Easy and Inexpensive, Beginner

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi KW

He already sprang for a system.

oppss had not had my second cup yet

[RGWelch]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

The Zoom R series recorders are great as audio capture devices, but all the advanced functions are much easier to do on a computer DAW. The nice thing about the R series recorders are not being chained to a computer to record and that they work flawlessly to record your tracks quite easily without all the possibilities of glitches or the need to set up tracks, etc. All that, and they are totally quiet, no fan noise or need to record someplace where the ambiance doesn't fit the mood.

I have an R24, bought for the ability to record higher simultaneous tracks (I've done some full band recordings with it) and the ability to supply phantom power to 6 inputs at once. I very rarely use dynamic mics, so the phantom power capabilities is important to me. Most of the menu-selected stuff on the R24 I ignore for the same reasons you site. They cram a lot of features that won't be used by most folks as a sales point, and you can't blame them for wanting to keep up with all the competition.

The R8 does limit you to recording two tracks at a time, but consider using a single input to record a scratch track of your guitar and voice. Make sure you do a good count in with your vocal.

Go back and record a nice stereo guitar track while listening to your scratch track. Add your vocal with another pass, and a bass or second guitar afterwards. Delete your scratch track and mix as you wish.

I don't know about your capabilities, but very seldom can I nail the guitar and vocal to my liking for recording. Doing isolated tracks not only allows better abilities to mix, but you can make multiple attempts until you feel like the results meet your liking.

With the R8 you can do all this while sitting in your easy chair in the living room or wherever produces the best results for you.

If your work structure is often similar you only need to set up your R8 the first time and save your setup with the name "TEMPLATE" and write protect it. All you have to do is pull up your template and record as a new project.

Thanks for the tips, especially about the Template, that can be real handy. I agree, having the flexibility to record anywhere is the nice thing about these. But for working on the tracks, mixing, it's a lot easier on a DAW.