Fostex FR-2LE vs Edirol R-44 vs Sony PCM-D50

[totentanz]

Hi, I'll be following a band around for a video documentary and need to get a proper sound recorder for this.
I've narrowed it down to these 3:

Fostex FR-2LE
Edirol R-44
Sony PCM-D50

Which one is best?

[John Willett]

Fostex or the Edirol - both are good, both have XLR inputs with phantom power.

The Fostex is 2-track - the Edirol is 4-track - take your choice.

BUT - neither have timecode - you need to go to the original Fostex FR-2 or the Tascam HD-P2 for this.

[totentanz]

Originally Posted by John Willett

Fostex or the Edirol - both are good, both have XLR inputs with phantom power.

The Fostex is 2-track - the Edirol is 4-track - take your choice.

BUT - neither have timecode - you need to go to the original Fostex FR-2 or the Tascam HD-P2 for this.

I don't think I need 4 tracks or timecode, just the best in quality and durability/reliability in the field. I'm guessing that the Fostex is more bombproof given that NASA is using it? In the same price range is also the Korg MR-1000... any thoughts on how that compares?

[memphisindie]

Originally Posted by John Willett

Fostex or the Edirol - both are good, both have XLR inputs with phantom power.

The Fostex is 2-track - the Edirol is 4-track - take your choice.

BUT - neither have timecode - you need to go to the original Fostex FR-2 or the Tascam HD-P2 for this.

You could get the Edirol R4 Pro which has SMPTE timecode in, out, generate and sync, in all formats.

[totentanz]

How about the Zoom H4N? Seems to pack a ton of features in for the price!

[John Willett]

Zoom - no, not the same thing.

It depends on budget - Edirol R-04 Pro is 1st, probably the Fostex FR-2LE is 2nd and R-44 3rd.

[totentanz]

Ok, I think I've narrowed it down to the H4N and Sony PCM-D50. Which should I get?

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by totentanz

Ok, I think I've narrowed it down to the H4N and Sony PCM-D50. Which should I get?

Neither - I thought you said you wanted a proper sound recorder?

The H4N and PCM-D50 are both excellent pocketable recorders - but you have to get an expensive add-on to put proper mics into the Sony.

The Fostex FR-2LE or Edirol R-44 are both better units for what you described you wanted to do in your opening post.

Both these have full 48V phantom power and take XLR connectors.

[Fran Guidry]

If you want to use external mics (and the FR2-LE option makes that seem likely) the PCM-D50 does not provide phantom or XLR connections without a $500 accessory.

The Zoom H4n is surprisingly (to me) close to the Fostex with external mics.

Fran

[totentanz]

Originally Posted by John Willett

Neither - I thought you said you wanted a proper sound recorder?

The H4N and PCM-D50 are both excellent pocketable recorders - but you have to get an expensive add-on to put proper mics into the Sony.

The Fostex FR-2LE or Edirol R-44 are both better units for what you described you wanted to do in your opening post.

Both these have full 48V phantom power and take XLR connectors.

For using XLR mics on the Sony, what about using one of these?

I realized that the problem with both the FR-2LE and Edirol is that they are not mountable (no tripod socket). I will be a one-man crew (I know I know.. we should have a dedicated sound person), so I need something that is mountable on-camera, which leaves only the Sony and Zoom.

It seems to boil down to:

Zoom: XLR, 4 channels, SDHC up to 32GB, $100 less

Sony: better sound quality, better user interface, better on-board internal mics

On the H4N, there's no way to independently adjust mic sensitivity. Phantom power is only available on input 1 and 2 with no individual control. Stereo mic input is unbalanced.

Which to get?

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by totentanz

For the Sony, what about using one of these?

No - not the right thing at all.

You need THIS for the PCM-D50.

Originally Posted by totentanz

I realized that the problem with both the FR-2LE and Edirol is that they are not mountable (no tripod socket). I will be a one-man crew (I know I know.. we should have a dedicated sound person), so I need something that is mountable on-camera, which leaves only the Sony and Zoom.

It seems to boil down to:

Zoom: XLR, 4 channels, SDHC up to 32GB, $100 less

Sony: better sound quality, better user interface, better on-board internal mics

On the H4N, there's no way to independently adjust mic sensitivity. Phantom power is only available on input 1 and 2 with no individual control. Stereo mic input is unbalanced.

Which to get?

From what you describe you don't need a recorder at all and could just record direct to the camera.

Ideally you need two cameras, one locked off and the other mobile - you then cut between them as necessary.

Personally I think I would go with the R-44 (or R-4 Pro) - take a stereo feed from the mixer to two tracks and have a stereo pair of mics to the other two - that gives you choice. This can be stationary near the mixer - set the levels in rehearsal and use the limiters to prevent overload.

You run around with the mobile camera.

[memphisindie]

Originally Posted by John Willett

No - not the right thing at all.

You need THIS for the PCM-D50.






From what you describe you don't need a recorder at all and could just record direct to the camera.

Ideally you need two cameras, one locked off and the other mobile - you then cut between them as necessary.

Personally I think I would go with the R-44 (or R-4 Pro) - take a stereo feed from the mixer to two tracks and have a stereo pair of mics to the other two - that gives you choice. This can be stationary near the mixer - set the levels in rehearsal and use the limiters to prevent overload.

You run around with the mobile camera.

That's the setup I usually end up working with, only, I don't do the cameras when I do, there's a crew involved, but, very small. On one regular job I control 2 cameras robotically and run straight to computer through a Tricaster.
I'd rather edit later for a more polished production, but, I don't get to choose that. I'd like to record three cameras and sound synced into a CAMERA and a recorder, just in case, with live stereo wildtrack and assemble it in FCP.

[Photo123]

Originally Posted by John Willett

No - not the right thing at all.

What's wrong with the Pearstone connector? I picked one up to use with an Audix i5 mic.