Zoom R4. Anyone else?

[Rosette]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

I don't use a click, but the R4 has 84 built-in drum patterns as well as a click in various time signatures, as well as a pre-count. For clarification of all the details download the PDF users manual and see pages 33 & 34.

Thanks I’ll check that out. Considering this unit or maybe a Tascam Portacapture.

If anyone here has experience with both the R4 and the Portacapture I’d be interested in your impressions.

[Rudy4]

I'm back again.

Playing with a new way to capture quick-n-dirty audio to combine with video for archiving tunes and songs.

Here's the whole setup... the R4 is visible on the floor next to my chair. My Cordoba Cadete has a rather poor sounding JJB twin pickup routed to one input of the R4 and my voice is coming from a $20 Pyle omni headset mic into the other input. That input is supplying 48v phantom power to the mic adapter.

I'm working on coming up with a better pickup for the nylon string guitar, but I got what I got right now.

The phone I'm using to shoot the video with is tripod mounted and I have a mirror reflecting the phone display so I can frame the shot and see what's actually being videoed.



After recording I transfer everything to Reaper to edit. Here's a Reaper screen shot if anyone whats to see what that looks like:



The finished video:

[dnf777]

Originally Posted by Rosette

Thanks I’ll check that out. Considering this unit or maybe a Tascam Portacapture.

If anyone here has experience with both the R4 and the Portacapture I’d be interested in your impressions.

Yes, the R4 has a simple click track, as on of the 80+ drum/rythym tracks as Rudy4 pointed out. The more I play with this thing, the more I like it and realize how capable it really is. Just learning the input effects, and am totally surprised how much versatility they offer.

The new Tascams look equally impressive, but from my experience with other Tascams, I prefer the Zoom’s transit controls. Im sure theres plusses both ways, but the zoom seems easier for this caveman.

[Rosette]

Originally Posted by dnf777

Yes, the R4 has a simple click track, as on of the 80+ drum/rythym tracks as Rudy4 pointed out. The more I play with this thing, the more I like it and realize how capable it really is. Just learning the input effects, and am totally surprised how much versatility they offer.

The new Tascams look equally impressive, but from my experience with other Tascams, I prefer the Zoom’s transit controls. Im sure theres plusses both ways, but the zoom seems easier for this caveman.

Thanks for that. I'll look into both of these units a bit further. Would be nice to have a portable unit, and the price of the R4 is attractive.

[dnf777]

Originally Posted by Rosette

Thanks for that. I'll look into both of these units a bit further. Would be nice to have a portable unit, and the price of the R4 is attractive.

It really is a nice portable device. Rudy4 and I discussed earlier, that not having stereo mics (IMO) is not really a bad point here. If I'm toting this in my case out to the barn, the single condenser built-in does just fine. I'm probably not concerned with stereo recording in a field setting. But back in the house, I prefer plugging in my matched SDCs if I want stereo. The price is nice, too. I think the Tascams start $100 north of the R4.

[Rosette]

Originally Posted by dnf777

It really is a nice portable device. Rudy4 and I discussed earlier, that not having stereo mics (IMO) is not really a bad point here. If I'm toting this in my case out to the barn, the single condenser built-in does just fine. I'm probably not concerned with stereo recording in a field setting. But back in the house, I prefer plugging in my matched SDCs if I want stereo. The price is nice, too. I think the Tascams start $100 north of the R4.

Yes, initially I thought the lack of two mics was a drawback but as you say, probably not needed in all situations and the ability to track stereo with external mics is still there with the R4.

Frankly I'm kind of blown away by the fact that something this small has phantom power, stereo recording capability, and all the other stuff (the effects, etc.) But I'd been using a very old computer/DAW and was not really aware of these small portable units until recently, so I really had no idea how far the tech has come.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Rosette

Yes, initially I thought the lack of two mics was a drawback but as you say, probably not needed in all situations and the ability to track stereo with external mics is still there with the R4.

Frankly I'm kind of blown away by the fact that something this small has phantom power, stereo recording capability, and all the other stuff (the effects, etc.) But I'd been using a very old computer/DAW and was not really aware of these small portable units until recently, so I really had no idea how far the tech has come.

Zoom had more or less the ideal multi-tracker for the home recordist that they sold for years, the R8. I used to often recommend them for those new to multi-tracking because of its feature set and small size.



They sold a gazillion of these but discontinued them last year, replacing them with the new R12 model. Unfortunately, the "improved" R12 model removes several key features that made the R8 so ideal for simple multi-track recording. Both the R8 and R12 occasionally went on sale for the same price as the new R4.

[Rosette]

I took the plunge and bought the R4 so I’ll weigh in again after I get some time with it. I will be using it to record practices, but it’s a bonus to have a fast and easy way of tracking without being tied to a desktop machine. I can import the files into Logic if I want to do any additional processing. So I doubt I’ll be using all the onboard effects, but I like the form factor and it looks like it’s not a bunch of submenus to wade through and slow you down.

