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Zoom R8 -Recorder. Sampler, Interface, Controller - $195 (Tatum and Bell)
Tatum near Bell
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The Zoom R8 is an incredible, inspiring piece of equipment. I won't go into the tech details — you can find all the specs elsewhere. I bought this product for $ 300 and have recently seen the price drop to about $250. I thought at 300 it was a steal... but for around 200? If you're even just considering this recorder, go ahead and buy it. It's incredible.
I bought this recorder because I was just tired of using my computer for music production. I don't have a great computer, so I ran into many problems right off the bat trying to use it to record. I experienced latency while recording, which set off the timing of all my tracks. My sound card was a piece of crap. I also suffer from severe OCD, and really wanted something simple and clean to organize all of my recordings on.
This is a compact and lightweight 8-track recorder. It can be powered by the included power adapter or run on batteries. With battery power, you can take it anywhere to get the sound you want recorded - think of waves at a beach, or birds, a jam session around a campfire, or the sounds of traffic or construction for that perfect sound bite for your song or video project.
The recorder itself will do exactly what most of you want: record from a connected condenser microphone and let you mix and pan all the tracks. You can also connect various other hardware, such as synthesizers, drum machines, and more. But there are SO MANY cool features on this device that expand beyond that, including:
• A built-in guitar effects processor. You can plug your electric guitar directly into the device, which has digital amp settings and loads of effects to play around with. You know those digital pedalboards from companies like Digitech? It's very similar to something like that.
• Mixing... the mixer and mixing capabilities on this device are amazing. You can, of course, do simple edits to adjust the panning, adjust EQ... but there are tons of other really amazing things on here, such as the "effects" section. There are "mastering" effects on here, which are presets that will automatically make your mix sound professional and incredible. If you record vocals and an acoustic guitar track, and then turn on the "warm" or "live" mastering preset, the difference is night and day.
• Sampler. I haven't gotten into this feature as much as I'd like, but this device functions as a sampler. My favorite part about recording with this recorder at first was how easy it was to loop tracks. You can play a simple riff on guitar and loop it on one track, and use the other tracks to record tracks over in real time. But you can use this principle to use this as a sampler in live performance situations. I can take an MP3 of a song, load it onto the recorder, chop the part of the sample I want to use all ON the recorder, set it to loop, connect my drum machine, and play the drums live with the sample. If you have a very cheap, basic drum machine, you can effectively turn it into an MPC-style device just by attaching it to this recorder.
• The ability to record in .WAV files is excellent. It's one of the main reasons I chose this over other options, like the Tascam DP series. If you recorded it on the R8, you can just copy it off and use it anywhere.
• Its timing--as in BPM--is rock solid and matches up to DAWs. For instance, if I record a demo in the R8 at 120 bpm, I can create a 120 bpm project in my DAW (Sonar X3) and import the R8's WAV files directly into it. It just syncs perfectly. No need to re-record. No need to edit or time-stretch.
• The onboard mics are great. Just ensure you have a seriously quiet space (They're very sensitive and omnidirectional), and you'll be able to capture some great performances. They're also very convenient if you just want to lay down a scratch track anywhere, noise-be-darned.
• Onboard drum machine. I can't in good conscience call it realistic-sounding--kind of like a late-90's Boss DR or Alesis SR-16-type sound--but it's very useful for creating something to play against. They're also good for figuring out what kind of rhythm/feel you want for your song. I always record my own patterns, but the R8 brings a pile of stock ones.
• When you bounce down tracks, the original ones aren't destroyed. You can just go back into the file system and recall them. The machine simply has a ton of depth. I've had it for a couple of years and keep finding new things inside of it.
• I'd recommend pairing it with a good vocal preamp or processor. I personally like the TC Electronics Harmony G-XT.
Item details:
Manufacturer: Zoom
Model Number: R8
Item Type Name: Digital Multitrack Recorder