Topic: Newbie with questions about the Edirol R-09HR, mics, etc.

[sethrich]

Hey everyone, first post. I've scoured the topics as a guest doing some research for buying my very first rig as I want to start recording shows. Aside from dropping about $300 on that, I'd prefer not to empty my wallet much more than that. If anyone can help me out with a few questions I'd greatly appreciate it.

1. Are the mics in the Edirol R-09HR suitable for capturing decent sound indoors (clubs, arenas, etc.)?
2. I mostly go to club shows of the [loud] rock variety. Should I spend more money on external mics or are the internal ones fine?
3. Are there nuances or settings I should strictly pay attention to for optimal recording?

I also play classical guitar and from the reviews I've read, it sounds as though this device is great for recording that.

[rhinowing]

most people here will tell you the internal mics suck (imo they're not great, but passable). IMO its not a bad idea to just get the recorder and then pick up mics and battery box later when you have the cash.

[DisturbedPyro]

Hey everyone, first post. I've scoured the topics as a guest doing some research for buying my very first rig as I want to start recording shows. Aside from dropping about $300 on that, I'd prefer not to empty my wallet much more than that. If anyone can help me out with a few questions I'd greatly appreciate it.

1. Are the mics in the Edirol R-09HR suitable for capturing decent sound indoors (clubs, arenas, etc.)?
2. I mostly go to club shows of the [loud] rock variety. Should I spend more money on external mics or are the internal ones fine?
3. Are there nuances or settings I should strictly pay attention to for optimal recording?

I also play classical guitar and from the reviews I've read, it sounds as though this device is great for recording that.

welcome to the board!

the edirol r09 is a great choice. i dont have one but they are great recorders. you likely wont be happy with the results of the internal mics. and with such a good recorder as an edirol, itd be a shame not to get as good quality as it is capable of. so external mics are pretty much a must have. as for the settings, ill leave that to someone knowledgeable of the edirol

[Belexes]

I recorded with the internals a few times even thought I have plenty of external mics and it was "ok" but you can do so much better with external mics.

If you have any extra money you can scrape up, see the Church Audio December thread in the retail section.  He's running some great deals right now and for you with little to spend, you could pick up the CA-11 cards + $30 for the battery box + shipping.

[sethrich]

This may be a silly question, but if the Edirol has batteries, why is the battery box necessary for external mics?

[acidjack]

Hey everyone, first post. I've scoured the topics as a guest doing some research for buying my very first rig as I want to start recording shows. Aside from dropping about $300 on that, I'd prefer not to empty my wallet much more than that. If anyone can help me out with a few questions I'd greatly appreciate it.

1. Are the mics in the Edirol R-09HR suitable for capturing decent sound indoors (clubs, arenas, etc.)?
2. I mostly go to club shows of the [loud] rock variety. Should I spend more money on external mics or are the internal ones fine?
3. Are there nuances or settings I should strictly pay attention to for optimal recording?

I also play classical guitar and from the reviews I've read, it sounds as though this device is great for recording that.

Adding to an echoing what others said:

1. No.
2. Yes, spend more on externals.  You'll need mics and a power supply/preamp of some kind.  The Church CA-11/14 + Church battery box or preamp is the go-to starter set here, but there are many good options.
3. Basically, for loud rock, you want to run mics>Power>line-in and have everything that can be turned off, turned off.  That means: Mic Power OFF. Mic Sens LOW (not relevant if OFF anyway, but just to be safe).  LIMITER OFF.  LO-CUT OFF.  I also recommend using black electrical tape to cover all of the switches and inputs you won't use (limiter, lo-cut, mic power - everything on the back except HOLD) and maybe even the mic input and volume control if you want to make it super-foolproof. If you can't get decent levels going line in, then use MIC in with sensitivity LOW. 

It's also advisable, especially if you are trying to avoid being noticed for any given reason, to set the R-09 to turn off the bright red "RECORD" light after 5 seconds. 

[Belexes]

You need a BB to properly power most mics that we use here.  The recorder has some limited power to your mics, but may not be enough.

I also like to run line-in with my R09HR and stay away from the mic input which has more self noise.

[rhinowing]

This may be a silly question, but if the Edirol has batteries, why is the battery box necessary for external mics?

edirol doesn't put out enough power for most mics

[DisturbedPyro]

This may be a silly question, but if the Edirol has batteries, why is the battery box necessary for external mics?

to add to the explanation of what others have said, think of it like this: your recorder has its own battery. that battery is used to power the recorder while recording the show. if you have external mics plugged in to the recorder, now the battery has to power not only the recorder itself, but it also has to power the external mics. so youre not getting as much juice to either one this way, which can lower overall quality of your recording. so with a battery box, that battery will handle the mics, allowing the recorders internal battery to function solely on powering just the recorder. make sense?

