Recording Studio Equipment

I’ve used the the original R-09 for over 3 1/2 years, and been in love with it from the day I bought it. I use it to record church services and make CD’s from the recordings, to record meetings instead of taking notes, to record doctor visits, or to just record improvisations on the keyboard. The sound quality is excellent, whether recording as .WAV or .MP3, and the pickup sensitivity is amazing. It is still going strong, but when I decided to get a second one and leave the first at church, I went for the newer R-09HR.

The R-09HR improves on the R-09 in many respects, most notably from my experience:

+ The slippery hard plastic case of the R-09 has been replaced with a non-skid solid rubbery case – no more worrying about it sliding off a music stand.

+ The rubber inserts that surrounded the side controls on the R-09, and were stretching and falling out, have been eliminated.

+ There is now a separate ‘Menu’ button, so the ‘Finder’ doesn’t have to do double-duty.

+ The sound quality seems even better than the R-09.

+ The R-09HR comes with a remote control. I have yet to try it, but I can see it could be useful.

Some other notable differences:

+ It is slightly bigger than the R-09. I liked the more compact size of the R-09, but am willing to trade it for the better case of the R-09HR. The R-09HR still fits (a little more snugly) in the leather Targus camera case that I use as a carrying case.

+ The power button and the back sliders have moved position (no problem unless you are used to them elsewhere!).

+ The batteries now go in a separate compartment, rather than sharing with the SD/USB compartment door. Call me weird, but I don’t share the opinions of others who disliked the R-09 battery door. It may have felt flimsy, but I had no problems in 3 1/2 years, and the disadvantage of the new R-09HR arrangment is that the battery door comes off completely, so it can get separated. I think this may also be part of the reason the R-09HR is slightly bulkier.

On the slight downside:

+ The addition of a small speaker doesn’t seem worth the added real estate. The output volume is low and the playback quality is, well, pathetic. Maybe some will find it useful just for checking recording pickup, but I’d have been happy without it (especially if the case size could have been reduced).

+ I don’t feel like the battery meter is as accurate as on the R-09, nor am I certain if the battery life is as good as on the R-09. I had one case where I was using the R-09HR and it showed just 1 battery step down from full (and yes, I had the battery type correct), and it died within 1/2 hour. I’m now careful to make sure I put fresh batteries in if I have any doubt. This is not an objective measure, as I haven’t actually compared the R-09 and R-09HR under the exact same conditions, but I definitely do not trust the battery life indicator on the R-09HR the way I did on the R-09. On the flip side, I listened to playback on a set of batteries for over 4 hours, so it may be either the recording side is more power-consumptive, or truly is just the battery life indicator.

+ The R-09HR overall looks/feels a little more utilitarian than the R-09, which had a nicer esthetic look/feel (but at the same time this contributed to it being more slippery).

+ I wish both the R-09 and R-09HR came with an option to make the Record a one-touch function. I’m always morbidly afraid of not getting an important recording because I’ve failed to push the Record twice (this happened to me a couple times when I first got the R-09).

To sum up, though, the R-09HR is a fantastic recorder with excellent sound quality and pickup. You can take the recordings directly into editing software and with a little volume adjustment burn perfectly usable CD’s that are just like you were there when the recording was made.

This amazing compact recording device is easy to operate and produces wonderful recordings. The only criticism I would make concerns the remote control function. In a live performance situation the person operating the recorder will find it awkward to successfully use the remote. Apart from this, I’m very happy with my purchase.

The Edirol R-09 is nothing short of amazing. If you need to record live music, this is the answer.

Using it’s built-in mics, the R-09 does an excellent job of capturing sound with excellent fidelity. To best them, you’ll have to purchase a mic valued at $200 or more.

The controls are simple, obvious, and straightforward. If you spend a few minutes acquainting yourself with them before recording, you shouldn’t run into any problems even the first time you use the device.

I find that I get the best results with near-field recording. When recording piano, for example, I place the R-09 over the keyboard, either suspended by a tripod or lying on a felt cloth. When recording voice, I get fantastic results with the R-09 placed 2-3 feet from the vocalist. And if recording a band, placing the R-09 on a tripod at ear level in the center of the group or in the front row center provides excellent results.

While only a 2GB SD card is the specified maximum capacity, I have found standard – not SDHD – 4 GB SD cards can sometimes work. Good luck, though. I’ve found the 4 GB cards to be slower in writing, making recording more of a hit and miss proposition.

Highly recommended for musicians and music lovers.

Mixed feelings about the R-09 four months after buying from Amazon. First, it came with dated software. I suppose this is the way things go with modern electronic devices. But you may have update your r-09 via your home PC. It was not that easy: I managed to get the 1.31 software downloaded with help from a friend who has an R-09. My unit shipped in 6/08; 1.31 was released by Roland in 9/07. Without the update, my unit wouldn’t accept a 4 gig card. Haven’t tried an 8 gig. I use the r-09 to record live music. You may want to set the r-09 to record in mp-3 format, as wave takes alot of memory. A four gig card will only last a few hours. The r-09 generally works well. I’ve been careful with the back hinge after reading all the reviews. Currently my r-09 isn’t recording — something’s wrong with it. Still haven’t figured out a good audio program to edit r-09 recordings on the PC. Had used goldwave previously.

Definitely buy these accessories for your Edirol 9-09hr. Excellent products that are protective and useful.

The Edirol Leather Case with Stand works with the 2008 model. The case is a bit snug, not weather safe, but works very well, and is molded with cutouts for the latest model. The included stand is sturdy, and good for general recording.

This is a great buy, offering not only the stand, but outer protection for the unit.

