Hi Harry.
I use a Zoom H2N, primarily for radio interviews. It can be set to record in various formats and has several microphone configurations. My norm is to record and save as MP3 because the studio has cd players which also allow MP3 playback from a usb stick. I record using a 4-mike configuration, 2 on each side. On saving, it produces 2 stereo files which allows for volume adjustment between the 2 channels before merging for further editing. Files are saved automatically on switching off!
You can edit in the machine but the screen is very small and I find it much easier to use an editing programme. My usual is Adobe Edition although one can download Audacity for free.
There are other recorders but this does exactly what I want, very simply.
Hope this helps.
Eddie