Edirol R-44 4 channel Portable Recorder announced
 

3lbs! Records to SD cards! Runs on 4 AA's for 4 hours!
4 XLR inputs with phantom power.
No SMPTE Timecode like the R- 4 PRO. Still pretty cool though. Can't wait to try one out.
http://edirol.net/products/en/R-44/

Street price will be around $795

Looks like this recorder has inherited the good pre-amps of the R4pro and not the rather noisy ones of the R4. We'll see.

One thing I like that they've changed on this model is the ability to Press the Monitor POT to select which channels you're currently monitoring. So the first press might be Channel 1 mono, then a second press would be Channel 2 mono, 3 then 4, then a mix of 1 and 2, then 3,4 then 1,2,3,4. On the previous models, you've had to go into the menu a few steps.

I think you could also select the monitored channels on previous models by pressing the arrow up and down keys. At least on my R-4 this works.

Looking at the block-diagram I discovered that the "level" knobs, limiters and lo-cut filters all operate in the digital domain, i.e. after the A/D converter.
Only the "sens" knobs influences the analog signal.
That's kind of disappointing since a digital limiter seens pretty much useless to me.
Although the R4pro has the same block-diagram it's brochure says "analog limiter". The R44's brochure doesn't mention that any more. Now I don't know what to believe...

This one looks very promising. Still need to try it out though ;)

Is the Control Sync output also for CTRL L / Lanc devices such as a Canon or Sony-camera or is it juts for hooking up two devices?

Speaking of which, has anyone run a sonic comparison between the R4 Pro and other competitive products on the market (such as Fostex, Sound Devices, etc.)?

Has anyone had the chance to compare the R-44 preamps with the ones of the R-4 or R-4pro?
Although announced for end of march the R-44 doesn't seem to be in stores yet.

Anyone had the chance to test out the r-44 yet? I'm most interested in the quality of the sound. Of course it's not going to sound like an SD 744 but hopefully it will offer the smaller guys an entry into professional sound without selling our cars.

Any first impressions, from people who have actually listened to the thing, would be welcomed.

its small, but its not bag friendly. the adjustment knobs are TINY ! plus they are inner/outer. forget using gloves. they are cheap plastic, whole case is. the display is much better then previous units but still really low res. not a unit I think would survive serious pro use, but maybe occasional field use when you need the tracks and can use it desktop style. there's more then just the quality of the pre's to look at.

I have run the R4 Pro, next to the 744T. Both using the same Scheops mic and recording the same thing monitoring w Sony 7506. After comparing the 2 recordings extensively, I decided to buy an R4 Pro the very next day. I was very pleased with the quality of the sound and pre-amps.

I do notice, however that when I playback my recordings now at home there is small noise when no dialog.. like low, background pre-amp hiss. My comparison test I did pleased me, maybe all recorders have preamp hiss to a certain degree. Or do some have none at all ? In movies there really isnt any that is heard.. is this because of post-cleanup, or really damn good recordings from really damn good recorders ?

Sorry for commenting on this thread so late.

To start with, comparing the 744T with the R4Pro through headphones is not quite right. You will be listening to the headphone amp from both units, with several passive parts in the middle that may influence what you hear.

So to make things right you should capture both sounds to a computer and edit that sound in a "checker's way", normalizing the audio from both recorders up to 0.1dB if possible. Then listen to that on very good monitors or through a very good quality headphone. Some people don't like the 7506 and say it's not accurate, so maybe you should try different quality headphones.

R44 sound quality?
 

Any thoughts on it's sound/preamp quality?
Really bad or acceptable with or without noise removal in post?
I mean for location sound, narratives and ambience/atmo.
I'll be using Senn MKH416 and Rode NTG3 on it plus some wired lavs and maybe a Oktava pair for stereo atmos.

Thanks,
T