Taperssection.com

Gear / Technical Help => Recording Gear => Topic started by: desertsky on August 29, 2010, 02:50:04 PM

Title: Korg MR-2 - anyone buying?
Post by: desertsky on August 29, 2010, 02:50:04 PM
I noticed the MR-2 is available and shipping from most if not all Korg online retailers.  Has anyone bought one?  I'd love to hear your impressions as I've yet to see a review of the MR-2 anywhere.   I'm one of those who's had the MR-1 since it first came out and have been pretty satisfied with it.  The switch from the internal hard drive to SD cards and longer battery life are definitely appealing, but I take one look at the $699 price tag and say no dice.  Way too high a price tag for a pocket digital recorder.  I just can't justify spending that much on a new gadget that won't get a lot of use, especially in these uncertain economic times.  I bought an iPad a few months ago, but it's something I actually use on a daily basis.  I don't go to enough shows these days to spend $699 on a piece of new gear.  I could probably get a couple hundred selling my MR-1 on ebay, but then I'd still have to come up with another $500.   I'm better off keeping MR-1 for now and saving my money for more important things like food and electricity just in case things go south at my company and they start cutting people.  I might reconsider the MR-2 later once Korg slashes the price by at least a couple hundred, or I win the Powerball lottery.
Title: Re: Korg MR-2 - anyone buying?
Post by: jbell on August 29, 2010, 02:56:34 PM
Look into the Sony PCM M10, they are much less expensive and have good reviews by tapers. 
Title: Re: Korg MR-2 - anyone buying?
Post by: H₂O on August 29, 2010, 03:10:34 PM
From the specs it appears the MR-1 has a lower noise floor.


I'd just keep the MR-1 - that's what I run and I would never upgrade to an MR-2 just  for the SD slot - with the loss of balanced inputs.


I agree $699 is ridiculous for a handheld recorder - unless it was truely of Pro quality (i.e. mini-r82 from Sonosax at $4600 IMO's feature set makes it worth the price - 8+2 track recording to SD or internal HDD, 4 Analog inputs, 2 with +48V Phantom)
Title: Re: Korg MR-2 - anyone buying?
Post by: desertsky on August 29, 2010, 03:46:22 PM
And the MR-2 is no more stealthy than the MR-1.  I was hoping the MR-2 would be smaller than the MR-1, going from the hard drive to SD slot.  Instead, Korg added the internal mic.  So it's roughly the same dimensions as the MR-1. 
Title: Re: Korg MR-2 - anyone buying?
Post by: jb63 on August 31, 2010, 02:48:12 AM
I would try an MR2 for about $250.
I can't see buying one for any more than that, and I don't think anyone really will.
With an M10 being less than that and all....

I still want to figure out how to replace the battery in the MR1... If we could just buy 2 more internal batteries for the thing, and replace them ourselves, none of us would even be looking at the MR2.

I actually like the 20 gig hard drive more than the Flash slot option, but I don't do any festivals so I would rarely need more than 8-12 gigs before I could go home and dump the files... now if it had both, AND ran on batteries, AND the noise floor of the MR-1, I might think of it as worthy of, say $400.
Title: Re: Korg MR-2 - anyone buying?
Post by: RTD on September 07, 2010, 05:13:02 AM
I would do it for 400 bucks. This 700 something is ridiculous. I have a MR1 but I don´t like the noisy harddrive. So this would be an option for me. But not for this price. Sorry, Korg.
Title: Re: Korg MR-2 - anyone buying?
Post by: swordfish on September 07, 2010, 09:08:21 AM
.....had the MR1 and still have the R09-HR for back-up .....but have to admit that I love my M10.  with internnal 4 GB hard drive and additional slot and the amazing batter runtime.  Have to use the edirol to completly "drain" the battery after a recording before I can recharge. 
Title: Re: Korg MR-2 - anyone buying?
Post by: jb63 on September 13, 2010, 05:37:59 PM
What's all this about the noisy hard drive?

I haven't had that happen yet?
Title: Re: Korg MR-2 - anyone buying?
Post by: H₂O on September 13, 2010, 06:59:06 PM
I don't buy the noisy hard drive argument - never had any issue personally.


Some people claim the hard drive adds noise to the recording.
Title: Re: Korg MR-2 - anyone buying?
Post by: RTD on October 11, 2010, 03:21:34 AM
Well, its noisy for my special needs. I have to place the micro far form the unit if I want to record very silent events. You can hear clicks through the mic. Meanwhile I don´t accept recorders making any noises at all. I also have issues with hanging on booting up the device even with the latest software. And the battery: meanwhile it only charges with plugged in USB (!?!)...Well tiring...
So finally I wouldn´t pay more than 400 $ for the next generation. ;)
Title: Re: Korg MR-2 - anyone buying?
Post by: RTD on December 27, 2010, 05:12:12 PM
well, anyway, is there someone who checked out this device? Any serious reviews?