Hello.
I've been thinking about starting to tape shows over the past 6 weeks or so. I go to about 12 or so shows each year that either don't get taped or the tapes never get released. I'm not trying to tape Pearl Jam or Wilco or other bands that are well-taped by much more expensive rigs than I envision myself owning, but I've seen bands like TV on the Radio, Broken Social Scene, and A Silver Mt. Zion the past couple months and would love to have taped the shows and shared the recordings with others. Anyway, I'd like to tape "rock" shows at venues between 300 and about 2000 people. Some concerts would be fine with taping out in the open, but most would probably need to be stealth.
I've been reading and researching on this site and a few others about both the Edirol r-09 and the Zoom H4, and they seem like an ideal place for me to start. I have $400 spend to get started and build from there. I like the option of getting one of these recorders and being able to tape for a couple months with just the internal mics, then progressing to external mics, and maybe a preamp at some point? I have an obsession with Core Sound Binaural microphones (for no real reason), so my goal would be to buy one either an r-09 or H4, then get a set of the CSBs later to extend my set-up. Does this sound reasonable? I'd love to get some input on which to get (maybe something completely different that I haven't considered yet), and is it reasonable to record with either of those machines with just a set of external mics and not a preamp?
Also, I can use my credit card points to get a Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo 2 or 4 gb card. Does anyone know if they are compatible with the r-09 or H4?
Thanks for this fantastic resource and any help you can offer me.
AJ