Customer Reviews
AMAZING PRODUCT 
2008-04-21
This is an amazing product. I was introduced to it by another person and decided that is was exactly what I needed.
I returned it for a refund. Poor customer service. 
2008-04-21
I'll be brief. I was excited to get this recorder after reading many great reviews.
But, after using it for the first time, all my recordings had a horrible static through the headphone playback. (There are no onboard speakers; a fact I had overlooked when I bought it.)
I called Edirol and they told me I had to update to the new version of firmware. They seemed reluctant to help me until I did that which I suppose is understandable.
After updating the firmware, the problem persisted. When I called back, the customer service staff was noticeably apathetic and simply told me that I'd have to send it in for repair.
Repair? It's brand new! I requested a refund from Amazon and sent it back. I'd bought the recorder to do some interviews while in Rome Italy and had no time to buy a replacement or to do anything beyond send it in for a refund.
I might try it again. But the apathetic attitude of Edirol's customer service staff makes me cringe a bit everytime I think about spending money with them again.
Tony
Edirol R0-9 is a winner for organ recording 2008-04-17
I bought the Edirol RO-9 by Roland thinking I might be buying a "toy", even though I heard the demos and saw other great reviews. Let me add my more than positive impression: this is a deceptively small (cigaratte-pack size) little powerhouse. The frequency response (in the "flat" position, not the roll-off position) actually has a slight boost at 20 Hz and is quite good down to 16 Hz. That covers the bottom octave of most huge pipe organs. The only thing it lacks is multi-channel recording, as in surround-sound. But if a stereo recording is OK with you, don't hesitate to use this wonderful device. The mikes are closely spaced, but stereo image is fine; it can be widened through cross-channel subtraction techniques post-recording. I do not use the built-in reverb feature or any other gimmicks, and am happy with the results.
Affordable small recorder with flaws 
2008-04-11
First, I wouldn't recommend purchase from the Recording Store. They don't communicate well and took 10 days to get it to me, which isn't up to Amazon standards in my opinion (and they are 350 miles away from me). The item did arrive well packed and as expected however.
Another important point, the latest firmware supports 8GB SDHC cards, not just 2GB or 4GB as documentation on Edirol's website says in various places. I thought I would be smart and order a bunch of 4GB cards in advance, and now I am stuck with half the capacity of what I could have. Why does that matter so much? Because inserting and removing the cards is a pain.
The good:
The product offers a really fast boot time, easy to use interface, and nice features like a red light that clearly indicates recording status. The built-in microphones are decent for voice applications. The recording formats are open standards and good bit-rates. The size of the unit is just right for field applications.
The bad:
The pre-amp is noisy! The Sony minidisc recorder I am replacing has a quieter pre-amplifier. In field recording of acoustic music applications, I find it to be too noisy, to the point where I am considering an outboard pre-amp. If you are not picky, it might be acceptable.
The battery, USB and memory card combination cover on the bottom of the unit is as bad as everyone says. I can't begin to fathom why a industrial designer would create this huge error. The most accessed area in the field is the memory slot and batteries, the most accessed area at home is the usb port. Why not cover them with a flimsy, difficult to operate (even in daylight) door? Every time you want to perform any one of those three functions, you will wince.
The general port and control layout is strange. Some of the common buttons are tiny little recessed things you have to press with a thumbnail.
Overall I am a little disappointed, but factor in the price and good things about it, and I would recommend it for voice applications. With tweaking (search the internet for many good articles about modifying or tweaking it to improve the flaws - 'taper's section' is a great resource) it will be a decent product for field music applications. If you have more demanding needs, then spend the money on a more full featured product.
Disappointed in that didn't save Very Important Audition Files & Edirol was indignant in helping! 2008-02-28
I read so many rave and stellar reviews about the Edirol R-09 that I had to have it. Our recording needs are for my daughter who takes voice lessons and sees a vocal coach once a month or more when going out on auditions.
We got the recorder and immediately skimmed the book to see if we had to do anything special before using it. It looked simple enough. I took out the 64 sd card and replaced it with a 2GB (which it said the machine could easily handle).
We went off to a 90 minute audition prep and pressed the record button, and it said standby. Pressed it again, and it began recording. The numbers were increasing and by the end of the lesson it indicated a 91 minute recording. We got home to play it back, and nearly passed out. It had recorded only 5:55 in a .wav file. Both my daughter and I couldn't figure out what went wrong. So we chalked it up to perhaps OUR error even though my daughter is tech savvy and I worked in the computer field for 18 years.
We tested it before returning for a 2nd audition prep by putting it in front of our stereo. We turned on a radio station, and set it to record. After 32 minutes, we stopped it and played it back. Another downside to the edirol, is that only one person can listen to the playback at a time by earphones. If you want others critiquing your performance, you must first import the file over to the computer, where it will show up, at least in our case, in the itunes library. Can be very frustrating especially on the road! So this is a major turnoff for us. The sound quality is great however.
