Hi Derek,
I surely am not one of the gurus, but I own an Edirol R4 since April and
I have to say that I am very happy with it.
Yes, the preamps are a bit noisy for nature recording. I helped the
problem by using four FEL Mini MicBoosters in combination with
Sennheiser MKH20 and MKH40, that I got at a reasonable price on ebay.
This works fine for me. I get great results.
I really welcomed the introduction of a 4-channel recorder at this
price. And now the 25% reduction makes it even more attractive. Not only
do I do four channel nature recording using a quadrophonic Jecklin disc,
but I also use it a lot for music recording, mostly concert recording,
where the two additional channels are really wonderful to have. I have
not had a problem with the preamps being too hot, but of course when you
use hot mics you need to record at the -20 dB input setting (called line).
So all in all I would say that if you want to go four channel or quadro
and you cannot afford the SD 744 then the only alternative is the R4.
For me it has proven to be very reliable no matter if I recorded in a
damp redwood forest or at dawn by the see or in the dersert at noon. The
harddisk has enough space (40GB) for a several weeks long vacation (17 h
at 24bit/48kHz 4-channel) and of course you can still use compact flash.
One set of batteries will give you more than 2 hours recording time.
Volker
Derek Holzer schrieb:
>I know some people had issues with the preamps on thse things. Could
>anyone of our preamp noise gurus sum up the situation on this recorder?
>
>How much noise? How bad? What grade of mic would "match" the preamps?
>
>thx,
>d.
>
>oryoki2000 wrote:
>=20
>
>>Online retailers planetminidisc.com and minidisco.com
>>are now offering the Edirol R-4 four channel recorder for
>>$1199 USD. That's 25% less than the typical price for
>>this competent machine.
>>
>>The only other four channel digital field recorder
>>available for less than $9,000 is the Sound Devices
>>744T (~$4000). The 744T is designed to work
>>with an external mixer, since it does not have four
>>discrete mic inputs with level controls.
>>
>>The R-4, on the other hand, has four XLR mic ports,
>>each with its own level control.
>>
>>The User Manual for the Edirol R-4 is available
>>online at http://tinyurl.com/asalb
>>
>>--oryoki
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>"Microphones are not ears,
>>Loudspeakers are not birds,
>>A listening room is not nature."
>>Klas Strandberg
>>
>>
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>
>=20
>
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