Topic: help this old MD devotee find his way.... (what can do it all?)

[obsideo]

So....... I think I've reached the point with Sony and MD of "3 strikes and you're outta there".
All my taping has been realy minimal field style with the MZRH1 and/or MZNH1, a binaural setup sometimes with a battbox. Mostly it has been for recording small gigs, rehearsal and grabbing song ideas out of my head and fingers before they disappear.
The dream was always to have this great fidelity MD device that could do all the recording well, AND be used as a general MP3 player... I THOUGHT (after 3 other devices and 8 years of giving Sony money) that the RH1 was FINALLY that.... and it was... for about 36 hours, after which it only gave me errors with any write operation of any kind, not to mention completely "bricking" 3 archived MDs of mine that had irreplaceable recordings on them. Long story... not the point.

I'm just looking for opinions here for a recorder player, not MD, that will do all the above... Small, battery life, nice a/d conversion, good USB interface for upload/download to PC, .... you know all of it.

I'm half tempted to leave this dream behind and buy ONE unit as a player and another unit for recording (been looking at the Zoom H2 and H4) but that really takes away from the spontaneity that the Hi-MD devices were supposed to offer (tho never quite did).

I've poked all over the forum over the past few days and feel like I now have TOO much information in my head. So I'd like to distill my question down to this thread and this question above.

Opinions? Thoughts? Witty anecdotes?

Cheers.
Kevin

[OFOTD]

Edirol R09

It is a great, proven recorder around these parts and can be had on both the new and used market.  Plus it uses regular ole SD cards.  No proprietary formats.

[dunebug81]

You should have your unit looked at.  Ive had my RH1 for almost 2 years now and it has NEVER given my any issues EVER.  It has been the most bullet proof MD recorder I've ever used.  If you really are going to get rid of it ill take it off your hands and see if I can get it fixed.

[obsideo]

Thanks OFOTD... I'd only peeked at that one - Will give it another look.

Dunebug - I certainly would, except that the gal I bought it from 2nd hand, locally, has agreed to give me my money back. If I had the original purchase receipt, etc. I'd go that route, but it's just more trouble than I'm willing to deal with if I don't have to seeing as I've owned it for not quite 3 days now.

BUT... now that you say that, I'm tempted to pick up one new. Still a little leary though - she'd only used her's on probably 3 or 4 occasions and you can tell by looking at it - no scuffs, bumps, etc... looks nearly new. I don't know - every MD excursion has started out wonderful only to frustrate me in the end and I'm wondering if this is a sign.

[OFOTD]

MD's served a small niche.  Lots of folks here have and still use them.  Lots of pros and lots of cons.   But for the most part there is a certain degree of standardization in the taping community with regard  to formats, media choices and the like.   Most use some sort of flash memory or have the option of using flash removable media.  The R09 is just one example.  You mention another two in your first post.

By moving away from MD you are making yourself more or potentially more compatible with a wider range of products.  Say if in a year you decide to upgrade from a R09 you still have your SD card.  You can use that SD card in a whole other variety of recorders from many manufacturers.  The other bonus of moving away from MD is that you'll be cross compatible with a whole bunch of other devices.  If your unit breaks pop the card out and use a card reader or use a different unit that uses the same type of flash card.

MD at this point in the game is limiting you choice wise which to me is never a good thing especially at the pace at which new gear is being produced.

just my $0.03

[Josephine]

I absolutely second OFOTD's recommendation of the R-09.

[Belexes]

3rd - R-09 (from a former MD user)

[Dede2002]

So....... I think I've reached the point with Sony and MD of "3 strikes and you're outta there".
All my taping has been realy minimal field style with the MZRH1 and/or MZNH1, a binaural setup sometimes with a battbox. Mostly it has been for recording small gigs, rehearsal and grabbing song ideas out of my head and fingers before they disappear.
The dream was always to have this great fidelity MD device that could do all the recording well, AND be used as a general MP3 player... I THOUGHT (after 3 other devices and 8 years of giving Sony money) that the RH1 was FINALLY that.... and it was... for about 36 hours, after which it only gave me errors with any write operation of any kind, not to mention completely "bricking" 3 archived MDs of mine that had irreplaceable recordings on them. Long story... not the point.

I'm just looking for opinions here for a recorder player, not MD, that will do all the above... Small, battery life, nice a/d conversion, good USB interface for upload/download to PC, .... you know all of it.

I'm half tempted to leave this dream behind and buy ONE unit as a player and another unit for recording (been looking at the Zoom H2 and H4) but that really takes away from the spontaneity that the Hi-MD devices were supposed to offer (tho never quite did).

I've poked all over the forum over the past few days and feel like I now have TOO much information in my head. So I'd like to distill my question down to this thread and this question above.

Opinions? Thoughts? Witty anecdotes?

Cheers.
Kevin

R-09 all the way 

[Gutbucket]

Unanimous!

Same here, love the R-09.  You may look at the newer HR version at this point that is now brand spankin' new and the R-09's replacement.  There is an active thread with new users.  IMO, the only real drawback with the original R-09 over MD was slightly nosier preamps for very quiet nature type recording or insensitive mics, not an issue if using an external preamp or for most amplified music. Jury is still out on if the new HR is significantly better sans external pre, but it may be.

As a player, eh.  Sounds great. digital out too.  Interface for playback isn't an ipod, just a hierarchical directory tree.  I use it to playback my recordings.. sometimes I load other stuff. But personally if I was much of an iPoder I'd get something else as a dedicated player.

[flintstone]

The Zoom H2 ($175) sounds better than OK when using its built-in mics, but recordings made with external mics are not as high quality.  So it's not the best choice for use with your binaurals. 

The least expensive alternative for external mics is the Tascam DR-1, around $215, including a 1GB SD flash memory card.

If you've got the cash, look at the Olympus LS-10 ($305), Marantz PMD620 ($335), the new Edirol R-09HR ($369),* , and Sony PCM-D50 ($460). 

The new R-09HR is looking to be a significant upgrade to the R-09, so pretty soon you'll see lots of used R-09s for sale at reasonable prices. I'd recommend against a used Edirol R-09 because of failures of the mic input jack.  If you buy a new recorder, the jack failure will be fixed under warranty.  Repair of a used R-09 will cost you $$.

Check out Wingfield Audio for sample recordings and notes about several of these recorder models.
http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/

Flintstone

* see http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,100541.msg1400691.html#msg1400691

[sunjan]

I'm just looking for opinions here for a recorder player, not MD, that will do all the above... Small, battery life, nice a/d conversion, good USB interface for upload/download to PC, .... you know all of it.

What mics (+pre) are you running or planning to run?
Budget?

I'll throw in my vote for the H120 ($150 on ebay), and you'll have spare cash for a Church pre. If you don't mind carrying around a two-piece set, this is a great combination.

[crackmc]

You should have your unit looked at.

obligatory "that's what she said" post

[dunebug81]

You should have your unit looked at.

obligatory "that's what she said" post

lol, I was wondering how long that was going to take