Okay, so we played back the radio recording and it was fine. It captured the 32 minutes. Off we went to the coach, and pressed record twice and watched it record for 60 minutes. Lo and behold, we went to play it back while we were there, and voila! NOTHING! We saw it record, and playback was a bust. Another hour of voice wasted.
Got home, recorded 14 minutes of singing, oh, and by the way, each lesson we went to had brand new Duracell batteries in it so we wouldn't run out. Both times by the end of the lesson, the batteries were down low so it uses a lot of battery for 1-1.5 hour lessons.
Here's a hint that we didn't know about until calling the Edirol people who have to be the nastiest in the business! When I called, I got a guy whose attitude was "well, why are you calling me with these problems? I don't know what YOU did wrong and I don't know what it could be because our units work fine". Whoa! I explained the situation and he had no solution. He saw I didn't lose my cool, and I asked to speak to someone WHO WOULD KNOW how to help me. He wouldn't put anyone else on and decided to try some things. I spoke about this last 14 minutes we recorded, and that right after that the battery low light came on, and we opened the bottom (which is tricky to do because it feels like it is going to break so be careful), and took the old (which only recorded a 1 hour lesson) batteries out, and put the new ones in. And the 14 minutes were gone! So he told me that you can never take the batteries out while you are recording or you will lose what you recorded. I didn't have time to look that up in the book, but I have to trust what he said. So you MUST power the machine off so you won't lose your recording.
I think a simple "save recording" button would put my mind at ease. It's like typing a word document....save it every paragraph or two so you won't lose the document if the power goes down. Since there is no save button on the edirol, it absolutely makes me nuts that after both 90 and 60 minutes lessons, we had nothing to show (well after the 90 minute session, 5:55 was saved). I still don't know why it won't save the recordings that are long especially that I have a 2GB card in it.
The rep did take me through some settings menu, that I couldn't replicate if I tried, since he went so fast, and he asked me what this and that setting was on (they were on the settings that the factory installed as I hadn't touched anything). He then told me to change something to mp3 and then said try that and see if it works. Now, that is not my idea of customer service. And there is nothing, at least that I could find, that would indicate i would have to go through a lot of menus to tape a long recording session.
We haven't gone back for a voice lesson yet to see if being on mp3 is going to help. I am sending it back to the place I bought it in and they are happy to take it back - more than I can say about Edirol. Horrible company to deal with....just my opinion.
The machine to us was a major disappointment.
Handy and versatile 2008-06-05
The balance of portability and quality is fantastic. The menu interface is reasonably intuitive and sufficiently user friendly given the small profile. It's very nice being able to capture spontaneous ideas with minimal overhead.
Great lightweight professional sounding recorder 2008-05-07
I am a professional musician and I love this product. Prior to buying the Edirol R9 I was using a Sony Hi Mini Disc. I loved the hi mini disc, but this product is much more compact. The built in microphones are more than adequate, but if you are a professional like me you may want to use a better microphone (there is an input for one). I bought a 4GB card and was able to record well over 3.5 hours of high quality audio. The Edirol is really lightweight. The only negatives I have are the battery life and the lights on the front. The R9 uses two double a batteries instead of a rechargeable battery. I record a lot so I go through double a batteries really quickly. The lights on the front are really annoying if you are trying to discreetly record a performance. When recording there is a bright red light that stays on and you can't shut off the front screen without turning the unit off. For quality, weight, and size I think this is a great recorder.
Questions 2008-05-06
Reading all the wonderful reviews, I've decided to get a Edirol R-09. However, can someone tell me besides getting the Edirol R-09 Recorder, what else do I need to get for recording music and transfer it to the computer and become mp3 file? (like usb, or mic....) Please specify the product and brand name. THanks a million!
Excellent preliminary results 2008-05-02
I have tried to record my piano playing so many times over the years with disappointing results. Also, I am very average when it comes to dealing with electronics. That said, I highly recommend this for home recording. I have a very nice piano (Yamaha C-7) and it is in tune. Reading the instructions took about an hour. When I finished, I said to myself -- "It works just like a typical tape player." I had expected some electronic rigmarole, but there was none. We have a good microphone, but I chose to use the internal mic. Turned it on, played for about five minutes and did a playback through headphones. It captured the sound perfectly, no strange echoes, nothing. Wow. That was simple.
If you order one of these, you'll want to order a couple of 2GB or 4GB memory cards also. I was recording at the high end and the card that comes with the device only lasts for five minutes or so.
My brief experience with Edirol R-09 2008-04-30
Edirol R-09 WAVE/MP3 Recorder, Black
This is not a technical review. Just my experience with the device.
A sleek device. Can be carried anywhere with ease. Recording quality thru the microphone or line in is good. The built-in microphone/s are very sensitive-pick up every sound around. Capable of Recording in both MP3 and WAV formats. Records on to an SD Card(2GB Maximum)
It has been useful for me in converting my cassettte tapes into MP3 format and then transferring it to my computer thru the provided USB cable. Works perfectly fine.
2 AA batteries last about 3 1/2-4 hours with continuous recording.
Of course, changing the batteries requires care.
Price: appears to be expensive. Considering its size, weight and capabilities, it may be worth the cost.