[dnf777]

Originally Posted by Rosette

So I doubt I’ll be using all the onboard effects, but I like the form factor and it looks like it’s not a bunch of submenus to wade through and slow you down.

That's what I said, too, but then started having some fun with the fx. There are a few submenus to navigate, but its really shallow and intuitive. Overall, it really is lots of fun, and produces some nice results. I'm not selling my R20 yet, but this has really taken over my top spot.

[LiveMusic]

Rudy, more questions. Just curious.

Headset -- why are you using a headset?

Guitar -- why are you using that particular guitar?

Mirror -- how do you frame the shot? I've never seen a mirror like that, but know nothing of video technique. Cool! Did you make it?

I could guess at answers but will just let you answer if you don't mind.

I have complained to my brother than I need a quick n dirty method for doing what you are doing to do exactly that -- archive songs. In my case, my original songs.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by LiveMusic

Rudy, more questions. Just curious.

Headset -- why are you using a headset?

Guitar -- why are you using that particular guitar?

Mirror -- how do you frame the shot? I've never seen a mirror like that, but know nothing of video technique. Cool! Did you make it?

I could guess at answers but will just let you answer if you don't mind.

I have complained to my brother than I need a quick n dirty method for doing what you are doing to do exactly that -- archive songs. In my case, my original songs.

First, there's a ton of ways to do what you want to do. Something as simple as just using your phone might be all you really need.

I've experimented a bunch, and this is yet another experiment to see how it works out. The particulars of how I did this video used the guitar pickup and vocal headset mic to give me two relatively isolated tracks so I could balance them later after moving them to my computer for editing.

Headset:

There are a couple of reasons why I'm using this. The biggest reason is because it's nearly invisible, so it's unobtrusive in the video. I have some very good sounding large diaphragm mics but I've had comments that they block the view too much. There's some validity to that, so I have tried out a couple headset mics. This Pyle omni headset mic sounds pretty good and was only $20. The other nice thing about the headset mic is you don't have to think about positioning, it stays in the best orientation even if you move around.

Guitar:

No particular reason other than it's one I like the sound of. It might be a steel string next time or even an electric if it fits the music I'm working on. I'm using the twin piezo internal bridge plate pickup which is probably the worst sounding of all my guitars but I'm really not going for high fidelity here.

Using external mics will always provide better fidelity:



Mirror:

This works out great for me. I picked up the plastic shower mirror on Amazon for 3 or 4 bucks and attached it to a length of dowel rod. The camera mount conveniently had an extra clamp to hold the dowel rod. The mirror lets me sit down and adjust the smartphone position to frame the shot how I want it to appear. It also lets me see if focus and brightness are set and locked correctly and see the "record" indicator once I hit the record button.



Hope some of that helps you!

[LiveMusic]

Ok, thanks, good answers!

[Rosette]

I played around with this over the weekend, it’s really quite easy to use once you get the lay of the land, and I agree the submenus aren’t too deep. The internal mic is ok (good enough for recording practices) and a pair of small condensers is significantly better.

I loved that I didn’t have to worry about gain levels or clipping. The ease and speed of use is appealing. Really like this little unit so far.

[dnf777]

Originally Posted by Rosette

I played around with this over the weekend, it’s really quite easy to use once you get the lay of the land, and I agree the submenus aren’t too deep. The internal mic is ok (good enough for recording practices) and a pair of small condensers is significantly better.

I loved that I didn’t have to worry about gain levels or clipping. The ease and speed of use is appealing. Really like this little unit so far.

Glad to hear that. They are lots of fun. Just curious, what background in recording are you coming from? Having used other (older) MTRs, I found the lay of this land incredibly intuitive and easy. I read the users manual only as an afterthought....well, the file organization chapter was helpful. But really, this is an unbox and play device. (with my Helix effects, I brewed a pot of coffee and put on my reading jacket as if I was cramming for a P-chem exam!)

[Rosette]

Originally Posted by dnf777

Glad to hear that. They are lots of fun. Just curious, what background in recording are you coming from? Having used other (older) MTRs, I found the lay of this land incredibly intuitive and easy. I read the users manual only as an afterthought....well, the file organization chapter was helpful. But really, this is an unbox and play device. (with my Helix effects, I brewed a pot of coffee and put on my reading jacket as if I was cramming for a P-chem exam!)

I tracked and mixed a few projects using Logic for bands I played in but that was 10 or more years ago. I used some other multi-track machines prior to that.

I agree the R4 is intuitive and you almost don’t need a manual. It actually reminds me of the Boss BR-8 I had years ago (an early digital multitrack that recorded in 24-bit onto Zip disks) more so than the old Fostex and Tascam cassette 4-tracks, but there’s some similarity to those cassette machines as well. The sound quality of the R4 is on a different level though, which is great. I referred to the manual a few times but for the most part the operations are fairly obvious. Yes, I really like the simplicity of this device.