My two cents on the R-o9HR 
by bruceb from santa barbara, CA, August 2008
Music Background:  Pro Musician, recording engineer

i have both the R-09 and the R-09HR. Though the original R-09 was well designed (great user interface) and had utility for day to day use, the sound quality with the built-in mic was not up to pro standard. The overall sound was somewhat "mufflled" - rather than transparent. And the noise floor was too high. For best quality, the R-09 was best used with a good external stereo mic.

I had high hopes that the new R-09HR would improve in the sound quality. The first thing I did when I got the R-09HR was to A-B test the new one vs. the old one. Sad to say, there was no sound quality difference.

But I will keep the new HR because it is, in other respects, an improvement over the old model. The overall feel and finish of the HR now feels like a 1st class $400 recorder. It's bigger and just classy looking/feeling. The original R-09 felt cheap and "plastic-y." In fact, on my R-09, the back plate (only clipped on) dislodged off with little force and the unit had to be sent to the factory for repair.

Having a larger display is a big plus. I also like the new option for the recorder to time stamp the recording in the title, so you can quickly know exactly when the recording took place.

I still won't use the R-09HR for important pro sound work but it has enough day to day utility that I'll keep it around.

  My best investment on field recording equipment 
by Rogelio from Staten Island, NY, July 2008
Music Background:  Recording Engineer. Semi-pro Musician, Broadcast Engineer

Was in the market for a portable field recorder with the intent on capturing my band's rehearsals. After checking the stats of several units on-line and actually having access to one of the popular models sold here, I decided to go with the recommendation of a colleague: The Edirol R-09HR. Just got the unit yesterday and immediately set it to work... even with the no frills setup I used to record my acoustic guitar, the results were nothing short of awesome.

Just set the recording mode (either WAV and MP3 at several bit rates), recording level, Limiter/AGC (if you need to use them - I didn't), put the R-09HR on a convenient location and using the remote control start up the recording session... that easy. Connecting the recorder to your PC via the USB cable will have it come as a freely accessible external drive.

Still I have to try capturing a live rock band, I really expect the results to be on par of what I got at my home office. I had tried recording my acoustic guitar through several high end microphones and the results, while good, always seemed to leave something "out" - not so with the R-09HR. The built in microphones are something to praise.

The unit is small, well built and its menu easy to navigate. I would have liked to see a built in mount stand - you have to buy it as an add-on accessory, but even with that slight 'omission', I have nothing but the 5 five starts rating on the R-09HR - it does what it's supposed to do (and that is to record) in a superb top notch way!

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