[Steve]

In article m,
"Mike Rivers" wrote:

On Mar 10, 4:29 am, Steve wrote:


I'm just mouthing off. I'd like very much to try a Z4 myself, but it's
not convenient for me to buy one and I don't know anyone who owns one,
so I'm happy enough doing without. I'm actually more eager to try the
Z2 when it comes out. While I like the idea of being able to use real
mics with the Z4, its audio would have to be awfully good (something
for which I haven't seen any quantitative or even trustworthy
subjective evaluation yet) before I'd use it for anything but an
informal recording, for which the built-in mics would probably be just
fine. And for something that I'd want to pull out of my pocket or
guitar case, the Z2 fits better than the Z4.

The Edirol R09 would serve just as well but the Z2 is cheaper and the
difference in sound may not justify the difference in price for my
application. For yours, whatever that might be, it might indeed sound
$100 better.

So I don't have any reason to trust you any more or less than anyone
else I don't know, who's work I don't know, who hasn't taken it apart
and told me what's inside, who hasn't made bench measurements and
published them. And at this point I don't need one enough to put up my
own money and try it myself.

Mike, the reality of the situation is, as far as sound goes, the Edirol
and Zoom models are going to sound similar, with their cheap built-in
preamps and mics. Sound quality, as we know, is subjective anyway.
Making the right/best choice comes down to other things.

For me, it came down to real world usage. I liked that the Edirol unit
was smaller. An inch in length and a half inch in width may not seem
like much until you try and fit it in your pocket.

There's also the battery time advantage in the Edirol. 4 hrs for the
Zoom vs 6 hours for the Edirol.

There a 2GB SD Card limit (unless there's been a recent upgrade) for the
Zoom, and an 8GB card limit in the Edirol (the firmware has been
upgraded a number of times in the last few months), and recording at a
higher resolution gets you much more time with the Edirol. That may not
matter to some who are recording 1 hour concerts, but I like to record
4+ hour gigs, and with the Edirol, I can record 4 hours at the highest
resolution.


I also have to mention the dedicated "record" button and how easy it is
to just start a recording on the Edirol without going thru menus.


Who can say if $100 is worth having those differences, but people do pay
more for the luxury of a BMW vs. a Chevy, even though they both take you
to the same place.

I'll also mention that in my area, the H4 is $299 and the Edirol is $399.
I found a source that gave me 15% off the Edirol, and I got it for $339,
so for me, it was $40 more than the H4 (no discount was available), and
for those reasons I gave above, it was $40 well spent.

Best of luck.

Steve