Depends on the quality you want. The Zoom (or the Roland/Edirol) are pretty good quality units with great A/D to convert properly. There are "voice recorders" that are strictly for note taking. If you want reliable tunes, the inexpensive note takers would probably only respond in the voice band, ie 300 Hz to 3000 Hz. If you want better, look up either the Zoom's H2 or H4 or Edirol's R-09