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8 track SD/HD recorders

  • 30-11-2009 2:53pm
    #1
    mill89
    Closed Accounts Posts: 24 ✭


    I was considering buying an 8 track (preferably digital) and I was just wondering if maybe people could give me some info. or even post reviews of particular models on this thread. I said 8 tracks in the title but that was said as basically a minimum number of channels that I'm interested in. I'm just looking to do some basic home recording (guitars/bass/vocals). Oh, and any advice regarding mics would also be appreciated.

    Cheers!!!


Comments

  • #2
    kfoltman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 252 ✭✭kfoltman


    mill89 wrote: »
    I was considering buying an 8 track (preferably digital) and I was just wondering if maybe people could give me some info. or even post reviews of particular models on this thread. I said 8 tracks in the title but that was said as basically a minimum number of channels that I'm interested in. I'm just looking to do some basic home recording (guitars/bass/vocals). Oh, and any advice regarding mics would also be appreciated.

    I have a Zoom MRS-8, and it does the job. 8 tracks playback, 2 tracks simultaneous recording, 10 switchable takes/track. The drum machine function is not very useful except as a glorified metronome. Bass track feature is better left unmentioned. Sound quality should be terrible due to DPCM encoding (8 bits per sample per channel), but is not bad at all. Effects are usable, but you can have only one insert and one send at the same time (some insert effects are really pairs of effects when used during recording - that is, a different effect for each input). Built in microphone is shyte but we've been using it for recording rehearsals with acceptable results. There are some crackles in some recorded tracks, not sure why. It only handles cards up to 1 GB, which is slightly inconvenient.

    For simple tasks, practising, recording ideas, etc. the workflow is clearly superior to a PC. For more complicated ones, a well configured PC wins. Any operations like track copy/move on the Zoom are really time-consuming. The best approach is to record raw tracks on the Zoom and then use a PC for mixing/editing. Assuming the 8-bittedness of the box is not too audible (or just potentially scary) :)

    From what I read, the newer model - Zoom R16 - is even better - due to features like SDHC card support, the ability to be used as a soundcard or control surface, 8 tracks simultaneous recording and phantom power. And it uses 16-bit or 24-bit linear PCM, not lossy 8-bit DPCM. I was thinking of buying it, but decided to use Reaper with a 8-in/8-out PCI card on my desktop PC instead. I'm not regretting it, except for the lack of portability.


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