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Edirol/Roland R-09 Review

file:///D|/Sonicweb%20Dreamweaver%20Edition_Recent/r-09revw.htm[4/3/2010 12:50:30 PM]

Sonic Studios™ SD/SDHC Flash Portable Recorder Review

MODEL: Edirol/Roland R-

NOTICE: 8/31/2008 Updated Version

(This review is being written/edited; e-mail

suggestions welcome)

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Edirol/Roland INPUTS CONTROLS VU REC TIME BATTERY TIPS MEMORY NOISE

ADD-

PRE MOD-3 CASE

This review is narrowly focused

ONLY on deck operational features, ease of

use, consistent recording ability/quality,

and design fault issues related to stereo-

surround field recordists with direct

connected mics; issues usually not

discussed in commercial magazine reviews.

In other words, how suitable is the

Edirol/Roland R-09 as an 'all-in-one' deck

solution for the professional field recordist?

Introduction:

The R-09 model is Edirol/Roland's 3rd digital audio recording deck. This is a very

small well designed deck for general purpose 16 & 24bit/44.1 & 48k WAV/MP3 analog

input remote field work. Now available in Black (shown), White, or Red case colors

Shirt-pocket-sized, 2 AA cell 4-9 hour easy power, very fast boot-up/ responsive

controls, inputs nearly IMPOSSIBLE TO OVERLOAD, and with adequately quiet

internal mic preamp for some purposes, there's plenty to like about this affordable

model.

Case and layout of function buttons are well designed. However, the very

lightweight case gives no immediate confidence for surviving mishaps, and the

sliding-hinging battery hatch shouts 'be very ginger with me or I'll soon break!'

However, after nearly a year of user experiences, only the input jacks are found

too easily broken (off the internal circuit pads). Roland is now gluing these down

with only partial success. So suggest until Roland installs better designed jacks using

ONLY low profile/stress' right-angle molded plugs, and be very ginger

inserting/using/unplugging connections to MIC/LINE input jacks. (See JACK

EXTENSION accessory good for this purpose)

R-09 has NO digital audio (SPDIF) input, but does have optical (miniplug type)

output hiding inside the headphone jack that also serves as a form of line output for

this deck. Optical output cable is NOT included, but USB 2.0 patch and 3 volt DC AC

adapter is included.

Most using WIN 98SE may find this deck (and even if using an external

card reader good for SD/SDHC flash) is NOT recognized, but MAC and WIN

ME/XP/VISTA users should have no problems with USB connection.

As opposed to M-Audio Microtrack

24/96 CF portable previously being

shipped incomplete needing a series of user installed firmware updates,

Edirol/Roland fully functioned with original 1.03 firmware. More recently updated

11-17-2006 released v1.10 firmware, and most recent firmware v1.31 offer further

refinements. Procedures to upgrade is HERE

, and owners manual is found on HERE.

Good news is R-09 seemed complete and 'ready to go' even with original v1.03

without compromised functions. Latest firmwares offer fine tuned refinements.

Firmware version 1.10 added 4-32 GIG SDHC flash card format ability, auto

display off for REC/Overload indication, ability to set <2 gig file sizes for auto-span

very useful when recording MP3 compressed that would otherwise open in editing at

>2 gig, AND a in-the-deck FILE FIX

utility that may fix some not-tansferable

corrupted files. Latest v1.31 fixes 8 GIG SDHC to now autospan seamless series of

files without fault until the card is filled losing no audio in the process. New

refinement now allows user to manually split files while recording.

Also different from Microtrack is the orgranic LED (OLED) display is NOT

daylight visible.

3.5mm minijack mic input has menu controlled on/off 2.5 volt power useful

for electret type mic power. Not quite enough voltage for powering DPA 4060 series,

but adequate for most electret condenser types needing direct 'plug-in-mic' powering.

