good digital recorder?

[max243732]

Hi,
I was wondering if people had any thoughts on a (relatively) inexpensive digital recorder for a (relatively) inexperienced band. We recently borrowed a friend's TASCAM Digital Portastudio DP-01. It worked pretty good, but there were a few issues:
1) it only had two inputs for simultaneous recording. We were hoping for a few more.
2) the interface was a little confusing - just a tiny window, difficult to tell what was loaded at any givn point
3) plugging a bass or electric guitar directly into it produced a lousy, fuzzy sound. mic-ing up some little amps, though, worked pretty well
4) back to the interface - it does have a USB port, which we thought would make it easy to transfer sound files to the intertoobs, but there seemed to be a million "formatting" steps in between, with scary warnings about how if you did it wrong, you'd lose everything. So we didn't try.

Any tips on a similar machine in the $300-500 range? Probably the most important feature would be easy transfer of files to a computer for mixing and upoading to the web. Thanks!!

[kslight]

I've never used it so I can't say how good it is, but Zoom recently released a little 16 track recorder for about $400...it does 8 tracks simultaneously and records to SD cards. It even has built-in mic preamps. It has received decent reviews on Sweetwater...about what you'd expect in this price range anyway. The concept seems pretty cool, I thought about getting one for a really mobile setup, but Zoom/Boss gear especially stuff in this price range is usually a little cheesy...but it does record at 24-bits...so I can't imagine it being worse than recording to an old ADAT machine, right?

If you already have a computer, have you considered an Mbox or some kind of audio interface?

[ott0bot]

I own a Korg D888 and I highly recomend it. They go for a bit more than you want to spend, but used it would be in your price range. Actually Sam Goody has one for $499 new. But feature wise, and because of the ease of use I think it's worth it. Plus it's a solid metal unit, no cheap plastic shell. Decent pots, knobs and faders too.

I use PT mostly now, but I used this thing for a while before I got a computer that could actaully support a pro tools set up. It has 8 xlr or 1/4 inputs, preamps and eq for each channel. It looks just like an analog mixer, except it has a built in recorder. It does only have a tiny screen, but it's backlit and the menu is really easy to understand. It has a built in 40 gb HD and it acts just like an external hard drive when you hook it up to a computer. It saves in .wav format and you can even add your own tracks on the machine through your computer, you just need to name them correctly. I've used it for several songs and had great luck with recording live shows and practices.

My biggest complaint is the preamps are a bit sensitive. You have to crank them up a ways before you get signal, but if it's too much it will distort. Now if you are playing a bit louder I noticed it wasn't a problem. Also I had a few external pre amps and that made it pretty easy not to worry about it too much.

I don't use it often, and it's on a sort of permanent loan to a friend. But i don't want to get rid of it even now, because of the ease of use and how easy it makes it to record a practice or small live show.

[casey campbell]

get a yamaha aw4416. they are fully automated with motorized faders, have useful effects, and sound really good.

before i went fully to daw, i did alot of projects on one. they are really nice!

korg d1600 is pretty good for the money too.

[sears]

get a yamaha aw4416.

This machine is less than $600 used and built like a tank, like most of the stuff that went for $4000 back in y2k. The Akai DPS16 is another contender.

[casey campbell]

get a yamaha aw4416.

This machine is less than $600 used and built like a tank, like most of the stuff that went for $4000 back in y2k. The Akai DPS16 is another contender.

yup, and the aw4416 could be used also for a control surface...

also, it was rock solid. never had anything crash on me. waves also came out with an expansion card in which you could use waves effects with it. you could configure what type of inputs and outputs you'd want too. just a great machine.

the only drawback to the aw4416 was that you could not export raw .wav files onto disk to float into a daw. you could backup your projects files and settings, including automation...but it was a yamaha file format that other systems couldn't use. i always had to get around this the hard way...sync it, and float the files out in real time. which wasn't that bad when i used it with the adat out card. i could do 8 tracks at a time out. 2 passes and you had it, but if it was a long project it would take a while.

that was then, but now there is a program written called aw extract that will indeed extract the raw .wav files - so this problem is history now. too cool.


i never used the akai dps16, but i always thought it would be worth a try.

[firby]

I use a DPS-16 here. It is a good box. I will never part with it. No adat out though and no motorized faders. It sounds really good.

[ofajen]

get a yamaha aw4416. they are fully automated with motorized faders, have useful effects, and sound really good.

before i went fully to daw, i did alot of projects on one. they are really nice!

korg d1600 is pretty good for the money too.

You could also try the newer AW1600. It can connect up to a computer by USB 2.0 to transfer files. The AW2400 costs more but has more tracks, features, etc, including automation. Both have full 4-band parametric eq and dynamics on every input channel and every recorder track.

The AW4416 sounds like a pretty darn good deal, though, now that there is a fix to extract files to a DAW.

Cheers,

Otto