I would like a portable recorder please

[friendship]

Tough to get a clean take of miked shit at home, so I'd like to get something portable so I can wander and/or mosey until I can find a quiet place to record.

Here is what I would like-
- great onboard mics, which will be used most of the time.
- but also a couple of 1/4"/XLR inputs because I will definitely be using outboard mics too
- to that end, phantom power would be nice.
- onboard metronome because i'm a dizzy ho
- Virtual tracks -- basically I want to be able to take multiple takes within a session even if those takes aren't actively playing back. So if I have a four-track limit, I can record multiple takes of track 1 that are stored on the SD card while only one take is played back. Or some other system that allows for a similar thing.
- rugged and raw and tuff and butch and sweaty and down-in-the-dirt, just wallowing like a gorgeous pig, just baking in the hot sun in a pool of mud, it's fucking gorgeous, nature is beautiful

that's it I think

[ibarakishi]

just get one of the larger zoom handheld ones for field recording and call it a day. they are nice, rugged, and can do pretty much everything you want. the virtual tracks thing is tricky unless you get into the actual box style field recorder type units, which is another route i guess you could go, but most don't have onboard mics due to the fact that they are meant to be used on location to do recording for film, ect. also there are those zoom standalone daw units, but again, i don't know if they even have onboard mics and even if they do i can't see them being better than the handheld style zoom recorders. i personally have a roland handheld with built in mics, but it doesn't take the xlr mics in and is more just for recording scratch ideas before i forget them vs. actually recording record ready takes. in the future i would like to upgrade to a larger more expensive zoom handheld unit. thats just my take on the subject though. don't overthink it and just get to the actual 'doing' of making music and finishing music, and work around whatever boundaries your budget allows without idolizing more expensive stuff. if you invest in one of the nicer handheld zoom recorders with xlr in and phantom power, it will be a lifelong tool so long as you take care of it and stick with recording

[coldbrightsunlight]

I was racking my brains trying to think of anything that fit all your criteria and failed... But I can definitely vouch for the mic quality and ease of use on the zoom handheld things. They're very good at what they do.

[friendship]

Virtual tracks are negotiable, it's just a workflow I'm used to with my Zoom R16 (which can and has been taken with me for remote recording, and is awesome, just need something smaller and more rugged). I could just as easily break up my takes over sessions instead, since I write this stuff down in a notebook anyway.

I'm looking at the Zoom H4n which appears to do nearly everything I need! I will probably get that one, if I can convince myself that I actually will take it out with my guitar and find a quiet nook in the park or something.

don't overthink it and just get to the actual 'doing' of making music and finishing music, and work around whatever boundaries your budget allows without idolizing more expensive stuff.

this is very good advice!!!

[chromandre]

those zoom handheld things are great! the sound quality is astonishing. I still use the old zoom H2 for random stuff, bootlegging gigs, anytime you just need to record something without much effort

[coldbrightsunlight]

That zoom H4N is one of the ones I've used if I'm not mistaken. Great stuff. I've honestly gotten practice space recordings I'd release practically unedited from it (but granted I've done this with a phone recording and my standards for fidelity are not everyones' )

[Blown_Petals]

I have an H4n and an H5 and they both served me very well...great for anything from field recordings to capturing a live band.
My one complaint is that the rubber on the H4n did that weird thing where it gets all sticky/gummy as the polymer molecules break down over time. Entropic forces.

[K2000]

I have an H4n and an H5 and they both served me very well...great for anything from field recordings to capturing a live band.
My one complaint is that the rubber on the H4n did that weird thing where it gets all sticky/gummy as the polymer molecules break down over time. Entropic forces.

I contacted Zoom about my H6 getting sticky, and they sent me a new one (an all-plastic one, no more rubber coating) for free. The input jacks don't feel very nice but still, after 8 years of use with a piece of gear, to get it replaced for free, is pretty amazing. I actually liked the rubber coating (felt good and secure in your hand) but it's a known issue with Zoom units.

[Paul_C]

I've not tried the Zoom ones, but I can vouch for the Tascam DR-07 - everything I've recorded in the last three and a bit years has started with raw wav files recorded on one sitting in front of my amp.

[aen]

Pretty sure the zoom h4n has multi-tracking AND metronome. I've never tried it, but it's there.

[VREEEEVROOOOOW]

If anything, the H4N mics are *too good*. Being an hour away from the nearest—not even particularly busy—road, it picked up car roars. An aeroplane within three thousand kilometres? That's picked up. Someone starting up a chainsaw in Sweden? That's picked up.

[crochambeau]

I have the earlier H4, and have noticed a shift in floor noise character that comes and goes in time with the blinking active record LED. I surmise that this is related to a shared ground path between control interface and audio path. Curious if anyone has noticed a similar feature with the newer version (or the older version, it's possible I am partly responsible for this, having had it apart a time or two).

[Woolworm]

All I care about is sound quality. Is the Tascam DR-100MKIII officially the highest sound quality port recorder?

[VREEEEVROOOOOW]

@woolworm, The Sony PCM D-100 is probably even better.

[rfurtkamp]

Zoom R8, external mics. Runs on AAs if wanted.

I used one for Mojave recording sessions recently, very very happy.