Edirol R44 versus Fostex FR-2LE : best pre's?

B

Bowen

Active member
Buying tomorrow, and after searching all threads it seems pretty much down to these two. The four channels on the Edirol would be great but can be lived without. The Fostex FR-2LE looks way better made, though some reports of audible (non-recording) hiss.

I want to use the Recorder without a mixer, so for sure most concern is with the quality of the pre's. The Fostex gets plenty of positives in these forums but I found only one real positive for the R44. (But searches can be hit and miss.) I can live with the plastic brick look if the pre's are quiet. Any votes for the Edirol?

All direct experience or thread pointers gratefully received. (Obviously the SD 702 is clear winner, but there's a recession on out there!)
Bowen
 
Never used the Fostex FR-2LE but seen one up close and personal yesterday. I do currently use the Edirol R-44 on a reality tv show set. The preamps on this recorder are great. They are made just like the higher priced Edirol R-44 Pro(hard drive version). The sound quality is amazing. What I like about the Edirol R-44 is it saves each audio file on its on track. So mic 1 has it on audio track mic 2 has it own track and so forth...That will really help out in post. Very compact and portable. You have control over each input. I highly recommend the Edirol R-44. Its better to have more than enough inputs than not enough. I generally say people should at least have devices with 3 or more inputs. At least you know your boom and two wireless mics are covered. If you end up going with the Edirol let me know. Love to see what you have to say about it.

Nicole

p.s. I hope this helped out.
 
Whichever recorder you get, I would consider the modified versions by the Oade brothers. They replace the preamps with lower noise versions. The prices are pretty reasonable, too. http://www.oade.com/index.html

Personally, I would go with the Edirol. If you need to record 3 or 4 sources, it's important that each source has its own track to cut down on background noise.
 
The Oade conversion is the only way to go for pro level recording when using direct mic inputs. I don't believe the conversion affects line-in from a mixer. Personally, I think the conversion is worth the money just so one can grab the recorder and direct input; it's good for reducing weight & bulk ( no mixer! :) when grabbing sound clips in nature.
 
Thanks to all for your input. Living in Oz, we don't have the Oade's mod luxury (other compensations however). I've ordered the Edirol for its four channels. Interestingly it just doesn't seem to have any competition at this price point. Will have to use the SD 302 as well if the preamps prove too noisy. Outside this forum, a google search of all R44 reviews was hugely positive from many pro's. Thanks again guys (and Nicole). Bowen
 
Bowen said:
Thanks to all for your input. Living in Oz, we don't have the Oade's mod luxury (other compensations however). I've ordered the Edirol for its four channels. Interestingly it just doesn't seem to have any competition at this price point. Will have to use the SD 302 as well if the preamps prove too noisy. Outside this forum, a google search of all R44 reviews was hugely positive from many pro's. Thanks again guys (and Nicole). Bowen
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Your welcome!!! Oh yeah I meant to tell you keep plenty of batteries around and use ac adapter when indoors if possible. That thing will eat some battery power. But good thing is if your batteries do die it saves all your original settings and you can get right back to what you were doing before your batteries died. Real cool. Also there is no need to select new tracks/takes it does that for you. Also quick tip if you want to just monitor sound hold RECORD then PAUSE button that puts you in MONITOR MODE. Good luck!!!!

Nicole
 
Just to chime in and confirm everybodies praise. I use the Edirol R-44 on commercials, shorts and a couple odd features. It is a wonderful unit. I do regret not getting the R-4 PRO because of its timecode features and the higher quality pre-amps. I have confirmed with Edirol that the pres on the R-4 are of higher quality than the R-44 pre amps, and tested the difference myself. The Oade upgrade is a cool idea, however they don't offer it on the R-4 PRO because that model comes with good preamps. The good thing is, you can sync these guys together so despite the fact that I didnt get the R-4 pro first, I can get one now and slave my R-44 to it, giving me 8 inputs and timecode all being controlled by the R-4. I def recommend this unit however if you can cut the extra 800 bucks or whatever the diff actually was, go for the R-4 PRO. Never the less I love my R-44 and have been singing its praises ever since I picked it up when it was released brand new.

On the subject of batteries I notice using Nicad AAs goes a loong way. I have shot with all 4 mic inputs active (2 with 48v) running on NiCad batteries for easy 12 hours if not more. You just have to make sure your not monitoring (armed for recording) unless you truely need to be.
 
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Thanks for the monitoring and battery info. When it comes to pricing tho, You guys in the USA live in camera candy shop land. Other parts of the world look on and shake their head in disbelief at the low prices. The R-4 Pro in Oz costs $3,900, and the R44 costs $1,600 (so more like $2,300 to upgrade). Also - second hand stuff is virtually impossible to get. (Otherwise Oz is godzown not counting bushfires and floods - but equipment ain't cheap, which is another reason why all your comments are so valuable.) Bowen
 
Bowen said:
Thanks for the monitoring and battery info. When it comes to pricing tho, You guys in the USA live in camera candy shop land. Other parts of the world look on and shake their head in disbelief at the low prices. The R-4 Pro in Oz costs $3,900, and the R44 costs $1,600 (so more like $2,300 to upgrade). Also - second hand stuff is virtually impossible to get. (Otherwise Oz is godzown not counting bushfires and floods - but equipment ain't cheap, which is another reason why all your comments are so valuable.) Bowen
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Jeez thats a major difference from the price here in Canada! Sorry to hear that!
 
Hi
I used zhe edirol r-44 for a month and I have to say I really loved the design, the four seperate channels and the fact that it reccords on cheap sd-cards.

But I didn't liked the preamps. Does anybody know a good mixer which I can use with the edirol?
I want to reccord concerts so I get 2 line outs from the soundmixer into the edirol and I get another 2 channels from a stereomic for the audience. Maybe for loud concerts the preamps are ok but not when I want to use the edirol for unpluggedconcerts or in the field.

So what can I do?
 
the psc alphamix i think is the cheapest good mixer to have 4 direct outs. also, with that mixer you can use np-1 batteries and power your recorder at the same time.
 
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