I had the good fortune to use the Edirol R-09HR wav/mp3 recorder for some time (firmware 2.0). Of course this machine has been reviewed earlier so i will not repeat the previous conclusions but i have some interesting findings that i did not read about before. First the volume of the built in speaker is low. Putting the volume at 100 does not really make it better. You have to put the speaker against your ear to hear anything. Headphones on the other hand can be set very loud. So don’t expect to fill the room with sound with this speaker. You have to find some amplified speakers to do that.

When you change the batteries some of the settings resetted themselves, at least on my machine. The file naming was reset to the default instead of the date as the filename. But the second time i changed the battery my settings were preserved. Strange but since i did not use the machine for some time, the internal? battery or capacitor ran out of power? But i could be wrong.The first time i started using the recorder i had to set the time. The second time when chancing the batteries i was not asked to set the time.

The remote control worked nicely, but i got some problems with the reception. Earlier (in some review video during a convention) it was mentioned this remote worked by radio. Well it does not. It used a infrared LED. So you really need a good line of sight to control the recorder from a distance.

Lastly this recorder can not stand “up”. The bottom is too rounded and the recorder will fall over when you try to set it upright. Too bad, but that’s probably why Roland is selling this thing.

Overal i am very impressed with the responsiveness, menu usability and built quality. It is worth each and every penny.

O’reilly is a great source for audio related reviews and blogs. The blog of Mark Nelson in particular always sports nice articles. But now he did it! He made a comparison between current audio recorders. So here it is. (You can also visit his blog)

The table could be unreadable. So here you can download the pdf.

Recorder	Price*	Pros	Cons	Bonus Coolness Factor
Edirol R-09	$450 Get current price on Amazon	Easy to use Good onboard mics Good menu & interface	Windscreen not included Tripod adaptor is optional	Optional case & tripod are terrific
Korg MR-1	$899.99 Get current price on Amazon	Outstanding audio quality 40 gig hard drive Rugged metal housing with leather case Universal power supply	No hardware rec level control Internal battery Hard to set recording levels	1-bit audio is a huge improvement over PCM
M-Audio Microtrack 24/96	$499 Get current price on Amazon	Easy to use Audio quality 1/4″ TRS mic inputs with phantom power	Internal battery Potential damage from phantom power & TRS jacks	Smallest recorder with 1/4” inputs and phantom power
Marantz PMD620	$499 Get current price on Amazon	One-touch recording Mics well shielded from wind Sharp OLED display	Awkward menu interface Flimsy covers for USB port & SD card slot	Mono recording useful for broadcasters
Olympus LS-10	$399 Get current price on Amazon	Size Easy to use Audio quality 2 gig internal memory + SD card slot	Zoom mic effects color sound AC power supply not included	Outstanding battery life and great audio in a tiny package
Sony PCM-D50	$599.95 Get current price on Amazon	Rugged and ergonomic Very high audio quality 4 gig internal memory + removable memory	Heavier than the competition Cannot record MP3s Optional windscreen is expensive	Outstanding limiter means worry-free live recording
Zoom H2	$199 Get current price on Amazon	Front & rear stereo mics Inexpensive Doubles as USB audio interface	Feels flimsy Not exactly stellar audio	Records 4-channel “surround”
Zoom H4	$494.94 Get current price on Amazon	3 devices in 1: recorder, 4-track recorder & audio interface 1/4” & XLR combo-connectors with phantom power	Tiny display Confusing interface It’s big, Jim	It’s a portable USB audio interface with effects

Olympus has been making some pretty memo recorders for a long while now. But now they (finally) introduced a recorder that uses wav and mp3 formats. And it works with SDHC (up to 8gb) cards, so you can expand the amount of storage to your needs.

Included in the package are this nice recorder, 2GB internal memory, bag, 2 AA batteries and even Cubase LE4!!. The recorder sports a mic-in, line-in, 2 speakers and a headphones output. The display is backlit so you can read in in the dark. Connected to a computer with USB2.0 it mounts as a external harddisk so transferring your recordings is easy.

Mark Nelson (O’Reilly.com) made an excellent in-depth review. I recommend reading it. 

Review of the Olympus LS-10

And the Winner Is…
I think the LS-10 does as good a job recording music and voice as some recorders costing quite a bit more.
I like the Olympus LS-10 a lot. I’m tickled with the design, ergonomics, audio quality, and the rugged aluminum case. I even like the little carrying case; it’s just big enough for the recorder and a mini tripod.
 

I think this recorder is a direct competitor of the Edirol R-09HR, but with a retal price of $399 i would go for the edirol instead. Lets see if Olympus will decrease the price any time soon.

Related Articles

• Review Edirol R-09HR
• Review Zoom H2
• Review of Marantz PMD-620

Question 

I would like make audio recordings of classes and bhajans. What should i buy?

Answer

Personally i think, at this moment, the best buy is :

• Edirol R-09HR - $350 – 400
• Zoom H2 - $170-200

Other answers

iPod and others
You could use an iPod, or other standard mp3 player to record. But do not expect too much quality from that. The low quality microphone and the lack of a dedicated record button speak against it for a solid recommendation.

In the past there used to be mp3 players (hard drive based) that offered a microphone input, (like the iRiver H120, H320 and H340). But generally mp3 players only have a Line-input. This means that you need a microphone that is powered seperately because the signal of the microphone is too weak for the Line-input.

Memo and Micro Recorders
Back in the old days the only option to record your voice was either a walkman or a memo recorder. Now that times have advanced so have the memo recorders. The tape was removed and now it records digitally.

These recorders usually do a much better job than iPods and the like. Most of them have reasonable microphones and have a excellent battery life. Lots of memo recorders use standard AAA batteries and these recorders are very small in size. But there are some tradeoffs also. Most of these recorders only record in WMA format (but that is changing, see below) and the quality settings are limited. Also the internal memory is not user expandable although some more expensive models might offer this option.

Olympus is making some excellent memo recorders. They even have WAV recorders now (LS-10).

Anybody out there who wants to make a review of a memo recorder ?

Introduced on Feb 2007 this “handy” little recorder is cheap and versatile. I personally dont have a lot of experience with this gadget so i shall refrain from giving recommendations. But instead i will point to some nice reviews done by other experts.

• Good review at oreilly.com
• Reader comments on the H2 at oreilly.com

I have said it before and it bears repeating: if you want professional features, prepare to pay professional prices. If you want a dandy little recorder that won’t break the bank, fits in your pocket, and does a fine job, then get this H2.

• Short review at stinkfight.com

I’ve wanted something like this my whole life, and this thing delivers. I give it a ten out of ten for performance and price.
The H2 is my little friend. I’ll whisper my secrets to him and he’ll paint my thoughts on the ether. IT SOUNDS GREAT!

• Wiki page at wikipedia.com
• Product page at Zoom (Samsontech.com)
• Latest firmware (1.30) at zoom.co.jp
• Find and buy it at google  (around $180)

 Nice to know

1. Records in WAV and MP3
2. Runs on 2 AA Batteries
3. USB connection is the older 1.1version (so 12 MB/s)
4. Connected to the computer, can be used as a audio capturing device.
5. Is very cheap
6. Has not 1, 2, 3 but 4 internal microphones…
7. Uses a SD/SDHC Memory card.

Still i prefer the Edirol R-09HR