Edirol R-09HR Review
Looking for a portable digital recorder can be mind numbing because of so many on the market these days. From cheap to very expensive. This one has the highest rating of them all by a lot of users. For example over 70 people on Amazon took the time to review this model and it has all 4 and 5 stars with no negatives!
Read on to find out why:
First of all the Edirol R09HR has 24 bit 96 kHz linear PCM (Pulse Code Modulation). Basically this means this unit has more sampling power so the recording is very professional. For example the standard is 16 bit in a lot of units, so with 8 more bits at your disposal you have more snapshots of the voice or music resulting in a better quality sound. Also the 96Khz…(pronounced kilo hertz) means basically the same thing. This faster frequency over the standard 48Khz gives a better low noise recording.
Not one but two power supplies...
What Roland/Edirol has engineered into this product is different power supplies for the digital and analog circuits. Giving each what it needs to operate perfectly. In lower price units one power supply serves both the digital sampling and analog playback circuits which means something is going to suffer somewhere in quality, not so with this unit.
Also with this model you get 2 high grade, high sensitivity condenser microphones built right in. This is the norm now but the high grade condenser is good to have. The condenser microphone in general is going to have a better frequency response. Meaning it’s going to pick up the high’s well, like voice articulation, or better music reproduction and the better condenser mics won’t skimp on the low end…like bass. Also the high sensitivity means it can pick up well at a distance.
The edirol mono/stereo selector, and low-cut filter if there is too much bass in the environment. The dedicated analog volume control on the input
The downside of a condenser mic and how Edirol handles this:
The downside to condenser mics on cheaper units is the fact they are easy to overload if the sound source is too close. This is where compression helps out and is usually found in better units like this one. The R09HR has limiter/AGC and gain boost which greatly reduces an overload and controls the fluctuations that can occur when recording in the field.
If someone is talking along and then lowers their voice or if they get too loud this circuit will help maintain a steady volume.
One customer at Amazon even figured out how to use this recorder in a fireworks display with good results. Usually a situation like this will overload the input and render a recording useless but not with AGC and limiter adjustments.
Memory Cards up to 8 gigs:
The Edirol R-09HR digital recorder uses SD and SDHC memory cards. Usually an SD
Is around 2 gigs and goes up to 8 gigs which means a lot of memory. SD stands for secure digital, it’s a format that holds it’s memory even when the power is turned off so you don’t have to worry when you power down to save the batteries. And the SDHC which stand for secure digital high capacity at 8 gigs is going to store a lot of info, resulting in longer recording time, especially if it’s someone talking during an interview.
Use Headphones OR the built in Preview Speaker.
The preview speaker built in can be real nice to have. You can quickly check to see how something sounds that you’re recording without wearing heaphones. You never really know until you’re mixing down what something sounds like but with enough experience you can quickly check to see if your recording is picking up well. And of course it’s always helpful to tell where you are as you scan between files that may not be named in detail.
Wireless Remote means hands off Recordings:
Having a wireless remote included means that you can control your recorder without physically turning it on or off or on record, playback, etc.
Very compact:
The size and weight make this recorder very easy to transport and use just about anywhere, concerts, discussions, interviews, home studio, etc.
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 3.4 inches ; 3 pounds
Wide screen Viewing:
What I really like is the wide view display (1.5 inches) known as the OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode). In my older unit sometimes it’s a bit hard to see where I’m at with the files and how much recording time I have. Not with this one, it’s very easy to see because of the large viewing area.
Hooking up to the computer:
USB 2.0 is the only way to go and here again this is standard. Making file transfer back and forth to the computer very fast and easy. Also included is Cakewalk which is an a very well known company in recording software on computers. Basically it’s called wave editing on this unit for cleaning up pops and clicks and moving one sound closer to another or deleting sounds, etc.
You can also burn cds and publish to a web page quickly using this software. It’s also reported that this unit works well with free audio editing software on the net.