I've used this impressive and durable mic for several years at demonstrations and for other demanding field work. (I had to replace the classy woven fabric cord with a scavenged cord.)
Hear this mic in a recording of a Folk Singer at the Republican National Convention in 2004 in Manhattan. the mic was rotated 90 degrees so the left and right elements are recording the singer separate from the guitar. This effect was again manipulated in mixdown, and I'm not crazy about the method. (A conventional placement would yield a near-mono voice with a natural stereo effect on the instrument.)
The R-1's internal mics: Close-micing with the internals is especially awkward. Here's a recording using the inbuilt mics. The subject tolerated having the R-1 in his face, which produced a nice stereo image of the tenor banjo, and an almost monophonic, close-miced voice, while minimizing the nearby subway train's noise.
Also Compare this microphone to the street recording of a demonstration in Washington, D.C. I made with a pair of omnidirectional Behringer B5's through a Delta Audio Buddy preamplifier. All recordings are made with the Edirol R-1 into MP3 at various compression rates.
Sony's Page on this product.
Works well with...
