Multitrack Recorders

[Bellyheart]

The drummer and I are probably gonna start recording our own stuff and see how it goes. Wondering if there are some new or old gems that we should be looking for. Just want a 4 to 8 track recorder. We already have a mixer and plan on putting drum mics through it into two of the four tracks, so just looking for an easy to use and versatile mixer. We recorder on a Tascam 488 mkii and it sounds wonderful to me. Since I already got my feet wet in it I figured I try and get one of them, however, I wanted to make sure I'm aware of the other options out there before I pull the trigger. It's older so perhaps modern stuff has some new features that make things easier?

Dunno, really new to the realm, so what are some multitracks my friend's use?

[Ilikewater]

I use an MR16 which has amp modeling and effects built in. allows me to add some fx to the mix to the headphones, so the vocals don't sound so raw. Don't use it for the actual track, but can coax some better sounding takes. I just use it to take stuff down, and usually mix down on the computer.

[Bellyheart]

So you use a firewire as well?

[oinkbanana]

if you have a laptop, get an external soundcard with multiple in/out

10x better then the tascam...

[Bellyheart]

Why would you say so?

[01010111]

With laptop based recording you have a lot more options, the biggest thing being a vastly increased number of recording tracks over standard multitracks. And with computer based recording you don't have to deal with sub-menus in the same way that you have to deal with them on a standalone unit.

That said I use a yamaha aw16g for when I'm recording a band and it works pretty well for that; but even with this thing I sometimes run up against the number of tracks. I could record more tracks, technically speaking, but fuck bouncing tracks to a stereo track is hard and complicated.

[Bellyheart]

Ever since I found out many classics were recorded on four tracks I decided that's all I need. The more, the less in my opinion. I've also never been able to get some rawness or grit from virtual tracks. Very smooth and lots of headroom. I really dig the raw sounds that made the Demo Tape fuzz a type of fuzz.