Zoom R4. Anyone else?

[dnf777]

Originally Posted by bscherokman

Thank you so much - that makes sense and I will use your suggestions.

There’s a lot of very sensical advice here. You can quickly see there are some really accomplished pros and polished amateurs here who have “been there, done that” and offer great advice. (Im not one of them)

I had a major Ah-Ha! moment when I discovered the standard layout of all mixers, not just the new 32 bit float models. The sliders are for mixing the output, not input, although depending on how you monitor you can easily be fooled into thinking they are. Really, most if not all recording basics apply to 32bit recording, except the much higher dynamic range eliminates the need to adjust input gain. This is accomplished by internal circuitry, and has nothing to do with sliders.

[Rudy4]

Somewhere in this topic someone asked about the R4's use with two microphones.

I just used my R4 with my pair of REALLY CHEAP Behringer C-2 condenser mics to make a video demonstrating Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street in drop D tuning, so I'm posting it here as a honest representation of a "quick n' dirty" recording using ht R4. There is NO processing of the audio tracks other than panning the two mics left and right to use as replacement audio for the video, shot with a phone.

[Blueser100]

Wow that sounds terrific, both the mics and your interpretation of the song, one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing that!

[Rudy4]

Here's another quick n' dirty recording done with the R4. You can see the $50 pair of Behringer C-2 mics, plugged into the R4 at my left side.
The stereo pair of tracks were transferred to my computer and synced with the smartphone video to produce the resulting video. Other than panning and normalizing audio level there is no other editing of the audio. It's pure R4, nothing else.

[Rudy4]

Here's a new Youtube video of the Zoom R4 being reviewed. You have to get past the initial comments on other Zoom recorders, but he actually does a pretty fair job of demonstrating a lot of the R4's features. (If you can get past his "style"...)

[Rudy4]

Here's another "quick n' dirty" video shot with phone camera and audio provided by the Zoom R4. Working on a minimalist method of using the R4, vocal was captured by a $20 Pyle omni headset mic (used with a TA4F to XLR preamp/converter) and guitar was captured with a K&K Pure Mini pickup directly fed to the R4 recorder.
"Mixing" was done by using the Zoom's channel EQ, reverb, balance, and levels, bounced to a single stereo track.
The audio and video were combined in Reaper and no further processing was done.

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

Here's another quick n' dirty recording done with the R4. You can see the $50 pair of Behringer C-2 mics, plugged into the R4 at my left side.
The stereo pair of tracks were transferred to my computer and synced with the smartphone video to produce the resulting video. Other than panning and normalizing audio level there is no other editing of the audio. It's pure R4, nothing else.

Hi Rudy,
Very fine playing in your videos, and great sound from the R4.
Question regarding that dual mic stand/holder you're using in this particular video. I've been looking for an accessory like that, i.e. something low and handy for stereo recording when sitting, but can't seem to find anything like it.
Could you let me know what kind of stand that is?
Many thanks!

[lppier]

How does it work with something like Logic Pro? Is it complex to transfer the files over to a Logic Pro project ?

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Gitfiddlemann

Hi Rudy,
Very fine playing in your videos, and great sound from the R4.
Question regarding that dual mic stand/holder you're using in this particular video. I've been looking for an accessory like that, i.e. something low and handy for stereo recording when sitting, but can't seem to find anything like it.
Could you let me know what kind of stand that is?
Many thanks!

Hi Andre,
The top part that holds the microphones is a simple stereo bar, widely available from about $10 and upward:

Inexpensive stereo bar @ Sweetwater

The Behringer C2 mic pair ,used in that video, has a basic one included in the 2 mic package.

The stand part was made from an old boom stand that I hack sawed to shorten it for this use. Several companies make "short" boom stands that are similar:

K&M 259 short boom stands @ Sweetwater

Hope that helps...

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by lppier

How does it work with something like Logic Pro? Is it complex to transfer the files over to a Logic Pro project ?

I'm not sure, since I don't use Logic Pro. It shouldn't be any different than any other device that interfaces to a computer. I believe it's "class compliant". Once the files are ported over to my computer it's a snap to add them to a Reaper project, my DAW of choice.

To port audio files over to my computer I simply use a USB-C cable and select "file transfer" from the R4's menu selection. It's a simple matter to copy / paste the audio files to a folder on the DAW computer.

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

Hi Andre,
The top part that holds the microphones is a simple stereo bar, widely available from about $10 and upward:

Inexpensive stereo bar @ Sweetwater

The Behringer C2 mic pair ,used in that video, has a basic one included in the 2 mic package.

The stand part was made from an old boom stand that I hack sawed to shorten it for this use. Several companies make "short" boom stands that are similar:

K&M 259 short boom stands @ Sweetwater

Hope that helps...

It does indeed! Thanks for that info Rudy.

[lppier]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

I'm not sure, since I don't use Logic Pro. It shouldn't be any different than any other device that interfaces to a computer. I believe it's "class compliant". Once the files are ported over to my computer it's a snap to add them to a Reaper project, my DAW of choice.

To port audio files over to my computer I simply use a USB-C cable and select "file transfer" from the R4's menu selection. It's a simple matter to copy / paste the audio files to a folder on the DAW computer.

Say u have four tracks, and you record overdubs on the 2nd , 3rd and 4th track , not necessarily starting from the beginning , but maybe from the middle where the chorus starts - do u then have to manually align them in reaper?

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by lppier

Say u have four tracks, and you record overdubs on the 2nd , 3rd and 4th track , not necessarily starting from the beginning , but maybe from the middle where the chorus starts - do u then have to manually align them in reaper?

All Zoom multitrack recorders automatically add the unrecorded portion of a partial track at the beginning of an overdub. That ensures that when full length and partial overdubs are brought into your DAW that the tracks will be automatically aligned to the zero position on your timeline.

In Reaper the media files are added at your present cursor position, so it's simple to return the cursor to the home position before adding media files.

[lppier]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

All Zoom multitrack recorders automatically add the unrecorded portion of a partial track at the beginning of an overdub. That ensures that when full length and partial overdubs are brought into your DAW that the tracks will be automatically aligned to the zero position on your timeline.



In Reaper the media files are added at your present cursor position, so it's simple to return the cursor to the home position before adding media files.

I see thanks for the info