wrote in message
ups.com
Thanks again to everyone's help. Let me ask this question and see if
anyone has any thoughts.

Do you think there would be much difference in quality betweeen:

A) Using the Tascam unit (16 bit), along with it's own phantom power +
2 mics (under $300 for both mics)

The Tascam unit is larger and more battery-hungry. It seems to street
price for about $500, so with the mics you're looking at close to $1K.

and

B) Just using the Edirol R-1 unit (24 bit) which has two built in
stereo mics.

Not a fair comparsion. The R1 is quite a bit smaller and probably has
longer-lasting batteries.

But, nobody is going to tell you that internal mics are anything like hifi.
They're what you use in a pinch, or for recording a meeting or something
like that.

???

The answer to the question seems self-evident. These units seem to address
fairly different needs.

If the difference wouldn't be that great than I might as well go with
the Edirol and get the benefits of ease and portability as well.

If you're going to make a quality recording of music, the use of external
mics is pretty much a given.