Topic: Newbie needs some help

[desiderus]

Hello Guys,

I’m a newbie on this forum and I’m looking for some advice. If been into live music for a long time, and I’ve been thinking about getting some taping gear. I normally go to medium sized venues, every now and that a big concert, and I listen to moderate to hard rock music.

I haven’t got a superb big budget, but I’m really keen on getting some stuff. I’ve been looking for some recorders priced around 200,- euro, but I can’t really make a choice and I hope you guys can give me some advice. I know that the proper way to record a show is with a recorder plus external mics and some extra power, but I want to start with buying a recording device, and buying the mics later. 

I’ve been looking at 3 devices; Zoom H2, Microtrack II and the Edirol R09 (used). They are all prices within my budget, and I’m looking for the device that will fit my needs. I’ll list a few points that I think are important and I hope to get some advice on what to buy.

- I’d rather record at 24/96 (I also transfer my old tapes on that rate)
- I would like to be able to make a ‘decent’ recording with the internal mic, as I might have to wait with buying those external mics for a while. 
- I’d like to be able to record from a soundboard (I believe that’s not possible with the H2, but I could be wrong?)
- It has to be noob proof

Thanks,
Des

 

 

[acidjack]

The Edirol R-09HR is idiot proof -- easiest to use, solid build quality, no major issues.  I believe the prior model, the R-09, did have some problems with the line input breaking, and had higher self noise.  But, I think I'd still take that over a Zoom or MTII.

Zooms supposedly have better internal mics, but everything else about them is garbage.  Several reports on here of them breaking after one or two uses.  Can't comment on the MTII but look at the threads in "recording gear" to see the various issues/discussions around those.