Multitrack Recorders (advice needed)

rootjuse70

Hi guys,

wondering if y ou can help me? I am looking to delve into the world of home recording and am looking to get a decent multitrack. Only thing is i cant decide what one to get.

At the moment I am torn between the Tascam DP-01 and the Fostex MR-8. I say torn because they are the only ones I have seen that are reasonably priced and have more than 4 tracks.

Has anyone got any of these? or can anyone make any suggestions as to better alternatives?

400 euro is the pricerange, so any equipment more expensive than that is out.

much appreciated.

thanks

Doctor J

What are you looking to record? A lot of these only come with two inputs (so recording the likes of drums is impossible). How many inputs would you need?

maccor

buy a firewire card for your PC and an edirol FA 101 - total cost, about 550 euro. that'll give you 8 inputs and outputs plus two digital ins and outs.

BadAcidStudios

Doctor J wrote:

What are you looking to record? A lot of these only come with two inputs (so recording the likes of drums is impossible). How many inputs would you need?

well a simple stereo recording could be made. Then if you feel you need a bit more Kick just overdub with an added Kick track with a mic positioned in the Kick drum. Simple but can work especially if your on a budget

rootjuse70

not looking to record an abum or anything, just looking to have something to work on songs, and record stuff on, will be mostly acoustic

the tascam comes with two TRS inputs, the fostex with two XLRs. Are XLR's better than TRS? the Tascam comes with 40GB hard drive, so I would be tempted towards that instead..i just dont know.

would be looking at recording stuff like acoustic guitar, maybe a bit of electric, keyboard, vocals then simple drum tracks if needed or drum machine. as I said more for writing songs on and trying out different sounds.

Gibs

Check out this site. It gives a good beginners guide to home recording, what to buy and how to use the equipment.

http://tweakheadz.com/

Amigaman

I have my eye set on this 8 track from Zoom ...any thoughts on it as an entry level recorder??
http://waltons.ie/shop/product_info.php?cPath=37_38&products_id=9512

Briony Noh

Hey, RJ

I recently got a ZOOM digital 4 track and found it ideal. It records at 32 bits and the mixing desk is just a little bit hissy (most noticable on dialogue), but it's a simple matter to transfer data onto the computer and once there the bit rate can be increased for, say, Cubase using, say, Cool Edit (or Audacity, which is free and immensely versatile).

Other plus points, the ZOOM M-4 (I think that's the number) has a host of built-in effects etc., great for vocals in particular. As AMIGAMAN says, there's an 8-track version available as well, but it costs a bit more than 400.

Now, your message is dated November, but I've only just read it. My opinions may be ba little too late for you to think about them, but whatever the outcome, I hope you make great music with your choice.

...

rootjuse70

Hey Briony,

I decided to go for a Korg D4 in the end. havent opened it yet though, have to wait till christmas

but it has effects and amp modeller and it is a four track, but has 8 virtual tracks for each one of the 4. So it looks like it will be a pretty good piece of kit, for what i want to do anyways.

thanks for the advice though, now all i need is a program which will allow me to mix all the individual tracks on a computer once i have uploaded them to my computer. any reccommendations, i have cooledit, but it is an old old version of it.

GerryRyan

rootjuse70 wrote:

I decided to go for a Korg D4 in the end

As it happens I was looking for one of these Korg recorders today.

I'm seriously considering buying one aswell, but they're sold out everywhere.
I only need to record acoustic and vocals, but this one's had good reviews.

Can you tell me anything about it (did you test it out in the shop)?
What is it like compared to others (besides having a usb port etc)?


The only thing about it that's a bit offputting is the size of it.

rootjuse70

Hi,

I havent tried it out yet, i just did a lot of reading about them, comparing them to other ones etc. i got it the other day but havent opened it yet, the box is pretty small alright, so i will post something after christmas and let you know what it is like,

the fact that it had effects was a good thing for me, some of the others dont. and also the fact that it has 8 virtual tracks for each of the 4 and also a usb port, means you can record loads of stuff t hen upload it to a computer and mix it and so on there, and also hsa two inputs at the same time. so it seems like a good piecee of kit but only time will tell.

jtsuited

it will save you so much money in the long run if you go down the computer recording road. have you considered getting some sort of usb or firewire interface: edirol, presonus, mbox, m-audio etc?

Chris IS Cool

rootjuse70 wrote:

now all i need is a program which will allow me to mix all the individual tracks on a computer once i have uploaded them to my computer. any reccommendations, i have cooledit, but it is an old old version of it.

I got a guitar effects pedal for christmas and a recording/mixing programme called Cubase LE came with it which is pretty good, you can process the sound in a number of different and interesting ways, and do different effects (cool reverb and stuff) for each audio track etc... I recommend it (though i have no experience of any other recording software other than Dexster (which isnt as good)).