8 or 16 track digital recorders

kissingonstilts · 24th November 2007, 07:59 PM

Your favourite/best-sounding 8 or 16 track digital recorders that are easy to use?

No4PCs · 24th November 2007, 11:12 PM

Hey friend, i had the tascam m788 - 8 channels.

Very good machine, individual compressor per track and good reverb built in!

Easy of use, very intuitive. 24 bits strong sound.
Have the USB out to connect in computers, if you desire.
Take a look in that tascam version 24 tracks.

ramona · 25th November 2007, 12:20 AM

It depends...
I have a rack mounted Fostex D108 (8 track) that sounds great, is built like a tank and is easy to use. But it's 16bit and not an all-in-one solution.
I also have a Korg D1200MkII (12 tracks at 16bit, 6 at 24bit) for traveling that sounds great, and is generally not so easy to use. Lots of menus and button pushing, and a very convoluted FX system.
If I had it to do over again, I'd probably spend a bit more and get a Tascam instead of the Korg.

Lasermonkey · 25th November 2007, 02:29 PM

I'm using a Fostex D-160 (16-track) standalone HD recorder. It's very easy to use and sounds good and punchy to me. I will be getting another to slave to it.

A LaMere · 25th November 2007, 05:37 PM

I owned the Roland 2480 or 2400 at one point... It sounded strange, actually... I thought it just sounded bad to be honest, but did have the ability to use some plug-ins and was certainly easy to record with. T'was a bitch to do any editing with it though... It's mix-bus really seemed to screw around with things royally?? I have no idea why...

I've used the Yamaha aw2416?? unsure of the actual model# I guess... The 16 track, top o-the line one at the time... But I thought it sounded great, the onboard effects were better than the Rolands and I think it was a cheaper box too.

The dis-advantages were that once you record in the Yamaha... you were pretty much stuck inside of it with no export function to get the tracks to PT-LE or something like that to mix/edit things... They may have fixed this at some point though??

The Roland did have a track export function that worked perfectly and would burn all of your files to .wav's that were time aligned so you could just import into PT and go...

Either would be more capable of doing the job if you were able to use external pre's, etc on the front end in my opinion... It is nice to own PT, simply for the editing capabilities...

Curiously, I actually have a song on one of my myspace pages that was recorded with the 2480. If you follow the link in my signature "Guess you know" is the 2480, but mixed in PTLE.

Hope this helps, -Aaron

GordZilla · 26th November 2007, 09:59 PM

I am a bit "old school" I guess... For tracking I use an Alesis ADAT HD-24. You get 24 tracks simultaneous at 24 bit/48 khz (I have the older model), and can use almost any IDE hard drive in them. The converters are not too bad, and the sound quality I get suits my needs so far.

I really like the simplicity (arm your tracks, get your levels, and press record), as I often am engineering AND playing at same time and I find the "tape like" transport controls very easy to run while also focussing on playing.

After tracking, I fly all my tracks into my computer-based DAW (Sonar 6 PE) using the accessory Alesis Firewire dock, and then do all my mixing ITB... although I have also mixed outboard using my Mackie Onyx board, for quick mixes.

It can be a bit cumbersome for moving around, and you need some kind of monitoring/cue solution to use with it as the HD-24 has no built-in way of hearing playback/monitoring. I have mine racked up with a Mackie LMR 3204 line mixer, and a T.C. Electronic M300 FX unit, which gives me a pretty decent sounding, albeit not overly compact, all-in-one setup.

It all works for me

Regards

GordZilla · 26th November 2007, 10:01 PM

Ooops... I guess I am a few tracks over the "8 or 16" you initially posted.

It's all good.

roxxon · 26th November 2007, 11:01 PM

I'll save you a lot of time and money.
I've owned a number of real tape machines.
I've owned more than a a few Rolands and Tascam digital recorders.
I've demoed Yamaha, Fostex and Korg all in one recorders...

Forget them all, unless you want a portable unit.

Buy one of these and a fast computer with some expanded ram...

Sydec Audio Engineering - Soundscape | PCI Audio cards | Mixtreme 192 power PAK 16

This will blow away any
of those, all in one DAWs.

chk027 · 26th November 2007, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kissingonstilts

Your favourite/best-sounding 8 or 16 track digital recorders that are easy to use?

don't bother buy a Mac get a duet, I just stopped recording on the Zoom brand recorder, and it is like night and day....I'm in the process of starting over retracking as much as possible because the sound and editing is sooooooo much easier....

But to each his own, i'm a dumbass and thought the mac would be to hard, but the digital is what I found restricting........ punching in is the only thing I found easier for me, and I like the sound through the headphones while playing to be a bit better while tracking, or maybe I was just used to that sound.....

kooz · 28th November 2007, 07:14 PM

DR16 and DR8. Also tanklike, but with really nice Analog stages.
I have a DR16 I could sell you if you're interested.