[KooterB]

For cleaner sound I think you should use external mics with a battery pack or pre-amp to the 'line in". Using the 'mic in' with external mics powered also shortens the R09s' battery life and may add unwanted noise. IMHO. 

This may be a silly question, but if the Edirol has batteries, why is the battery box necessary for external mics?

to add to the explanation of what others have said, think of it like this: your recorder has its own battery. that battery is used to power the recorder while recording the show. if you have external mics plugged in to the recorder, now the battery has to power not only the recorder itself, but it also has to power the external mics. so youre not getting as much juice to either one this way, which can lower overall quality of your recording. so with a battery box, that battery will handle the mics, allowing the recorders internal battery to function solely on powering just the recorder. make sense?

[sethrich]

This may be a silly question, but if the Edirol has batteries, why is the battery box necessary for external mics?

to add to the explanation of what others have said, think of it like this: your recorder has its own battery. that battery is used to power the recorder while recording the show. if you have external mics plugged in to the recorder, now the battery has to power not only the recorder itself, but it also has to power the external mics. so youre not getting as much juice to either one this way, which can lower overall quality of your recording. so with a battery box, that battery will handle the mics, allowing the recorders internal battery to function solely on powering just the recorder. make sense?

that does make sense, thank you. i figured the mics would need more power, but wasn't sure just how much they would take away from the edirol's power. so having the battery box makes sense.

i also read somewhere on this forum that not having a battery box could lead to distortion from the [external] mics, which seems odd to my newbie mind...

[acidjack]

This may be a silly question, but if the Edirol has batteries, why is the battery box necessary for external mics?

to add to the explanation of what others have said, think of it like this: your recorder has its own battery. that battery is used to power the recorder while recording the show. if you have external mics plugged in to the recorder, now the battery has to power not only the recorder itself, but it also has to power the external mics. so youre not getting as much juice to either one this way, which can lower overall quality of your recording. so with a battery box, that battery will handle the mics, allowing the recorders internal battery to function solely on powering just the recorder. make sense?

that does make sense, thank you. i figured the mics would need more power, but wasn't sure just how much they would take away from the edirol's power. so having the battery box makes sense.

i also read somewhere on this forum that not having a battery box could lead to distortion from the [external] mics, which seems odd to my newbie mind...

Again, it's a power issue.  I'm not any kind of expert on electricity, but basically think about it this way - if a mic is not receiving sufficient power, its maximum sound pressure level handling (and general response) is impaired.  Thus, while the mic might not distort if fully powered, it will distort if underpowered. 

[DisturbedPyro]

This may be a silly question, but if the Edirol has batteries, why is the battery box necessary for external mics?

to add to the explanation of what others have said, think of it like this: your recorder has its own battery. that battery is used to power the recorder while recording the show. if you have external mics plugged in to the recorder, now the battery has to power not only the recorder itself, but it also has to power the external mics. so youre not getting as much juice to either one this way, which can lower overall quality of your recording. so with a battery box, that battery will handle the mics, allowing the recorders internal battery to function solely on powering just the recorder. make sense?

that does make sense, thank you. i figured the mics would need more power, but wasn't sure just how much they would take away from the edirol's power. so having the battery box makes sense.

i also read somewhere on this forum that not having a battery box could lead to distortion from the [external] mics, which seems odd to my newbie mind...

thats what i was talking about in my previous post. thats the reason for the distortion. acidjack already covered the reason why so just read his post

[dirtrider]

Hello, welcome from a fellow "Noob" It's not often I can offer advice on this board full of experts, but I do have experience with the R09. I don't have the new HR version, but with my regular unit I experienced horrible clipping and brickwalling at loud shows BEFORE I started turning the "lo-cut" setting ON. Even though I wasn't getting the "Peak" warning light. Really pisses ya off! After starting to use that lo-cut feature, no more probs. Those were REALLY LOUD shows though, Arcade Fire, Chili Peppers, The Who. Just got crushed 

[pepper]

most people here will tell you the internal mics suck (imo they're not great, but passable). IMO its not a bad idea to just get the recorder and then pick up mics and battery box later when you have the cash.

As ive used the internal mics and used external mics,id totally agree with this.You can get an ok recording with the internal mics,but better with external.