Jeff Wexler Posted March 24, 2007 Report Share Posted March 24, 2007 I just purchased an R-09 recorder to use at my daughter's wedding tomorrow. I wanted a small recorder to use in conjunction with the recordings that will be made to the video camera my son will be shooting. So far, I am REALLY IMPRESSED with this little device. Full professional support (48K, 24-bit .wav file format as well as others all the way down to mp3) to SD card (up to 2gb which will yield about 110 minutes in stereo at 48k - 24-bit). It will take an EXTERNAL Mic in or EXTERNAL Line in (but not both simultaneously) and it has 2 built in microphones which are surprisingly good. Manual recording GAIN control and a decent AGC. The recorder is really easy to use and set up, very intuitive, runs for 6 hours on 2 AA batteries. Simple USB connection mounts the SD card on the desktop to drag files over. I really like this machine. - Jeff Wexler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Posted March 24, 2007 Report Share Posted March 24, 2007 Yes, I agree. It's the PCM-M1 of the non-linear era; with the added bonus of built in mics for use when needed. I've mostly been using mine for trying to grab quick ambiences and stereo f/x on the fly when there is just no time to drag out anything bigger. Sort of guerilla ambience gathering on set, as it were. I have a mini rycote furry that I wrap around it as the internal mics come without any type of wind protection at all. I've also used it a couple of times for simple playback bits. My daughter uses it for recording her flute homework assignments for school. She tells me that according to the teacher, she is the only one handing in stereo recordings on C.D.'s. Apparently most of the students are still handing in cassettes. Now that I found surprising! Cheers, Darren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted March 24, 2007 Report Share Posted March 24, 2007 Hey Jeff, congratulations to you and your daughter on this very special day. I just did the math and was floored as to the speed of time in our lives. I'm sure it will be a beautiful day. BTW, the edirol looks good on their site, let us know how it works out for the "Big Day". CrewC ps. Is Haskell shooting B camera? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSBELLA Posted March 24, 2007 Report Share Posted March 24, 2007 JW, congrats. on your daughters wedding! Guessing I have about 20-30 years before my girls get married. (personally, scary thought.) I have a 3 & 5 year old girls, so you could say i'm F'D or blessed or both at the same time. its great now, but the whole growing older thing freaks me out. Jeff, let me know if you need anything, backup deva,or any SD recorders. wireless lavs,(for the "cast"), wireless camera hops to your son. boom mics for audeience reaction? all kidding a side, congrats again. hope all goes well. ( I got married 10 years ago and I remember how nervous I was trying hard not to "flub" my lines) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Blankenship Posted March 25, 2007 Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 Jeff, Contratulations on your daughter's wedding! I also like my R-09. Firmware update 1.10 added support for SDHC (high capacity) memory cards which allows for higher than 2gb cards. (They mention in the update notes that "MacOS9 is not campatible with over 2GB file system in SDHC." I notice that the newest update is now 1.20 which has added some more new features like a maximum file size (when it reaches the maximum size specified, it starts a new file), peak LED hold, and a repair file function. It's available at: http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=757&ParentId=114 click on "downloads" On the first R-09 I owned, the line-in jack broke and so I got a replacement. My point is, be very careful with not bumping the plugs sticking out of the unit. It's an extremely lightweight device and is not as robust as we're used to. With that said, there's a lot to like about this little gem. John Blankenship, C.A.S. Indianapolis (Super Bowl Champions!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Wexler Posted March 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 I will look at the link you suggest but I just went to what I believe was Editrol support and the current update I saw there was 1.10. My unit shipped with 1.10. Thanks for the heads up about fragile connectors and general construction. It is very light weight, in all respects mechanically, and I will handle it very carefully. I put a SanDisk 2gb card in it and all seems to work well. I haven't found anything I don't like about it (fully respecting the understanding of what it is for $399.). Regards, Jeff Wexler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Wexler Posted March 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 I notice that the newest update is now 1.20 which has added some more new features like a maximum file size (when it reaches the maximum size specified, it starts a new file), peak LED hold, and a repair file function. It's available at: http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=757&ParentId=114 John Blankenship, C.A.S. I did find the 1.20 update at the link you posted. I downloaded the file and did the update. Very straightforward, no dramas. - JW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Marts Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 I just want to mention that I, too, am on my 2nd R-09 due to the line jack breaking off the board inside. It's a very nice little recorder and I'm happy that Roland replaced it with no questions asked - but be careful with it because it is so lightweight and a bit fragile. -Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arnold F. Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 I got one about 3 weeks ago for times I couldn't back up to camera (steadicam/big dolly moves). It fits nicely in the little exterior-mounted pouches one gets with Petrol bags and, it's true, you NEVER want to drop one (I didn't spend the $50 for the case but perhaps I should). I read another post, either here or on RAMPs, where someone said they got an iRiver H120 for back-up. It's not quite the same kind of dedicated audio device the R09 is but it does have some other features that could be useful, namely a 20GB HD. A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curleysound Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Anyone familiar with any of the other products in this realm? I recently saw that Nagra has one named the ARES-M. Check it out here: http://www.nagraaudio.com/pro/pages/products_ares_m.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B_Van_Deusen Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Both of these are nice machines, the nagra (leave it to them) being a little more complex and therefor more expensive. But the main question i have is does the line is offer a stereo recording for L/R? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Leonard Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 I've field tested most of these in ENG work, and - no surprise here - you get what you pay for. The Nagra ARES-M sounds fine (quite transparent) using the line input but its mic preamps are unimpressive and the menus are not intuitive. The recorder is made in Asia, and I may be wrong here, but it appears to be essentially the same recorder as the R-09 and the AEQ PAW series. The software and screen displays on all three are eerily similar, the functions are similarly slugish, and each unit is too easily affected by nearby cellphone RF - the AEQ and Nagra units in particular. I've been using the Sony PCM-D1 heavily over the last year. It's a major step-up from the others, though it's triple the price of the R-09. It has dedicated controls for the important functions and you only have to menu-dig to change sample rates or format the memory. One note - the mic jack (3.5mm) on mine failed last week. One of the sleeve tabs is sticking or something. The 'D1 only records two-channel files. The R-09's hard to beat for the price. ...el Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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