However, disappointed to find my own Sonic Studios DSM™

mics not powered by a

stock R-09. The good news is internal mic power circuitry allows MOD-3

upgrade

offering option of DSM™ mic owners the simplest 2-piece mic+deck recording

system as was practical to do with Sony mini-DAT decks. Recordings done with most

compact 2-piece MOD-3 + DSM mic system found linked in Taperssection.com post

found in HERE

Additional good news is both mic/line R-09 inputs have tested

adequately quiet and

Jack

extension

accessory

Protects R-09

MIC/LINE

3.5mm jack-

board-solder-

pad damage.

Extension cable

eliminates most

causes of input

damage.

Sample Recordings done with external connected mics &

preamplifier:

Rolling Thunder 1 & 2

Summary of content (8 pages)

PAGE 1
Edirol/Roland R-09 Review Sonic Studios™ SD/SDHC Flash Portable Recorder Review NOTICE: 8/31/2008 Updated Version MODEL: Edirol/Roland R(This review is being written/edited; e-mail suggestions welcome) 09 Edirol/Roland INPUTS CONTROLS VU This review is narrowly focused ONLY on deck operational features, ease of use, consistent recording ability/quality, and design fault issues related to stereosurround field recordists with direct connected mics; issues usually not discussed in commercial magazine revie
PAGE 2
Edirol/Roland R-09 Review of sufficient bandwidth for at least 16bit podcasting, interview, and amplified venue recording requirements using high output electret or phantom powered external mics. However, clear audible improvement of audio quality/lower noise acoustic 24 bit depth recording is mostly only practical using LINE level input with a mic preamplifier.
PAGE 3
Edirol/Roland R-09 Review For 0 dB VU MIC LINE LOW HIGH #1& #30 SETTINGS N/A #1& #30 SETTINGS For 0 dB VU -20 80 mv -45 5 mv +10 -16 2.5 volts 130 mv -13 190 mv +16 4.9 volts signal reduction in one step. Therefore, there's 29 dB of REC level adjustment range at the MIC and LINE inputs.
PAGE 4
Edirol/Roland R-09 Review low-profile in public places. washing-out in bright daylight. The DAYLIGHT VIEW CASE is a SonicStudios.com exclusive and a must for practical R-09 field protection/display monitoring. Cost is $25 USD + Shipping USE ALKALINE BATTERY MODE Alkaline: expect 4 hours, more in hot ambient. USER REPLACEABLE INTERNAL BATTERY (2) AA ANY KIND OXY- Alkaline: 'OXYRIDE' (Panasonic) and 'digital3shot' ( Sony), should get at least 6 hours.
PAGE 5
Edirol/Roland R-09 Review MAXIMUM GAIN The graph at left shows low noise external preamplifier model PA-3SX lowering INPUT NOISE by up to 24 dB over R-09's internal mic input preamp. MIC INPUT VERSES EXTERNAL PREAMP LINE INPUT R-09's internal mic preamp noise is the YELLOW color. External PA-3SX noise is the RED color. NOTE: Some have found the above comparison confusing. All test were done with 1000 ohm dummy load at the inputs of R-09 mic jack and PA-3SX external preamplifier.
PAGE 6
Edirol/Roland R-09 Review practical way to attach/easily remove accessories. However, the R-09's back panel is paper-thin, held in place by only three little 'tuck-in' tabs at the bottom These are so very easily pulled out with the slightest tug. wide/2.5" length tape as shown below. This keeps the panel in place when detaching Velcro'd accessories. PROBLEM #2 TIP: The R-09 sliding battery door sticks, and this easily makes the door slide unevenly encouraging damage.
PAGE 7
Edirol/Roland R-09 Review DOWNLOAD Adobe Acrobat .PDF page describing the version 1.
PAGE 8
Edirol/Roland R-09 Review Eyegear/Headband/HRTF Baffle mountable matched omni mics Stops wind blast noise; transparent acoustic design; records real wind sounds for MD, DAT, CF, HD, and Video Field/Event/Studio Recording Battery Powered-Portable Mic Preamplifiers HRTF RECORDING High-definition, low noise, very wide bandwidth preamp designs to fit any field/event/studio application using DSM™ stereo-surround mics.