Roland Edirol R-09 - right one for me?

[johan]

Hi
Long story short - I have loads of amps, guitars and pedal and enjoy good tone but know NOTHING when it comes to recording.
I'm not interested in direct recordning. I want to be able to record what I hear in the room as easy and as good as possible.
I've read some great things about the Roland Edirol R-09 unit. Supposed to be a simple box with a good built in microphone. Mp3 via USB sounds something I can handle

Is this a good box for me?

Any point using a Shure SM57, Sennheiser e609 or similar with this unit?

How do I record playing along with a backing track? Possible without any more equipment?

Thanks in advance

 

[kselbee]

These types of recorders are great for sticking in a room and recording a performance. I have the R09 and recorded some band practices and they turned out pretty good... certainly good enough for us to critique our playing. However, I wouldn't use this type of recorder if you're looking to layer or multitrack. And if you want to use different mics you'd need a mixer and run into the line in on the recorder.

 

[discountsounds]

I have an R-09, too, and I've used it for recording rehearsals and song ideas. Not super high fidelity, but it gets the job done and it's good enough for critiquing and remembering ideas, just like kselbee said.

 

[tkozal]

Great for recording rehearsals. Mine has also shown it is one tough little unit, as it has been sent flying to the floor several times, and still works just fine...

 

[archtopjazz]

Will this work for recording your amp with a track away from the computer and then downloading clips or is there something better?

 

[mykljpao]

I have used an R09 quite a few times to record my bands live and the results have always been good. Never going to sound as good as a quality multi-track but functional for the quick hit. Asaik there is no multitracking available on this unit. Very friendly user interface and seamless interface with pc. Boss microbr might be what you are looking for. I just got one and haven't had much time to experiment yet, but looks like you can do 4 track (plus virtual tracks) and mix down to mp3. The Zoom H2, H4 seem to have a massive feature set but I have no experience with them and don't know how easy or difficult they might be to negotiate. BTW: I also upgraded to a Rode NT4 stereo mic which plugs right into the R09 with a stereo miniplug. Great combination.