Topic: Good portable recorder - does the Edirol R09HR make the grade?

[Gutbucket]

Your getting out of my area of experience.  In pop multi-track recording everything has to be tracked in such a was as to be heard in the mix.  Generally things are miked up close for isolation between instruments and to keep each basic element drier sounding. Close-miked multi-track recording uses completely different techniques that often rely heavily on eq, compression and artificial reverb. There's plenty of information for that on forums dedicated to home or studio recording.  I suggest searching those.

[crispin]

To end this story - after relistening many times to the clips on Wingfield Audio - I found I liked the Sony D1 the best - reality entered and I went for the Sony D50.  A drier sound than the other recorders - but very good clarity in the treble which I think is what I want.  Also the two positions of the mics should make it easier to select exactly what I want to record (I hope).   The Tascam I found also very clear in the treble but I worried about this overload bug - that caused the distortion in the piano clip on the Wingfield Audio....if experts can screw up - what chance does a newbee (ie me) have?    So I have run out and bought the Sony D50... actually in Geneva Switzerland - this and the Olympus LX were the only recorders available. 

I have tried recording an upright piano - from the front - and from the back (pointing at the sound board)  - more experimentation is needed before I make a judgement on the best position; I am looking forward to recording two or three instruments playing together. 

I hope that I can find satisfaction with these internal microphones ...  if not - I will consider an upgrade to external mics - but I do not expect this to happen before another year has passed.

Many thanks to the many words of wisdom that you shared here

[carpa]

Please Crispin let us know the results of your recordings with Sony.....
thanks
c

[crispin]

This is just the first reactions to messing about with this Sony D50 over the weekend.  Recording an upright piano - I find the 'best' recorded sound is by pulling the piano away from the wall and pointing the microphones at the sound board....  For a grand piano - I would imagine that one can get good results from placing the device on the floor pointing up at the sound board ... I will try sometime.

Re the Sony D50 - this feature for slowing down or speeding up the recording but keeping the pitch...  this is a disappointment - just dominated by artifacts -  maybe the piano is the wrong instrument for these algorithms. 
Another observation... the left hand microphone appears very sensitive to touching with a finger - while the right hand one is fairly insensitive...  but looking at the recordings ... both seem to have similar gain -  could the microphone capsule not be seated well?
[Edit]  Today - this 'fault' seems to have disappeared - I do not know why or how - now both microphones appear equally sensitive to being touched..

Bottom line ...  if one wants a well built, straightforward recorder with cardioid type microphones where the opening angle between can be varied (actually I am not sure how one creates a stereo image with the omnidirectional microphones of the edirol without building some baffles etc.  Overall I am impressed with the clarity of each note and I am happy that I have this Sony...  however since this is not a comparison (I do not have another recorder) I can not say if I would not be equally happy with the Edirol or Tascam.