does anyone still use stand alone mult track or is it all computers now?

[musicianvw]

hi there just wondering if anyone still records with stand alone multi track recorders like the boss br series or does everyone use computers now a days. And i am talking about making a actual cd now just a demo or practice.

[louparte]

I wish I had a stand-alone multi-track. But I use an iPad, a laptop or both.

[MikeBmusic]

Lots of people do, otherwise they still wouldn't be selling them! However, once you start using a full computer DAW, you never want to go back! I recorded my first CD on a BR600 because my computer at the time wasn't set up for recording. I did a lot of reading to discover I needed an audio interface to do things correctly, instead of using the Soundblaster audio card I had at the time.

[HHP]

I prefer standalone units. My requirements are not too complex and I find it easier to adjust a few level knobs than wade through menu after menu. When playing with others, I can just hand them a CD of the material on the spot.

[fazool]

I just watched THIS last night.



It tells the whole story.

[Bob1131]

Originally Posted by HHP

I prefer standalone units. My requirements are not too complex and I find it easier to adjust a few level knobs than wade through menu after menu. When playing with others, I can just hand them a CD of the material on the spot.

Same here!! I find the standalone to be much more convenient and easier to use than a computer. I also like the portability of a standalone, that is, I can move easily to any location to record.

[islandguitar]

Originally Posted by Bob1131

Same here!! I find the standalone to be much more convenient and easier to use than a computer. I also like the portability of a standalone, that is, I can move easily to any location to record.

+1! I use a Zoom H4n with two external condenser mics and a Rane two channel acoustic mic pre amp for better noise reduction and quality. A pretty basic set-up which serves my needs very well. The Zoom unit allowed me to enhance the set-up as money and time permitted. Convenient and good quality for my purposes which has included 2 homebrewed CD's.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by musicianvw

hi there just wondering if anyone still records with stand alone multi track recorders like the boss br series or does everyone use computers now a days. And i am talking about making a actual cd now just a demo or practice.

They both have their place, and it depends on how you personally like to work.

I use a Zoom R24 strictly for audio capture. I can record anywhere I want, it's totally noiseless, and I can do eight 24 bit 16.1 khz. inputs at a time. I've done a remotely recorded six piece with bass DI 5 instrument mics and two vocal mics, and added overdubs with it.

I move to a DAW to do any editing, and produce a final product.

You can read more about the specifics at my "Simple Home-style Recording" page:

http://www.bluestemstrings.com/pageRecording1.html

[muscmp]

i've used a computer since 1999. got rid of my tascam portastudio cassette recorder at that time.

play music!

[DanR]

I still prefer standalones as my needs don't require anything that I couldn't do with my unit. I currently use a Korg D1600 but I'm planning ahead for if/when it dies. I downloaded Reaper on my laptop, bought a cheap interface and have been messing around with that lately.

[RustyAxe]

I use a Tascam DP-24 ... with outboard preamps and compressors. I only use the computer to do post-tracking work, and to burn to CD.

[DesolationAngel]

When I was a teenager I remember the first Tascam Portastudio coming out and I remember drooling over magazines and wishing I could afford one. But, for me, nothing beats a computer... Almost every time I make something I can't quite believe what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. My brain nearly always stutters and flashes back to the teenage me playing in my bedroom into a cassette recorder...

As for portability, sometimes I'll sit on the sofa with my laptop and Logic, an Apogee Mic and a pair of Sennheiser HD-25s and I'm golden... The scalability of products, these days is really amazing. Tools for anything and everything.

[BoneDigger]

I use both. Sometimes I record with a stand alone multitrack and sometimes with an audio interface.

Todd

[Dalegreen]

I still am in the analogue domain when it comes to a recording console. I use a Toft ATB16 board, 16 channels, 8 are dedicated for recording tracks, the other 8 are used for mastering those same tracks. I record into an Alesis HD24, then master back thru the board into an Alesis masterlink. I guess it is kind of old school now, but I like the analogue board very much, almost like having another instrument. I do not use any sound processing devises at all, never have, my ear won't allow me to (yet).

[wcap]

Like several others above, my daughter and I use a Zoom R24 (sometimes recording as many as 6 tracks at once - the limit is 8 at once, but we have not taken things that far). My daughter has learned to use it quite well, and has learned how to use it really efficiently for multiple takes, and for overdubbing, etc. Just the other night we had a project where we built up 7 or 8 tracks, one by one, listening to all the previous tracks each time we recorded a new track (one can layer up to 24 tracks in this unit).

We used to use a Presonus Firebox, but got the R24 due to two issues: (1) we wanted to record more than two tracks at once (we needed at least 4 tracks at once, with phantom power), and (2) we were encountering problems with computer fan noise when recording.

We have found this standalone Zoom R24 to be MUCH more convenient than having to deal with computer menus, dealing with having to shut down other software before recording (e.g. to prevent gaps in a recording, a problem we had encountered), dealing with fan noise, etc. And the Zoom's built-in mics can give darn nice recordings too if you have a space with good acoustics.

I imagine it might be possible to get better sound quality with better equipment, but we have been quite pleased with the Zoom R24, and I suspect that recording space acoustics is a bigger problem for us still than any deficiencies the Zoom might have.

We recently got a small Allen and Heath mixer though (which can also serve as a recording interface for recording to a computer, though it is just capable of sending a stereo signal to the computer, not multiple tracks at once like the R24), and I have been VERY impressed with the sound quality of this mixer (e.g. through headphones or speakers). I've been thinking of trying this out as a recording interface to see if I can get any better sound quality this way. If sound quality ends up being noticeably better than from the Zoom this might take us back to recording using a computer, at least for cases where we don't need multiple tracks at once.