Portable Home Recording Studios

[RayL]

Some thoughts from the owner of an R16 and the earlier Zoom MRS 1608.

First thing - you will be wise if you go for a 16-track rather than an 8-track. It's amazing how quickly 8 tracks fill up and then you wish you had more and, yes, you could start bouncing mixes on to a single track but if you do you cut down on your options for the final mix and . . . . .

So 16 tracks is good, but the R16 only has 8 faders so there are buttons to select the faders to be either tracks 1 - 8 or 9 - 16.

The good things about the R16 include 8 track simultanious recording with all inputs XLR/jack capable, hi-z input for guitar, phantom power for mics on i/ps 5 &6, a metronome and a tuner. All the usual EQ, pan and other effects are there. You can connect two R16s together by USB to create a 16-track record, 32 track playback machine. Recording quality is very good. The R16 can control DAW software on a computer. It is small and lightweight for what it does.

So, why do I only use the R16 as a location recorder for plays and concerts and not in the studio? Because my 1608 has a number of features which were discarded in the R16 design. Things like:
In the 1608 each track has 10 'virtual tracks' which allows alternate takes to be recorded. So if a sax solo is recorded on Tr7 V1, an alternate solo can be recorded on Tr7 V2 and the best chosen later. In the 1608 I can set up a monitor headphone mix for a performer which is separate for the main mix. On the 1608 I can control punch in/out on a footswitch. The 1608 has bargraph meters with more increments than the R16's five, giving better accuracy of level setting. The 1608 has many, many more individual buttons for features so selection is quicker - no working one's way through multiple menus. The 1608 has individual faders for all 16 tracks. And so on.

If you are starting out with an R16 then you probably won't miss what you've never had and if you are starting out then the straightforward recording features of the R16 should appeal.

Ray

[jase]

It might be worth considering an Ipad. Since I got mine at Christmas my Boss Br800 has become redundant. I use an App called Multitrack Daw which is the most intuitive and easiest recording daw I've used.

[johnto]

Thanks so much for all the information and advise guys!
I've taken the plunge and have just ordered a Zoom R16 and will be collecting it on Sunday . I'll let you know how I get on with it.
All the best
John

[des mcneill]

Hi John,
I'm sure you have done the right thing, - good luck. I expect you will find it fairly straight forward, - it is quite easy to do simple recordings and the more advanced stuff will come in time, although you will probably make the odd mistake.
Let us know how you get on.

Des.

[roger bayliss]

I found a couple of free pdf files on the net that I found good re recording and mixing although a good book might be worth your while..

Art.of.Mixing.-.David.Gibson.(Visual.Guide.to.Recording)
Mix Engineers Handbook by Bobby Owsinski

Try a google search to track a copy down

I think the R16 will serve you quite well and like I said use Audacity as well if needed to further manipulate the sound.

Break it down into 3 parts , recording , mixing and mastering.
Effects can be thought of as insert effects, send and return effects and mastering effects.

Get good recording levels without clipping and distortion and learn about good recording levels , mix levels , mastering levels and allowing for each step so as not to over do the levels as you build it all up.

The above pdf files give a good insight into the processes , wishing you all the best and have fun.

[johnto]

Cheers Des and Roger!

[Didier]

Thanks so much for all the information and advise guys!
I've taken the plunge and have just ordered a Zoom R16 and will be collecting it on Sunday . I'll let you know how I get on with it.
All the best
John

It's certainly a good choice. You'll just have to watch the file size limit for long recordings.

Didier

[roger bayliss]

Just thought I would say I have gone ahead and bought the Zoom R24 Multi track home studio after much contemplation to upgrade from my trusty MRS 8 which I have had for a few years.

My main concern was lack of external send/return to use external effects etc which the Tascam DR24 has and the R24 does not.

However I was convinced after finding this article on the web and I save myself a few hundred pounds as the Zoom has much better facilities overall.

Here is the workaround
http://www.henkybacker.com/2011/10/the-hidden-output-of-the-zoom-r8-and-r24/

This only applies to the Zoom R8 / R24 models and not the R16.

[Detailed Infinity]

Perhaps I'm too late to say that to buy a hardware setup is replicating what you have or could have on yor PC. There is Reaper-a set of tutorials are on YouTube. PC recording is really the way to go.

Here's the URL for full screen viewing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdO2YvzKLm0


Bri

[roger bayliss]

Bri

The Zoom R24 came with Cubase 6LE so I got best of both worlds. The R24 also acts as a DAW interface controller for your DAW. Very flexible !
My best home studio yet having tried it out today I am well pleased.