Roland R-1 Portable 24-Bit WAVE Recorder & Player

by Roland

Product Features

• The R-1 is equipped with two omni-directional electret microphones for quick and clean capture. It offers superior results using internal microphones
• Pro-quality internal effects processor, equipped with 13 tools for perfecting your sound.
• Rugged yet compact at 3-15/16 (W) x 5-5/16 (D) x 1-3/16 (H) inches (8 ounces)
• Includes AC Adaptor Roland PSB-6U type, Carrying Case, Owner's manual
• Data transfer to Windows and Macintosh computer. The EQ of the R-1 offers a variety of presets for various styles of music.
• The R-1 also provides Tuner and Metronome functions, making it an excellent portable music-practice tool

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• ASIN: B0006UGF30
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,874 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
  • #4 in Musical Instruments > DJ, Electronic Music & Karaoke > Electronic Music > Sound Modules

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

EDIROL handpicked the top analog and digital components for the R-1. The unit records and plays back at crystal-clear, 24-bit audio resolution without compression. Electrolytic capacitors provide stable, reliable power to the analog circuits, eliminating DC interference and offering a truly low-distortion sound. Maximum recording time is approximately 137 minutes (MP3, 64 kbps mode) when using the included 64 MB memory card. The R-1 offers nine quality modes ranging from 64 kbps compression to 24-bit linear WAV.

Record via Built-In Mic, External Mic, or Line Inputs
Need to record quickly, easily, with pro results - and without having to buy extra components? The R-1 is equipped with two omni-directional electret microphones for quick and clean capture. It offers superior results using internal microphones because it is completely solid state - the R-1 makes no noise itself for the internal microphones to pick up. Just press the REC button, the level indicator pops up on the display, and you're instantly ready to record. The R-1 also lets you capture audio through its external line or microphone input.

Internal Effects, Metronome, and Tuner
The R-1 goes above and beyond the competition with its pro-quality internal effects processor, equipped with 13 tools for perfecting your sound (microphone simulator, noise suppressor, hum-cut, EQ, reverb, center canceller, and more). The EQ of the R-1 offers a variety of presets for various styles of music. The R-1 also provides Tuner and Metronome functions, making it an excellent portable music-practice tool!

Take it Anywhere
Robust, rugged, and ready to travel, the R-1 is built to withstand the rigors of the road. Capture the sounds of nature, record live music, use it as an MP3 player, plug it into your studio gear or stereo for pristine playback - the options are vast. The R-1 runs on two AA batteries or from the included AC adaptor.

Convenient Connectivity
In addition to its headphone output and external audio inputs, the R-1 can connect to the outside world via USB 2.0 for importing/exporting WAV / MP3 audio files directly to the computer. The R-1's headphone jack also doubles as an S/PDIF optical out, so you can stream audio to digital equipment such as digital speakers or DAT/CD/MD recorders.

Technical Specifications

• Input Impedance: Mic input: 6.8 k ohms; Line input: 100 k-ohm
• Maximum Output Level (adjustable): 9 dBu (output volume set to maximum)
• Recommended Load Impedance: 32 ohms
• Frequency Response: 20 Hz--20 kHz (+/- 2dBu)
• Residual Noise Level (input level set to maximum/output volume set to maximum): -84dBu
• Signal Processing: AD/DA conversion 24 bit / 44.1 kHz
• Power Supply: AC adaptor (included) or Battery Rechargeable Ni-MH AA x 2 or Alkaline AA x 2. R-1 has no charge function.
• Battery life: Playback: approximate 6 hours, Recording: approximate 2.5 hours
• USB: USB 2.0 Storage device (WindowsXP/2000/Me, MacOS9.2 or MacOS X, OS standard driver)
• Display: 20 x 2 character display
• Dimensions: 99.25 (W) x 134 (D) x 30.2 (H) mm / 3-15/16 (W) x 5-5/16 (D) x 1-3/16 (H) inches
• Weight: 205 g / 8 oz (excluding CF and batteries)
• Dynamic Range: 83dB
• Signal to Noise ratio:93 dB

Product Description

Roland Authorized Dealer - N030273Y

Edirol R-1 Portable 24-Bit WAVE Recorder & Player - Searching for the highest recording quality in a portable device? EDIROL handpicked the top analog and digital components for the R-1. The unit records and plays back at crystal-clear, 24-bit audio resolution without compression. Electrolytic capacitors provide stable, reliable power to the analog circuits, eliminating DC interference and offering a truly low-distortion sound. Audio recorded into the R-1 is stored directly onto a removable CompactFlash(tm) card. Maximum recording time is approximately 137 minutes (MP3, 64 kbps mode) when using the included 64MB CompactFlash Digital-media memory card. The R-1 offers nine quality modes ranging from 64 kbps compression to 24-bit linear WAV. R-1's headphone jack also doubles as an S/PDIF optical out, so you can stream audio to digital equipment such as digital speakers or DAT/CD/MD recorders

