doing in less is more attractive.

If you're willing to pop just a little bit more (£155), you could get a Roland R-05, which share most specs with the popular R09-HR:
http://www.thomann.de/gb/roland_r_05.htm

Being EU based, I've researched the market too, and come to the conclusion that this unit is a a great deal better value for money than the cheaper ones you mention.
If you're dead set on budget though, and plan to use the internal mics a lot, the H2 is supposed to have better internals than the Tascam DR series. You might even consider looking at the new H1, which have gotten suprisingly good reviews considering its price bracket (99 EUR). I'm not saying that either of these would stand up against the R-05, but if you can't afford the Roland...

[crankup]

This is great feedback, thankyou for taking the time! 

[dogmusic]

Just wanted to add that I had the H2 for awhile and its performance with external mics was disappointing.

[crankup]

Thanks everyone. I went with a DR-07. I got a good price, and Pontiacb's experience of it at festivals swung it for me. First 15mins of it makes it seem easy to use.
Cheers.

[faninor]

I'm too late, but maybe could still help other people facing the same question.

I have both a Tascam DR-07 and a DR-03. Before these I used to tape with a Microtrack, and I was very happy to step down from a max sample rate of 96kHz to 48kHz in exchange for standard batteries and continuous recording past 2 GB. They don't have the best specs out there but the price is incredibly low and they've met my needs.

The DR-03, DR-08, and others that run on AAAs are incredibly small. I've gone through metal detectors with hidden recording gear before. Usually I get nervous about that but I can't imagine worrying if I'm carrying this recorder.

Initially I was worried about the combo power/hold switch. I thought maybe in one accidental movement I could bring the recorder off hold and shut it off in the middle of recording. There's a fair amount of resistance though, so accidentally sliding the switch seems unlikely. Also if will not shut off by sliding to the power position if it is currently recording. So I would have to accidentally slide it off hold, accidentally stop recording, and then accidentally slide it to power off. In the end this is no worse than any recorder with a dedicated hold button, and is actually preferable to any recorder that can be powered off while still in the middle of recording a file.

The input level control on the DR-03 seems better than the DR-07. First it is controlled by buttons rather than a dial, so using hold locks the levels, and second it seems to work like a preamp. The level control on the DR-07 acts more like an attenuator -- level 10 doesn't add any gain which is fine by me, but level 0 mutes the input and that seems risky, although I've yet to accidentally change the levels while using my DR-07.

Battery life seems good on all of them. No problem taping 3.5+ hours. I've heard complaints about the DR-08 battery life at the highest quality. I doubt it is coincidence that the DR-08 is the only one these basic Tascam recorders that records up to 96kHz instead of just 48kHz.

If I recall right, there are a few more specs published for the DR-07 than their smaller recorders, which makes me wonder if the smaller ones might not have quite as good specs as the DR-07. I think they're both good for a budget recorder.

Props to you for wanting to record your kids' school concerts. I wish I had more recordings of my own school concerts growing up -- good memories. When I have kids I'll definitely be taping their school bands.

[yates7592]

I don't have any of these recorders, BUT, i have heard a lot of bad feedback re the H2 (no effective gain control is the major problem). I would steer clear of the H2. I would agree with Sunjan and spend £5 extra for the Roland.

[DaveH]

Faninor,

This is exactly the information I was looking for in my post. Many thanks I think I'm going with the dr-03.

[faninor]

Faninor,

This is exactly the information I was looking for in my post. Many thanks I think I'm going with the dr-03.

Glad I could help! I would also recommend looking at the Tascam PR-10 which seems to be the same as the DR-03 but with different internal mics. I think otherwise they are identical, but I'm not sure. The PR-10 looks better because its microphones don't stick out at angles, but I went with the DR-03 because Sound Professionals had a very good deal on it a while back.

[dallman]

I have a few small recorders and had a DR-07 and now have a DR-08. They were the same price on sale and I swapped the DR-07 for the DR-08 due to size. The DR-07 was agreat little machine though, and the DR-08 is almost too small, but I have an Olympus LS-10, so there really was no need for the DR-07 which is very similar in size and function. The main difference between the two Tascam decks are:

Size -small (DR-07) vs tiny (DR-08)
Sampling Rate - the DR-08 goes to 96khz and the DR-07 48khz
Mics - The DR-08 has more internal mic configurations

For my opinion, all of these differences are minor for the application you mention, so if the DR-07 is less money, I'd highly recommend it.

[DaveH]

The DR-03 seems to be the lowest priced now that I found. Sound Professionals seems to only have this and the DR-08 in stock, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another sale within the next week, I didn't have the money when they had it at $89 plus the half priced microphones.