All things considered I wanted to stick to budget of ~$200 for the recorder - I also needed to buy a DI*, batteries and bigger SDHC - so the 70D was out.
After looking up direct comps and individual reviews, reviewing specs, etc I decided I
definitely wanted ... a hybrid of the DR-40 and DR-100mkII
I wound up pulling the trigger on the 40. In case this helps anyone else going through the same decision-making process, these were the main pros and cons I weighed for each, given my purposes:
- Biggest negative I came across with the 40 is that with a button instead of the 100's thumbwheel, input gain control changes apparently are audible on the recording when using the internal mics - though not if using externals, which I plan to go to before I pull anything serious, so I think I can live with that.
- lesser pres in the 40, but I'll mostly be recording loud music so I suspect that won't be much of an issue.
- 4-channel/ability to in effect record a matrix on the fly (the 40) was pretty appealing. Also, for any situations where I would be relying on the internal mics (like the night after tomorrow) I prefer being able to adjust their position (the 40).
- dual recording mode (40) sounds like nice redundancy.
- I'd prefer the rechargeable lithium-ion battery in the 100 & how it's hot-swappable with AAs, and 3 (not 2, not 4) AAs in the 40 seems, well, odd ... but I bought a 4-pack of 2550 mAh Eneloops with a charger so I'm pretty confident I'll always have exactly one more long-lived battery than I need ... I'll try those out with phantom power and then decide whether to spring for a battery pack too.
- I decided s/pdif was lower priority, as I'd likely only use it if I were recording from my HT. And not sure I'd ever use the 100's 1/8" TRS input.
- would the XLR/TRS combo connector on the 40 give me more flexibility for a board feed than the 100 with straight XLR? (A couple cables/adapters I wouldn't need to buy/carry?)
- things that didn't matter either way: Greater reliance on menus in the 40 vs buttons in the 100; the omnis as well as cards in the 100; and ability to independently control gain of the XLR inputs in the 40 - initially I was alarmed that that might not be possible, per numerous early reviews, but Tascam fixed that in a firmware upgrade a couple years ago.
If I screwed anything up here, go gentle on me ... and thanks again!
* btw B&H has the Whirlwind iMP2 for $40 vs $50 at Sweetwater