Topic: recording qaulity: zoom h4 vs edirol R09:

[glocke12]

Im looking to get a portable recorder mainly for recording band practices, and some acoustic guitar jams...Been looking at the zoom h4 and the edirol R09.

The zoom has many features I probably dont need, and dont want to get involved with, but which of the two produces a better qaulity recording ?  By better I mean accurate, and quiet.

Ive heard the edirol has a problem with hiss...any users care to comment?  How big of a problem is this?

[sunjan]

Do you intend to use the internal mics only, or will you consider running line in?
The H4 has XLRs with phantom, obviously a big advantage if you ever run mics with phantom.
It's also capable of 24/96, as opposed to the R09's 24/48, but maybe that's of marginal importance for your user pattern?!

The R09 is more stealthy, but perhaps that's a moot point...

/Jan

[Frosty]

Recording a band... you might not care too much about "quiet" and either unit would do.  The R09 has omni mics, the H4 are cardioid.   I record solo fingerpicking guitar and for my purposes  (and recording skill level) the hiss in the R09 was too evident.  I am happy with the H4. 

FWIW.

[fmaderjr]

Read Guy Sonic's Reviews of both units:
http://www.sonicstudios.com/r-09revw.htm
http://www.sonicstudios.com/zoomh4rv.htm

There's a lot of info there that  may help you make a decision. Personally I don't like my H-4 at all, but I only wanted it to record live bands with external mics. I did make a good recording with it's internal mics once when I thought my externals were broken (one of the caps just needed to be screwed on tight).

If you decide you really want a Zoom and want to buy mine we could talk.

[glocke12]

"Do you intend to use the internal mics only, or will you consider running line in?"

Both....In one band im in I can run a line in from the board.  Other situations will require me to use internal mics.

"Recording a band... you might not care too much about "quiet" and either unit would do."

Well, I play in different bands, from loud rock, to just bass and acoustic, so "quiet" is pretty importan.  Even though the recordings wont be for proffesional use, I am anal enough that I will find the hiss distracting enough upon playback.

In any case, Ive started looking at the sony PCMD50, its another hundered or so more expensive than the R09, but it seems to be a much better machine.  Plus, it has 4 gigs of internal memory, more than enough for me.