Final word on Digital Recorders: which for me?

Right on SlothRob, this is just what I was hoping for in this thread.  Some detailed writing about the pros and cons of recorders and what they're being used for.  Nice post!

Here is the link for the Zoom.  Street price is $199:

http://proaudiomusic.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2192

    Thanks, I hope my comments on the Zoom PS-04 are useful to someone.  I just wanted to point people to some other places where they can get info:
    There are a lot of features to the PS-04.  Here is the manufacturer's site, which has a thorough description of the features and specs.
    If you want to read other user's comments, here is a forum dedicated to the PS-04 and it's predecessor the PS-02.
    Of course, there are also the Harmony-Central user reviews.
Record!!
   

For $300.00 you don't get much of a selection. http://www.music123 has Maudio mobile usb with built in mike preamp for $150.00, Cakewalk studio for $90.00,condenser mikes for 30-70 bucks. An USB device is far easier to connect to your computer than trying to go into the soundcard. The Maudio device has inputs for instrument and mike and two output connections for speakers.Cakewalk software seems to be the most economical software for multitrack recording. You can set up a neat small recording system with the above. If you add a gigabyte hard drive to your computer ($65 and up depending on size) you have several hours of contineous recording space. I have an Aardvark usb3 interface $230.00 that comes with Cakewalk guitar tracks 2. I am able to record using two mikes, guitar and mike,two guitars. and multirecord sound on sound. I recently added an Art mp studio preamp with 48v phantom power.($80.00) this is a tube preamp and is good for recording the guitar straight in, the phantom power for pickups. I use a very cheap Mike ,$30.00 from radio shack to record  when i use my guitar through the guitar amp, it works well right up against the grill. All this works well for home practice and composing.For professional work I would copy to CD and get it to a real studio.computer is a PC windows Xp for less than $500.

Bump. Just want to get some more opinions out there...

Unfortunately my Zoom PS-04 review didn't survive the furum upgrade.
Let me update it, if anyone is interested...

I continue to use the $200US PS-04 most every day and I think it is a good entry into recording. It is portable and great for jamming to your own recorded tracks and the internal drum/bass machine. I have a transposable 12-bar blues progression that allows me to practice in any key for something like 196 bars, forever if I use the A/B-repeat.
There are many good effects and amp models built in and it is completely portable (now that the weather's nice I'm jamming outdoors with headphones.) with more than 5 hours on good rechargable batteries.
The microphone is even decent (if only I could sing), but omnidirectional so you better have a quiet room.
The recording algorhythm is lossy, but of remarkably good quality.
The weaknesses are a confusing interface with a steep learning curve and some noisy algorhythms (especially when the gain is high). They also sound more digital to me than they did at first, but I don't think anyones going to be building anything as convienient as this with tubes anytime soon.

try looking up a boss br864

Skastylee's recordings do sound great on the Boss Br864.

bump, anyone with more thoughts?

I just ordered the boss 864 together with a shure sm57 microphone and a mixer (Behringer 1002).

Looking forward to doing some recording.

Could you elaborate what the boss 864 does? I just did a seach with little avail...

The boss br864 is a digital recorder - with 8 tracks or recording - two at the same time. Each track has some virtual tracks, whatever that means but I think it has something to do with trying each track 8 times and picking the best one to save.

It also has effects, drum patterns and I think the ability to slow down music for practice purposes.

The songs can be saved as wav files and sent to a PC using the usb port.

The it has all the 'usual' editing facilities so you can edit a track (punch in I think).

As you can guess this is my first recorder so I will let you know more when I get it. Buying it mainly to record my progress and have some fun with the effects and also to record my jam sessions with another guitar so we can record rhythm and then add other guitar tracks to the rhythm.

I will also use it to record my voice and see if it is any good for singing!!

There are cheaper ones that do the same thing from Kork, Tascam and Zoom - but tis one comes highly recommended and there is a forum dedicated to this recorder on yahoo groups.

Yea, I just got a quote from musician's friend and they are going for $470. I have Guitar Player from November '03 and it has six recorders featured with appropriate reviews. Here is some quick information:

Korg D1200mkII ($1,000 street price) http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040609153118067165153076098374/g=rec/search/detail/base_id/108754
Who is it for? “…Everyone. It's not perfect for band recording, but it's workable, and solo artists have just about everything they need. User-friendliness doesn't scare beginners or patronize pros looking for a portable demo machine.”
Guitarist features: “Top mount guitar input, a fair assortment of amp/ cabinet models, tons of effect algorithms, and lots of critical functions on easy-to-find, dedicated buttons”
Recording time: 61 hours at 16bit, 122 hours at 24 bit.
Recording media: 40GB hard drive
Record simultaneous tracks: 4
Playback simultaneous tracks: 12
CD burner on board? Yes
Cons: “Four simultaneous tracks almost get a band to bliss (stereo drum mix, bass, guitar), but bigger bands might wish for more tracks.”

