digital stereo recorders Options

[kraut]

I am looking for a small digital recorder for live venues (personal use only and with permission of the artist, of course) and like to employ binaural headphones. I also want to use it for family history interviews.
I want to record in wav, and convert later to Flac - for music only. The history stuff gets transcribed, so MP3 is fine for that.
I came across the Roland R05 and the R09 in combination with the CS 10EM earphones.
Is that rig overkill?
Are there any other options out there as good and does any of the members has any experience with those recorders, as to quality, longevity, hardiness, ease of use etc?

I used to record live for personal use in the 60's and seventies with a Uher stereo machine and a Dolby processor with some good sennheiser Mics in Blumlein config., so I am somewhat familiar with the process.

This post has been edited by kraut: Feb 9 2012, 08:22

[botface]

I use a Zoom H2 - mainly as quick, convenient way of getting musical ideas down and as a rehearsal/practice aid. For these purposes it's ideal but obviously they aren't demanding applications qualitywise - perhaps comparable to your family history interview requirement.

I wouldn't have any hesitation in using it for high quality work but would want to use external microphones with it. Not because the built-in ones have any serious shortcomings (though they obviously can't compete with anything approaching a professional standard), it's just easier to get the placement right with external mics. That may be a consideration for recording live gigs but if you could get a signal straight off the desk it would make life a lot easier.

I don't have extensive knowledge of all the recorders available but I get the impression they're all very capable. I'd just pick the one with the best facility match to my needs.

[Arnold B. Kruege...]

I use a Zoom H2 - mainly as quick, convenient way of getting musical ideas down and as a rehearsal/practice aid. For these purposes it's ideal but obviously they aren't demanding applications qualitywise - perhaps comparable to your family history interview requirement.

I wouldn't have any hesitation in using it for high quality work but would want to use external microphones with it. Not because the built-in ones have any serious shortcomings (though they obviously can't compete with anything approaching a professional standard), it's just easier to get the placement right with external mics. That may be a consideration for recording live gigs but if you could get a signal straight off the desk it would make life a lot easier.

I don't have extensive knowledge of all the recorders available but I get the impression they're all very capable. I'd just pick the one with the best facility match to my needs.

I have a M-Audio Microtrack and quite a bit of experience with live recording, and see your comments as being right-on. The reason I use external microphones almost exclusively is the reason you gave and also the fact that different applications require different mics, so no way that one set of mics built into any given unit can do the job. It is also nice to be able to make adjustments to the recorder without moving around and in particular closely approaching whatever is being recorded.

[derty2]

I remember a serious amateur who would record church organ music using Schoeps Mk2s microphones and an RME Fireface 400 analog>digital field recorder.
The sound quality was phenomenal.

[mixminus1]

The sound quality was phenomenal.

Schoeps mics are known for that.

[kraut]

The m-audio is no longer available, and the RME is way more in money and capabilities than what I need. I find however some other interesting units, like the recorders by alesis, the tascam DR 07 ( I tend to the tascams, having had both their two and four track machines and their tape recorders of excellent quality) and I am checking out the zoom.

Has anybody ever tried those binaural mics? http://www.gearwire.com/roland-cS10em-review.html

Sounds perfect for all kinds of stealth recording. The effect is I expect like the Kunstkopf Sterophonie of the seventies, and amazing experience at the time.

[andy o]

There are samples on youtube