Don and Alan - I hear you. And I hadn't considered the PMD661, which is actually only 600.00 if you don't go for the mod. That's a good middle between the H4N and the R-44. I am frustrated with the rather large number of people who have a number like 200.00 - 300.00 in their heads and do indeed go for the bare minimum gear, when if they just put a little more into their budget planning they could have a nice piece of gear that they won't need to replace. There was a guy who got his Rode Video mic stolen and wanted a replacement for 100.00 - 200.00 but was better than the Rode VM. Everyone was encouraging him to upgrade his budget just a little and wrote ling posts with dissertations on value, and not cheaping out etc, then he just went for the Rode VM again, or something cheaper. You try to help people... I should probably take a break from the audio forums, but I keep pulling myself back in when I read someone needing help, then not listening.

You guys are right, people do want value. But SOME people just want cheap too.

What quality of audio willl a H4N in a controlled environment with a decent mic provide?