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Old 12-12-2019, 08:56 AM
Rudy4 Rudy4 is offline
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It seems like every interface that comes out always touts it's "superior preamp circuity", and I believe that most are just fine and probably couldn't be rated as better or worse than their brethren in a blind listening test by the vast majority of the users who are the target market for simple usb interfaces.

I own an R24 and I'm pretty confident that the R8 has the same preamps. The pres in the R24 are pedestrian and capable of producing good quality recordings, but they do have the distinction of having a lot of self-noise at higher gain settings. Absolutely no problem with condenser mics, but dynamics such as the SM57/58s end up needing the higher gain is where the self-noise becomes evident.

Using the Zoom R series recorders for audio capture works fine when using condenser mics or using dynamic mics on high level sound sources such as electric guitar amps.

Like any other budget tool, you do have to consider the limitations imposed by the equipment and work within its capabilities.

If I could fault the R series it would be for trying to be too many things, a swiss army knife for the home recording enthusiast. I use my R24 for audio capture and port the wav files to a PC for DAW editing. I keep a USB audio interface (Mackie Blackjack with Onyx pres) for monitoring through DT770 headphones or my Eris E5 desktop powered monitor speakers.

Chris, you might want to get one of the "trays" that securely attach to a mic stand to hold your R8 during recording. Anything you can do to make it easier once the red light goes on will enable you to make better recordings.

I have a dedicated stand I use to hold my R24, but mostly use it for remote recording gigs. Otherwise here at home I occasionally use it with a sawed-off mic stand that has a little angled top attached.

Last edited by Rudy4; 12-12-2019 at 09:12 AM.
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