Yamaha AW16G ($1,000 street price) http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040609153118067165153076098374/g=rec/search/detail/base_id/79111
Who is it for? Serious recordists who want to track their bands
Guitarist features: “A guitar input, a reasonable number of amp sims, and a full complement of effects (including tremolo)).
Recording time: not listed, but likely 30 hours 24 bit, 61 hours at 16 bit.
Recording media: 20GB hard drive
Record simultaneous tracks: 8
Playback simultaneous tracks: 16
CD burner on board? Yes
Cons: “Getting through the manual is more than a one-night affair.”

Zoom MRS-802CD ($700 street price) http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-ZOO-MRS802BCD--brand-290.html
Who is it for? “Solo artists with big ideas will love all the models and effects, as will pros who need a full-service demo.”
Guitarist features: “A guitar input, miles and miles of amp models and effects algorithms, and a butt-simple manual.”
Recording media: 20GB hard drive
Recording time: 60 hours (didn't list resolution, assumed 16 bit)
Record simultaneous tracks: 2
Playback simultaneous tracks: 12
CD burner on board? Yes
Cons: “Two simultaneously recordable tracks won't excite those wanting to track their bands. You need an option USB interface to import audio files.

Tascam 788 ($600 street price) http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040609153118067165153076098374/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/240706/
Who is it for? “Recordists of all levels who would prefer to use their own rigs, rather than rely on onboard amp models.
Guitarist features: “You get a guitar input, two effects processors, and easy-to-grok operations.”
Recording time: 1 hour 24bit, 3 hours 16 bit
Recording media: 7.5GB hard drive
Record simultaneous tracks: 6
Playback simultaneous tracks: 8
CD burner on board? No, but for an extra $200 you can buy an external burner.
Cons: No amp models and you have to spend another $200 if you want a CD burner and no XLR inputs.

Boss BR-864 ($470 street price) http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040609153118067165153076098374/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/707049/
Who is it for? “Recording newbies who want to start tracking without suffering through a learning curve, as well as pros who want a portable idea note pad.
Guitarist features: Amp models, speaker sims, guitar effects
Recording time = 60 minutes highest quality/90 minutes long mode.
Recording media: 128mb compact flash card
Record simultaneous track: 2
Playback simultaneous tracks: 8
CD burner on board? No
Cons: “…limit of recording two simultaneous tracks.”

When comparing these by price, remember to consider the added cost of flash memory for the ones that don't have hard drives. You'll want a big card, 128k or bigger. I would get bigger, but kick myself later when the cards become cheaper.

Well, it seems that life is really just a series of endless choices and money is a concern. If it were not, we'd all be driving BMW's, live in Beverly hills and have trophy wives and money to burn.

You have to decide, “Do I want to get an oil change or buy a tuner? Do I want to go out to dinner or spend the money on groceries? Do I want to take a vacation or save the money for another guitar?” In the past 3 weeks I've been selling stuff I have that I don't necessarily need and stuff I really want to keep but want to exchange the goods for money to buy a recorder. But Tuesday night's practice with the guys made me realize I likely have a few things that should be purchased before the recorder. Too many decisions….

Further, I know I could get the Fostex MR8 for $300 by selling an amp and a few do dads and it would work. I would have to accept the flash card and short recording time but that's what I'd get for 3 bills. Or, I could saw “aw, heck with it, I'm getting the Korg. Never mind it costs more than most used cars I've had but it will last me quite awhile and I'll have excess recording capacity for myself but could be used to record our practices.” Choices, choices, choices….

Funny, I'm very simple with many things. Like cars. I don't car if it looks good or has a nice interior, all I care out is that it works when needed. Food is another example. Really good food is really good, but I'll eat Taco Bell bean burritos or Wendy's hamburgers because the are inexpensive, taste reasonably good for the price, and it fills my stomach. I eat steak maybe once a year. The best food I eat is when I go to family parties. So instead of spending $25 on a decent dinner (yea, good, but no necessary for my simple tastes) I can spend it on tools, CD's, electronics, or even guitar stuff.

Ever met someone who had a really expensive vehicle and a very modest house? Or vice versa? I know I have. Those people just prioritize some things over another.

Really good food is really good, but I'll eat Taco Bell bean burritos

Wait.... I don't see the difference.