Fernando,
I just got an Edirol R-09 today.
At Wed, 12 Apr 2006 08:02:36 -0000, Fernando de Izuzquiza wrote:
> Hi all anyone tried the Edirol R09 yet?
I've spent about 15 minutes with it, trying the integrated mics, a
pair of Shure WL-183s with Plug-in Power, and line input from an
Aphex 230 voice processor.
> I'd like to know how it performs on it's integrated mics, I mean
> if it's at least usable as a casual nature recorder.
It might work okay for casual nature recording, but I don't know
about quiet places. My first impression is that the mics are better
than those in the R-1. It works nicely as a hand-held device. The
R-1 is too big with lots of handling noise, but the R-09 is really
tiny and it seems relatively quiet. For voice recording and
probably urban phonography I think the internal mics will be fine.
> BTOH I'd like to know how it sound with a good front-end like a
> SD302 or similar.
I've used an Edirol R-1 with Shure WL183 (plug-in power), a Sound
Devices MixPre (outdoors), and an Aphex 230 voice processor. It
sounds pretty good to my ears. Just now I tried a quick test with
line input from an Aphex 230. It sounds fine, like the R-1. I
expect the R-09 to be as good or better.
I think the level meters are accurate. I was seeing peaks at about
-6dB on the meters, and my audio editor (DSP Quattro) shows the
highest peak at -4.94dB. Also, unlike the R-1, the R-09 USB
connection to my Mac PowerBook works fine with battery power, and
the WAV files show the correct date and time.
> Same questions for the MicroTrack. But the R09 uses AA and it's little.
> Fernando
I'm using POWEREX 2500 rechargeable AA batteries, the same as with
the R-1 and the SD MixPre. They work fine, but I don't know about
battery life yet. Like you, I think it's convenient to use AAs.
I bought a relatively cheap Buffalo RSDC-S 2GB SD card (read at
7MB/second). The faster cards (read at 20MB/second) are much more
expensive, and as far as I can tell this slower card works okay for
short recordings at 24-bit/44.1KHz.
After having used an R-1 for a long time, the R-09 looks, feels, and
sounds wonderful. The battery/SD/USB connector cover on the bottom
of the device is a little delicate, but even this is far better than
the CF card cover and the fall-off battery cover on the R-1. I
think the R-09 will work fine for reporting and urban phonography
with the internal mics, and with an SD 302 and good mics it should
be okay for nature recording. Of course, as others have mentioned,
the connections are 3.5mm, so it must be handled carefully.
The people who designed the R-09 must have listened to R-1 users
because ergonomically it's perfect for such a small device. Buttons
are easy to reach, output and recording levels have digital readouts
(input max 30), the stereo level meters actually work and they seem
accurate. The menu system is logical and easy to use. It starts up
instantly (about 3 seconds), and there is a big, indented REC button
exactly where it should be. Press once for standby and it blinks.
Press again to record, and the red light becomes steady.
I think people who have R-1s will be pleasantly shocked by the
excellent build quality, ergonomics, and size of the R-09.
Greg Peterson <>
Kyoto Notre Dame University
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