I know this is a little sub-pro but I really hope you fellas can help me out. I've got $300 max to spend on a portable, stereo digital recorder to suit my singer/songwriter/band leader needs.
I'm aware that this price range does necessitate certain compromises. What I hope to achieve is uncompressed stereo audio of practices/ live gigs etc. My primary concerns would be low noise and quick and easy use. My band is semi-acoustic and my main instrument is ukulele so I can't deal with too much noise. I would hope to be able to quickly set recording levels and hit go without having to scroll through a bunch of menus etc.
I would also hope to primarily use the integrated microphones though I would expect line ins. I've seen some models with phantom powered mic pres which would be nice but not a deal breaker as I have ready access to outboard pres and nicer mics if the situation warrants their use.
Anyway that's my situation, here are two contenders I'm now looking at. I hope you fine people can steer me in the right direction. Thank you much.
M-AUDIO - MicroTrack II - Professional 2-Channel Mobile Digital Recorder Samson - Zoom - H2