Edirol R-09HR

David Bacon
January 7, 2010

Rating: 9/10

I've only had this for a couple of weeks and from a doubtful beginning have grown to find it a very useful piece of kit. Once one has ploughed through the Owner's Manual to set it up it becomes very esy to use. The more I use it, the m ore flexible I realise it to be. I use it mainly to monitor my piano practices. To begin with it made me sound worse than I am, but the Edirol needs to be positioned with some care. It's better near the instrument where it picks up just about everything in a clear and undistorted way. Care needs to be taken to avoid the recorder from peaking and the Owner's Manual makes this important point on page 4. I play most things back via headphones because it's immediate, but the download into the Apple Mac is a cinch.

All in all, I'm delighted with the Edirol and hope to improve my playing. It picks up things that one might easily miss when playing. Remember, the microphone never lies!

Des Kodur
October 28, 2009

Rating: 8/10

Received the Edirol R-09HR very promptly and safely from Dolphin Music. Spent a lot of time reading reviews etc and very nearly bought the new Tascam digital recorder which lets admit is a lot prettier. I finally decided to go for the things that matter, i.e. quality of recording. Have used this little machine in fairly difficult situations and have been very impressed by it. I\'m glad I spent the extra money on the Edirol. It\'s got a dreadful name and is not a great looking gadget but it is superb at doing what it is designed to do.
Okay, now the not so good, but not a disaster. This is an expensive bit if kit, even more so with what I think is an overpriced case and mini tripod. You have to buy this kit if you want to use the unit on a tripod or microphone boom (more money for adaptor). The case which is identical to this is a lot cheaper but, guess what, does not have the the tripod bush built in. I\'m sorry but this is just a rip - off. Almost £55.00 for a case and cheap plastic table top tripod!! If not for this I would have given it 10 stars. The tripod bush needs to be built into the unit. However it does come with a little acrylic stand which is quite useful if you have a handy table near you.
The tiny remote control which is really useful and has a hole to thread a lanyard stopped working after about 36hours. John at Dolphin very quickly and courteously sorted this issue for me and got Edirol to send me a new remote.
Despite these niggles, the Edirol is an excellent device for recording. If you care about sound quality and easily transferring files to your PC etc, this is the one to go for. 10 stars for sound quality. Only 7 / 8 for value for money. If it just had a built in tripod bush and looked nicer it would pretty near perfect.

Martin Vernon
October 3, 2009

Rating: 10/10

This is a fantastic device. We have used it in the rehearsal studio and to record a gig. Its very easy to use, intuitive and takes just a few minutes to set up. As a MAC user I did not use the bundled software but edited tracks in Garageband instead which was a doddle. The quality is excellent and if you get the filters set up right on the back will avoid clipping (a problem I initially encountered in the rehearsal studio). I bought the mike stand adaptor but this only works if you buy the case and mike stand kit aswell: there is no screw mount on the device itself. It does come with its own stand though and seems happy wherever you place it in the room. A bandmate has used the Line 6 device in similar situations and there\'s little difference in sound quality although the Edirol is far more intuitive to use. Well worth the money!

Nicholas Walker
June 19, 2009

Rating: 10/10

This little machine is quite simply brilliant. I bought it to record my own practise of Russian romantic piano music, so lots of notes and a huge dynamic range. The Edirol R-09HR copes with the challenge magnificently just using the inbuilt microphone. The playback quality on the machine\'s own loudspeakers is of course, when one considers the size of the thing, not brilliant, but through headphones or external speakers it is astoundingly good. One can safely ditch one\'s old recording equipment. Delivery was very prompt too.

christopher Smith
January 29, 2009

Rating: 10/10

i wish i\'d got one of these ages ago, the recording quality is great, its proper easy to use. One press of \'record\' puts you on standby to check your levels and then the second press and you are off.. this is ideal for me as i improvise all my lyrics and the spontaneity of my songs means that i usually get me best ideas in someones front room after a gig, miles from studio equipment. The edirol r-09hr is the perfect thing for boshing down an idea when it\'s fresh and uncluttered by too much thought or preparation, truly punk rock. i just keep it in me guitar case all the time now and never lose those little gems of ideas that pop out. The quality is so good that you can play a new song, decent enough to bung it straight on your myspace or onto cd without killing the creative flow by goin home, settin up mics and getting bogged down in the technical side. For an example of the recording quality listen to \'BOB THE AMAZING SHEEPDOG\' at www.myspace.com/CAPTAINHOTKNIVES it stands up fine against other songs recorded in me small studio. If you wanna capture those never to be repeated nuggets of random inspiration this is the songwriters notebook for people who don\'t write things down.

Phillip Clark
January 24, 2009

Rating: 10/10

Excellent product. Very easy to use and well designed. I use this for live music backing in pubs and clubs instead of mini disc now. I received it two days after ordering over the christmas period. Very good service.

John Renouf
January 10, 2009

Rating: 10/10

I purchased this unit having compared similar units on line, and my expectations have been exceeded.
The Edirol R-09HR is beautifully compact and easy to use. The performance of the built-in mocrophones is amazing, producing good results in a variety of challenging situations. I have used it to recored a live rock band in a relatively small room and also brass and vocals in church settings. The sensitivity and absence of background noise result in recordings of excellent clarity, given the respective situations.
Battery life is more than adequate, and the 4GB SD card gives excellent recording capacity. The unit feels solid, though the level and volume buttons are a bit fiddly until you get used to them. The input sockets (for external mic and line signal) are 3.5mm jacks rather than XLR, though fitting the latter would result in a much bigger unit, which would defeat the object of having a pocket-sized recorder. There is a built-in monitor speaker but this is really only to check that you have made the recording - to check on the quality and detail headphones are required.
I like the rubberised surface coating, the clear LCD display and the easy-to-use menu system.
My only criticism is not with the unit itself, but with the cost of the accessories - £40 is a but steep just to get the useful tripod mount. Also, the bundled software has a trial version of a useful MP3 endcoder, but the full version has to be purchased for an additional £6! Seems a bit mean really, but don\'t let that put you off buying this unit.

Bryan
May 7, 2008

Rating: 10/10

I've been looking for a Wave/MP3 recorder for some time now. Tried the Tascam DR-1 and took it back - recordings too dry and clinical, low output volume on wave files, too much hiss on higher gain mic setting, poor MP3 music playback (gives an indication of internal component quality)

Also looked at the Zoom H4 - sounded good but gee it\'s ugly and a bit too complicated to use. I didn\'t need the 4 track functions etc either and it also had a cheap, nasty feel and build quality to it. I felt it would prove unreliable.

Sound quality is paramount for my application - recording Meditations for students which can become very softly spoken - so low background noise and hiss is vital. I needed a recorder to replace and out perform my Sony MZ-RH1.

The Edirol R-09 HR exceeds my expectations and I am astonished and delighted with its perfomance.

The remote control is a real boon for starting and stopping recordings without having to handle the unit which would create noise on the internal mics and it also allows me to remain quiet and stationary whilst recording the meditation live to the class.

A silent noise floor, quality built in Mics, superb recording quality, monitoring and playback and excellent MP3 music playback too - suggesting quality components and attention to detail. Beautiful.

Some say the unit is ugly. I find it functional, very easy to use and not at all ugly.

I love this recorder. There\'s a sense of depth, precision and musicality to the quality of everything I've recorded so far, Meditations, Bird song and flute and clarinet playing with friends.

Excellent service from Dolphin. Thanks also to Andrew at Dolphin who, on the phone, answered a couple of my questions in a knowledgable and friendly way.. Received the unit next day and it came with a 2gig card as well as a 512meg card.

Very happy.