Hi!
I would recommend one of the Sony units, since their mic preamps have the l=
owest
self-noise of the lot.
I have been using the PCM-M10 and I am very happy with it, quite low noise =
(~17
dBA) from the built-in mics and superb battery life. The downside in any
handheld recorder is that the built-in mics are fairly close together, so t=
he
sense of 'space' is compromised. I generally use an outboard pair of ECM-17=
2/173
mics that I can wear on my hat, attach to a foam sphere, etc. The stereo im=
age
is then much improved. The next step is to build a lightweight boundary arr=
ay
using said mic capsules and run that into the mic input of the M10. The D50=
has
slightly better mic preamps, but the built-in mics are not as low noise as =
those
in the M10.
I am curious as to why you would even consider using an Edirol recorder (un=
less
maybe if it is an R4-Pro; then you don't need an external mic pre) with the=
SD302. The Edirol's mic preamps are definitely noisier than that of the M10=
and
the SD302 preamps are noisier than that of the Tascam DR-680. I would think=
that
the SD302 would not be nice for long recordings using the internal AA cells=
,
either, especially with phantom turned on. That means an external battery p=
ack.
Now you have 3 things to juggle.
I would definitely recommend the Tascam DR-680 for >=3D 4 channel recording=
. The
mic preamps are within 3 dB of an SD-722 and everything is in one case. 4 m=
ic
preamps with phantom power on XLRs, two additional channels with phantom po=
wer
on TRS connectors and two more inputs that can be fed from a SPDIF stream [=
I
just did an 8 channel location recording using an external mic pre with SPD=
IF
output for channels 7 & 8]. I have one and I love it! More mic gain than on=
an
SD-722 as well, if you need it. The carrying case that is made for it is qu=
ite
rugged, too. It can be powered for longer recording times with a simple cab=
le
attached to a 12v gel cell.
Here is a link for the mic preamp noise specs for a variety of
recorders: http://www.avisoft.com/tutorial_field_recording.htm
The Zoom is not on this list but it is on another one that I don't have han=
dy
right now. My recollection is that it is even more noisy than the R-09HR. P=
ick
the recorder with the best preamp EIN specs for doing any type of nature
recording.
My experience says that you can't go wrong with either the Sony PCM-M10 or =
the
Tascam DR-680.
Take care,
Greg
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