Topic: New Edirol R-09HR owner w/ a few questions

[floete]

Hi, all, this is kind of a continuation of my buying-advice-wanted thread down below.  i first ordered the roland R 05 from B&H and really didn't like the layout of the keys and a few other things, so back it went, and now i have the R09HR, which i like mmmmuch better, probably because it's not that much diff from my old R 09.  just wish it was the same size and didn't have that crappy speaker.  anyway ..

it came w/ v 1.06 software.  is there anything incredibly gained by going to v2 or v3?

also: boy, it takes a long time to boot up.  is there any way to speed that up and maybe get rid of the splash screen? 

guess that's it for the moment ...

thanks!

[yates7592]

No I don't think there's any advantage in updating the firmware (apart from a few gimmicks), in fact on v1.06 you can access the 'hidden menu' which turns off the record lights completely (see other threads here). I still have v.1.06 and it all works just fine. There are several people here who have regretted updating firmware, so my advice would be to stay put.
Paul

[fmaderjr]

No I don't think there's any advantage in updating the firmware (apart from a few gimmicks), in fact on v1.06 you can access the 'hidden menu' which turns off the record lights completely (see other threads here). I still have v.1.06 and it all works just fine. There are several people here who have regretted updating firmware, so my advice would be to stay put.
Paul

The hidden menu is great (you can turn off the record light). I hated firmware version 3 in part because you can't access the hidden menu (although you can use the test mode to make desired changes). What I hated most about version 3 was the totally useless rehearsal mode that I would turn on by accident and start all kinds of bright lights flashing. Version 3 is absolutely horrible.

Version 2 is Ok, but as Paul says it only adds some gimmicks that I don't need like a metronome. Take his advice and stick with the firmware you have. I was sorry I "upgraded" to 3, but the nice folks here provided me with the firmware to 2 so I got rid of 3's annoying features.

also: boy, it takes a long time to boot up.  is there any way to speed that up and maybe get rid of the splash screen? 

Mine boots up in 6-7 seconds which seems fine to me. Do you consider that a long time or does yours take longer?

[floete]

thanks, guys, per your advice, i will stick with v 1.06.  good to know.

mine takes 8 - 9 seconds to boot, and when i'm waiting on it, it seems like freaking forever.  but, if there's nothing to be done about it, i'll have to live w/ it.

i use lithium batteries and on my old 09, when they finally ran down, the battery meter from full to zero in the blink of an eye.  can i expect any different from the HR?

cheers ...

[fmaderjr]

mine takes 8 - 9 seconds to boot, and when i'm waiting on it, it seems like freaking forever.  but, if there's nothing to be done about it, i'll have to live w/ it.

I have an 8 GB card in mine. You probably have a larger one. I guessing the bigger the card, the longer the boot time. Just turn yours on well in advance of when the group you are recording will appear. It isn't using up much battery life unless it is in record/pause.

[yates7592]

Yes, take fmaderjr's advice, turn it on well before. I use Energizer Ultimate lithiums and never gone below 4 bars after 3-4 hours of recording, including stand-by's etc. They cost a few quid but it just takes one more level of stress out of the taping experience knowing i don't have to fret about juice.

[fmaderjr]

i use lithium batteries and on my old 09, when they finally ran down, the battery meter from full to zero in the blink of an eye.  can i expect any different from the HR?

No, I don't think so- that's one problem with lithiums.

No recorder seems to have a setting calibrated for them. You can't rely on the battery level meter when using lithiums in most, if not all, recorders. You need to figure out how long they last in your recorder and keep track of how long you've been recording with them so you can replace them in time. With most recorders you will experience what floete reported with his R09.

That's why I  never use them. I prefer to use good NiMhs (I recommend low self discharge ones) and charge them up before every recording session. Much cheaper in the long run too and you should be able to get at least 7-8 hours or so with good ones. Test it out once you select your batteries so you 'll know how much recording time to expect. If your sessions are only 3-4 hours like floete's, good NiMh's will provide way more than enough juice.

[tonebloke]

G'day.
I had the same questions as floete and the answers here eased my mind, BUT, I have a couple more.

floete mentioned he had firmware v1.06. Mine, which I bought two months ago, came with v1.05 and with what I have read in this thread I'll stick with it instead of upgrading. Could my machine have been sitting in the store for ages for it to be an older firmware ?

Also; I've had instances where I go to turn the HR on and it freezes. The only way to "clear" it is to pull the batteries. Any ideas as to the freezing. I'm using a SanDisk 16G SDHC.

[fmaderjr]

Unless your card is the problem, a firmware update might well solve the problem. I wouldn't use Edirol's ver 3.0 on their site, but if nobody can provide you with a link to the old 1.06 version, you could use aaronji's link to the 2.0 firmware:
http://taperssection.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=142096.0;attach=101555
and install it the same way Edirol tells you on their site to install the new firmware.

2.0 doesn't have the annoying issues of 3.0. It just has a few useless (to me) features that show up in the menu like a metronome.

[tonebloke]

Unless your card is the problem, a firmware update might well solve the problem. I wouldn't use Edirol's ver 3.0 on their site, but if nobody can provide you with a link to the old 1.06 version, you could use aaronji's link to the 2.0 firmware:
http://taperssection.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=142096.0;attach=101555
and install it the same way Edirol tells you on their site to install the new firmware.

2.0 doesn't have the annoying issues of 3.0. It just has a few useless (to me) features that show up in the menu like a metronome.

I have 2 SD's and it's happened with both in the machine.

[floete]

thanks, all, great info.  will post more questions when and if they occur ...

[floete]

It isn't using up much battery life unless it is in record/pause.

just wanted to clarify this a little.  so if the machine is simply on but not in play or record or record/pause, battery drain is minimal.  is there a way to quantify how minimal, just roughly?  and do you think rec/pause drains less than rec itself?

also: on the 09, the record level went from 0 to 30, on the HR it's 0-80.  does this change have any practical meaning to a user?

thanks!

[Pharoh]

Hello...i just read this thread and learned that my R-09HR ow has a constant red light on while recording..CRAP! I got it out and sure enough it stays on being that I went to 3.0... If I go back to Version 2.0 will i have the option to turn off the constant record light? i found the link to Ver 2.0 on this thread but am not sure how to change 30. back to 2.0   Thanks in advance for any info you can offer...

[Pharoh]

I just followed the instructions on trying to  update my R-09HR back to 2.0 from 3.0 and it doesn't want to work...Should I get rid of 3.0  before attempting to put 2.0 back on? if ...how do I get rid of 3.o....Thanks!

[Pharoh]

I figured it out...I'm back to version 2.0  Power save now works and no more constant red record light...I'm happy now...