9 Portable Digital Recorders Compared

<p>The June issue of Electronic Musician compares the 9 newest stereo digital recorders ("Studio In Your Pocket"). These are:</p>

<p>Edirol R-09 ($399)
Korg MR-1 ($699)
Marantz PMD620 ($399)
M-Audio MicroTrack II ($299)
Olympus LS-10 ($399)
Sony PCM-D50 ($499)
Tascam DR-1 ($299)
Yamaha Pocketrak 2G ($349)
Zoom H2 ($199)</p>

<p>Unfortunately, the May issue is still online, but hopefully in a week, you can read the reviews online (emusician.com). I'll summarize:</p>

<p>Overall, they like the Olympus and Sony models the best, although they say the Korg "has by far the best sound quality and the most onboard storage" (20 GB hard disk). But, it is the most expensive, largest, and heaviest (13 ounces).</p>

<p>The Tascam seems especially good for a music student because it has a chromatic tuner, a fine-tunable A 440 oscillator, and a built-in metronome. It also has the ability to overdub to an existing stereo track.</p>

<p>One final note. They like all the models so you really can't go wrong with any of them. But i thought it might be helpful to list all of these, since you might not be aware of the many good choices available.</p>

<p>Both of my kids have the Edirol R-09 recorders and have used them to record recitals, rehearsals, lectures, etc. The quality is excellent.</p>

<p>Thanks, B-10, for posting this info! My H is going to go out and get ahold of the magazine if he can. S needs a new device - due to money issues, we will probably end up with the Zoom, but nice to have some good info in advance.</p>

<p>Binx, "ending up" with the Zoom is not a bad thing. DS has it and is very pleased with the recording quality, and ease of use.</p>

<p>We've had the Zoom H2 for 6 months. GREAT price/performance. We recorded my daughter's accompanist just by setting the Zoom on the piano, hit "record" once, check levels, and go. Had a great sounding recording, then transferred into iTunes for CD burning in seconds. Very highly recommended.</p>

<p>This is probably baby stuff compared to the machines mentioned above, but my D has been using the tiny Olympus ($79 or $99) to record performances, lessons, etc for the past year and loves it. Pulls apart to become a usb drive and transfers easily onto her computer. And it is tiny. Good for many uses or a smaller budget. I think it is amazing quality for such a small, cheap machine.</p>

<p>Here is the link to the full article online:
Studio</a> in Your Pocket</p>

<p>Thanks so much Beethoven's 10th, for alerting us to this! I'm seriously considering getting something like this for college next year and any information helps!</p>

<p>We have the Marantz. It works well and is easy to use. The sound quality is okay, but not as good as our old Sony minidisc player - which was much more complicated and often didn't work.</p>