which of these has the best pre-amps and sound...i know alot of people have the zoom h4n, and i can hear plenty of examples online...only a few tascams, and no marantz...

some people say the tascam dr-100 has stellar pre-amps...is this true? i found a tascam dr-100 brand new for 300...

so i figured i would ask this...

thanks

I was looking at the Tascam and was told by a sales rep to avoid it-- he claims they are very noisy. I have asked Tascam for a review unit (vendors lend us product for review) but they have not responded. Will try to dig up someone at NAB. Meanwhile, I've had excellent results with all Zoom products-- I have 2 of the old H4's and 1 H4n.

very interesting...maybe someone will chime in on this also....

I did noise tests at different times, the the H4n and DR-100 were fairly even in terms of noise.

To really be sure though, I plan to get them both in the same room at the same time and do a head-to-head test.

I did noise tests at different times, the the H4n and DR-100 were fairly even in terms of noise.

To really be sure though, I plan to get them both in the same room at the same time and do a head-to-head test.

awesome....i am soooo stuck, don't know which one to order!

From your list the Marantz is the clear winner. However I'd go with the Sony PCM-D50 instead, which is even better.
See here for a very nice comparison: Portable Recorder Reviews (http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/portable-recorder-reviews.html)
The Zoom has pretty noisy preamps and issues with harmonics. See here: http://www.martin-doppelbauer.de/fieldrecorder/index.html

The Marantz is the clear winner. I own the H4n and I find the pre amps a little noisy. That said, it does the job fairly well for the price point. Just that I'm looking to do some VO work so the Marantz would meet my needs better.

Listen to this... its awesome
Transom Tool: Marantz PMD 661 (http://transom.org/?p=1774)