Features: 5
This thing is packed with everything you need to put together music by yourself. I am a musician that usually works by himself, and I could assemble a four piece band by myself on this. You can assemble lengthy drum tracks with a drum pattern editing tool and can select from several drum kits. There are built in stereo condenser microphones for vocals or acoustic guitar that rivaled my mxl 990 in clarity and sound. There are also ports in the back where you can use external stereo mics if you wish. There is also a 1/4 inch cable input that you can use to record guitar and bass with. Not only that, but the amount of built in effects is awesome. There are marshall stack emulators, tube emulators, …all kinds of stuff you can use. Tons of amp, effects, and simulators are included…basically everything you are going to need if you want to do some basic recordings.

For multitracking, you have almost an infinite number of tracks you can use because you can bounce tracks back and forth between each other, combine tracks, and even store virtual tracks elsewhere on the machine when they aren’t in use.

I have used computer setups before and honestly, I get the job done faster and better with this.

Ease of Use: 3
It’s a little complicated sometimes and I had a little trouble figuring out some things even with the use of the manual. I watched tutorials on youtube of how to do certain things on the boss br-600 and it cleared up a lot of questions i had. Be prepared to put some time into figuring this thing out before you get it. After a while, though, you will get the hang of it and be able to work magic with this thing.

Price: 4
I find the average price of $250 to be a little high for this recorder. I found one of these on eBay for $150 and to me, that was well worth it. Don’t get me wrong, this piece of equipment packs a great punch, but the price you see here is set a little high so I’ve given it a 4.

Durability: 5
Everything about this machine feels high quality. When I first got it, I was stunned at how sleek it looked…and mine was used! This feels like it will last a long time and the screen display is great. You can change the brightness if you need to.

Overall: 4.25
This is a great machine and I would recommend it to anyone. It will always have a place in my equipment collection. Later on, I will actually build a nice home studio, but for now, this thing is the ultimate recording studio…and it’s so portable… It even has a battery slot in the back where it can run off AAs if you don’t have a place to plug it in. It is so small and can be taken anywhere with ease. I can even take it traveling with me if I wanted. I take this, my guitar, and a cable to my friends house and we mess around and record all kinds of random stuff. He programs drum beats on his computer and runs them into the machine via a stereo in on the boss so we can record pretty sweet drum beats. Then we record guitar and bass. To me, it’s so easy to use because I have spent time using it and figuring it out.

I don’t think you would regret buying one of these, especially if you get a good deal on one like I did. It’s a great home recording studio all in one box.

Pros:
- Excellent sound quality.
- Built-in, high-quality stereo condenser mics.
- Tons of features in a very small package.
- Battery or AC power.
- Balanced mic inputs. They are not XLR connectors but they are balanced, so as long as you use a balanced XLR to 1/4″ adapter, you get fully balanced quality inputs from your XLR mic inputs. One balanced adapter is included.
- 64 virtual tracks allow you to record 8 tracks then bounce a mix onto two virtual tracks and then record even more tracks while listening to the mix you’ve already recorded. You can continue to add tracks this way until all 64 virtual tracks are full. The great thing is that, as long as you don’t record over your original recordings then you can still remix everything either in the machine or by dumping all of the tracks to your computer and mixing it there.
- You can record your tracks dry (no effects) but still hear the effects while you record. This allows you to edit or change the effects during the final mix rather than being stuck with the effects that were recorded with the track.
- Ability to dump all of your data to computer for backup.
- Ability to dump all of the tracks from your recording onto a computer where you can edit them with your audio editing application of choice. You can download the software to do this free from Boss’s website.
- Built in drum machine. It sounds pretty good and is fully programmable. Plus, it has its own dedicated stereo track so it does not take up any of the 8 recording tracks. You can even load in tones from CD, computer or another drum machine or sound module.
- Built-in effects that sound pretty good, are customizable, and allow you to add stereo loop effects to individual mono tracks for your final mix and really add some thickness and stereo richness to your mix.
- Very well though out design and fairly easy to use – once you get the basics down.
- Excellent manual! I’ve heard a lot of people bashing the manual but I think it’s great. Very well thought out and easy to use. Yes, it’s thick and full of information and words and stuff. But this machine is packed full of features so it required more than a pamphlet to explain it all. And they do a great job of presenting the information in a tutorial format as well as in an easily accessible reference format so you can either look up something quickly or spend some time reading and learning in depth.

Cons:
- No phantom power for microphones. You have to use an external mic preamp or phantom power adapter.
- A/C adapter not included.
- Should come with a larger memory card. The included card is virtually useless. Buy a 1GB card that has been tested (see the chart on Boss’s website). Anything larger than 1 GB is not supported and some brands and formats will not work.
- Tracks 5/6 and 7/8 are locked as stereo pairs. This means that you cannot record two separate instruments onto these two tracks and have individual control. I don’t know why they made half of the tracks on the machine locked like this but it’s not that big of a deal because you can work around it by bouncing tracks. Basically, you can record either stereo instruments like keyboards, etc. onto these tracks or you can use them to bounce portions of your song onto and then continue recording more tracks.
- The learning curve is not terribly steep but you will have to spend some time learning the system to get the most out of it. If you have a basic understanding of recording, effects, drum machine programming then you will catch on pretty quick.
- Because of the small size of the machine, plus the fact that it has a full set of drum pads, there isn’t much room for a lot of buttons so you do have to dig around in the menus a lot to edit tracks or program the drums, etc., which can slow things down. But once you learn where thing are and how they work you can navigate through the menus pretty quickly.

Conclusion:
A fantastic, portable machine with tons of features and excellent sound that will fulfill almost any need from recording quick ideas or live performances to recording your own album. BUY IT NOW!!!