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24th November 2007, 07:59 PM	#1
kissingonstilts Gear maniac Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 213	8 or 16 track digital recorders Your favourite/best-sounding 8 or 16 track digital recorders that are easy to use?

24th November 2007, 11:12 PM	#2
No4PCs Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Brasil Posts: 714	Hey friend, i had the tascam m788 - 8 channels. Very good machine, individual compressor per track and good reverb built in! Easy of use, very intuitive. 24 bits strong sound. Have the USB out to connect in computers, if you desire. Take a look in that tascam version 24 tracks. __________________ "Be not fond of the dull smoke-colored light from hell." - Tibetan Book of the Dead

25th November 2007, 05:37 PM	#5
A LaMere Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 700	I owned the Roland 2480 or 2400 at one point... It sounded strange, actually... I thought it just sounded bad to be honest, but did have the ability to use some plug-ins and was certainly easy to record with. T'was a bitch to do any editing with it though... It's mix-bus really seemed to screw around with things royally?? I have no idea why... I've used the Yamaha aw2416?? unsure of the actual model# I guess... The 16 track, top o-the line one at the time... But I thought it sounded great, the onboard effects were better than the Rolands and I think it was a cheaper box too. The dis-advantages were that once you record in the Yamaha... you were pretty much stuck inside of it with no export function to get the tracks to PT-LE or something like that to mix/edit things... They may have fixed this at some point though?? The Roland did have a track export function that worked perfectly and would burn all of your files to .wav's that were time aligned so you could just import into PT and go... Either would be more capable of doing the job if you were able to use external pre's, etc on the front end in my opinion... It is nice to own PT, simply for the editing capabilities... Curiously, I actually have a song on one of my myspace pages that was recorded with the 2480. If you follow the link in my signature "Guess you know" is the 2480, but mixed in PTLE. Hope this helps, -Aaron __________________ www.myspace.com/aaronlamere

28th November 2007, 07:14 PM	#10
kooz Gear maniac Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 216	Akai DR16 and DR8. Also tanklike, but with really nice Analog stages. I have a DR16 I could sell you if you're interested.

25th November 2007, 12:20 AM	#3
ramona Gear Head Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 44	It depends... I have a rack mounted Fostex D108 (8 track) that sounds great, is built like a tank and is easy to use. But it's 16bit and not an all-in-one solution. I also have a Korg D1200MkII (12 tracks at 16bit, 6 at 24bit) for traveling that sounds great, and is generally not so easy to use. Lots of menus and button pushing, and a very convoluted FX system. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably spend a bit more and get a Tascam instead of the Korg.

25th November 2007, 02:29 PM	#4
Lasermonkey Gear nut Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Cambridge, UK Posts: 88	I'm using a Fostex D-160 (16-track) standalone HD recorder. It's very easy to use and sounds good and punchy to me. I will be getting another to slave to it.

26th November 2007, 09:59 PM	#6
GordZilla Gear addict Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Northwest Territories, Canada Posts: 459	I am a bit "old school" I guess... For tracking I use an Alesis ADAT HD-24. You get 24 tracks simultaneous at 24 bit/48 khz (I have the older model), and can use almost any IDE hard drive in them. The converters are not too bad, and the sound quality I get suits my needs so far. I really like the simplicity (arm your tracks, get your levels, and press record), as I often am engineering AND playing at same time and I find the "tape like" transport controls very easy to run while also focussing on playing. After tracking, I fly all my tracks into my computer-based DAW (Sonar 6 PE) using the accessory Alesis Firewire dock, and then do all my mixing ITB... although I have also mixed outboard using my Mackie Onyx board, for quick mixes. It can be a bit cumbersome for moving around, and you need some kind of monitoring/cue solution to use with it as the HD-24 has no built-in way of hearing playback/monitoring. I have mine racked up with a Mackie LMR 3204 line mixer, and a T.C. Electronic M300 FX unit, which gives me a pretty decent sounding, albeit not overly compact, all-in-one setup. It all works for me Regards

26th November 2007, 10:01 PM	#7
GordZilla Gear addict Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Northwest Territories, Canada Posts: 459	Ooops... I guess I am a few tracks over the "8 or 16" you initially posted. It's all good.

26th November 2007, 11:01 PM	#8
roxxon Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: burnaby, b.c. canaduh Posts: 810	I'll save you a lot of time and money. I've owned a number of real tape machines. I've owned more than a a few Rolands and Tascam digital recorders. I've demoed Yamaha, Fostex and Korg all in one recorders... Forget them all, unless you want a portable unit. Buy one of these and a fast computer with some expanded ram... Sydec Audio Engineering - Soundscape \| PCI Audio cards \| Mixtreme 192 power PAK 16 This will blow away any of those, all in one DAWs.

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