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I returned mine in 2 weeks, December 31, 2005

By 

Lev Selector (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Roland R-1 Portable 24-Bit WAVE Recorder & Player

I don't care about the looks or display brightness.
I need the results.
Here are the reasons why I have returned EDIROL R-1 so soon:
1. The batteries (fresh AAs) last only 1 hour 10 min of recording (in my tests), which is only half of promissed 2.5 hours.
2. If you use the provided power supply - then you get really strong humming (60Hz + harmonics).
3. Even on batteries, the device seems to pick up a lot of 60Hz interference (works as antenna).
4. The built-in notch-filter is digital and is not very helpful.

My solution - I returned the EDIROL and bought Marantz PMD 670 with RB1100 Rechargable Nicad Battery and 1 GB flash card. It is about 30% more expensive, but results are better like day and night.
I now get very clean recording even with connected power supply. Even if I record from the phone (recorder and phone both have power supplies - thus we get a ground loop to pick up stray signals. Marantz somehow have solved this problem - recording is clean). Many hours of recording on one battery charge. Many options to use stereo/mono, different signal level, preamplifier and prefilter, etc. etc. etc. Marantz is a bit bigger, but it is light, and it is convenient to carry around.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simply Amazing, No Moving Parts, June 9, 2005

By 

The Information (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Roland R-1 Portable 24-Bit WAVE Recorder & Player

How many years have we all been waiting for this?

This recording device is a little bit larger than your hand and is designed to record sound onto compact flash memory cards (up to 2GB--the included card is 64MB). It can use a number of MP3 formats as well as uncompressed WAV files up to 24-bit. No driver disk included--you just plug in the USB cable to your computer. Your Windows or Mac OS should simply detect this unit and make it appear like a drive, just like a digital camera. This device has built in stereo microphones that are near professional quality.

What an amazing set of features in the guts of this unfortunately cheaply built "plasticy" device. Dropping this unit seems like it would be a tragedy--plastic knobs and casing seem quite flimsy.

This recording device operates silently since there is no tape mechanism or internal moving parts of any kind (solid state!). It can use 2 AA batteries or the included power supply. Dynamic or plug-in-power condenser type microphones can be used instead of the unit's built-in ones. Input level is controlled via a knob and level monitoring occurs on the display of the unit. All audio jacks are 1/8" stereo mini: Mic, Line In, and Phones/Optical Out. The unit does not have digital input, only output. The unit sports some effects, a metronome, and a tuner. The 20 x 2 character display is conservative but effective, and has a controllable backlight.

Although playback features are somewhat limited, this first generation recorder is currently a one-of-a-kind in terms of size and quality. Future generations are sure to have greater capacity and smaller size, hopefully as good audio quality as this unit, and hopefully heavy duty metal casing!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sounds great with external mics, July 25, 2005

By 

R. Meike (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Roland R-1 Portable 24-Bit WAVE Recorder & Player

With external mics I've made some great recordings with the R1. I took this unit with me on a recent trip to Europe and I really love the results. The mic preamps seem to be reasonably quiet. The 4 star rating is a result of the great sound quality alone. Sound quality for the price, I just don't think you can beat it. In other respects, there is room for improvement.

The unit is relatively small and light weight. The case is plastic and prone to scratches, so be sure to keep it in the protective carying case.
It is sometimes nice to have the built in mics so that you don't have to worry about cables etc, but the sound quality is nothing like what you will get with external mics.

Here are some thing I wish they'd do better (maybe the next version):
1) The meters are horrible. It is so important to get the levels right on digital recordings and the meters on this box are really bad.
2) I wish the unit had an internal clock because its really hard to sort the recordings after you record them. If they had a proper time and date it would be much easier.
3) The naming is a bit broken. If you rename a file, it changes teh file name, but not the internal MP3 name. This means that when I import the files into iTunes or any other MP3 savvy app, the name reverts back to the original. This is really annoying.
4) If you change the name of a file, the system will reuse the original name - ick. Imagine this you record something, rename it, record something else, rename it, record something else, rename etc. When you import the files into an MP3 savvy program, they are all named R1_0001 and have no time information associated with them.

Bottom line: With external mics it sounds great. The management of recordings leaves something to be desired. I'm sure they will improve this with time, but for now, if these features are important to you, you may want to wait for another version or a different unit all together.

BTW, this unit with a little portable iPod speaker system such as the InMotion I from Altec Lansing make a nice combination. I have a little portable studio to carry around with me that sounds quite remarkable.