johnadams, The kicker for me is that it doesn't have a manual level control, it's software. The Edirol R-09 has two buttons on the left side, + and -, which are dedicated to record level (similarly on the right for playback level). If I'm recording somewhere I really don't want to futz around trying to find the right menu to change the level, and I don't think auto level works well enough.

Now I've met people who are very happy with the Zoom, so it may not be as bad a picture as I paint. I've never used one. But I know several people who use the Edirol (3 of us at the last Irish session, all different colors), and we are all very happy with it.

Hope this helps.

(PS Johnny, Please send me your mailing address)