Kaiu Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 Hi, I am looking to buy an 8 track recorder, however I was overwhelmed by the information found using google. I did a quick search on here but it didn't produce anything. Basically I am looking for a portable 8 track recorder with a decent sized hard drive and the option to transfer the finished items to a computer. I saw this recently [url="http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/04/alesis_imultimi.html"]http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/04/alesis_imultimi.html[/url] however I couldn't find many reviews. And I'm worried the ipod feature maybe a gimmick and detract from overall quality. [attachment=9866:iMultiMi...B_lg_201.jpg] I'd like to spend around £150 to £200. It is basically for laying down chord progressions on an electro acoustic and then writing bass lines over the top. Thanks ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clauster Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Have a look on ebay for the Boss BR 8 track - they usually go for about £170 ish. I borrowed one last year and its got a lot of the features of the BR1600. Great for the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Hmm for the price range im unsure. But I dont like the look of those Ipod things either. Personally I have a korg D888 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesf Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 [quote name='charic' post='223458' date='Jun 21 2008, 10:33 AM']Hmm for the price range im unsure. But I dont like the look of those Ipod things either. Personally I have a korg D888 [/quote] good call; for the money, Korg make great little portable units which would be great for simple tracking (and more!). Have a scout around Ebay but make sure they're in good condition and the hard drives are working ok. All-in-one Multitrackers don't usually have a very high residual value so you can sometimes pick up a real bargain on a used one. As for transfer to computer, modern ones have USB facilities, but it isn't a standard feature on most, and in my experience, can be fiddly to use. Quite a lot of them have CD burners in though, or can be retrofitted with one very very cheaply, so you could burn off the mixes and then rip them to .aiff to work on the computer with them, or look for one with a digital out, run it into a digital in on your soundcard and you have real-time transfer with no loss of quality. I don't like the look of those ipod things either, for the record. Hope this helps, good luck finding a bargain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiu Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 [quote name='jamesf' post='223538' date='Jun 21 2008, 12:35 PM']good call; for the money, Korg make great little portable units which would be great for simple tracking (and more!). Have a scout around Ebay but make sure they're in good condition and the hard drives are working ok. All-in-one Multitrackers don't usually have a very high residual value so you can sometimes pick up a real bargain on a used one. As for transfer to computer, modern ones have USB facilities, but it isn't a standard feature on most, and in my experience, can be fiddly to use. Quite a lot of them have CD burners in though, or can be retrofitted with one very very cheaply, so you could burn off the mixes and then rip them to .aiff to work on the computer with them, or look for one with a digital out, run it into a digital in on your soundcard and you have real-time transfer with no loss of quality. I don't like the look of those ipod things either, for the record. Hope this helps, good luck finding a bargain [/quote] Thanks for the info, much appreciated! Keep it coming I think I am going to give the ipod one a miss until I find some proper info on it from people who have tried and tested it. I don't need anything fancy as our guitarist has a large Pro-tools setup at his studio, so if I want anything recording properly I just go there. This is more for developing bass lines, ideas etc like a note pad but for music! ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stingray5 Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Also check out the Tascam DP02 (40GB hard drive, effects processor, and CD-R/CD-RW built-in). Got mine for a little over £200 on ebay (mint, used). Or the DP02CF (no HD or FX and uses Compact Flash cards). Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesf Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 [quote name='Kaiu' post='223587' date='Jun 21 2008, 01:53 PM']Thanks for the info, much appreciated! Keep it coming I think I am going to give the ipod one a miss until I find some proper info on it from people who have tried and tested it. I don't need anything fancy as our guitarist has a large Pro-tools setup at his studio, so if I want anything recording properly I just go there. This is more for developing bass lines, ideas etc like a note pad but for music! ed[/quote] No problem. If you're just using it as notepad, do you really need eight tracks? If you go for a four-track digital recorder, you can get one quite cheaply that will be much smaller and you can carry with you everywhere in your gig bag and will run on batteries. The newer ones use flash memory formats such as SD cards, so if you got a cheapo card-reader for your computer, transfer couldn't be easier. If you have, for example, a stereo mix of a song you're working on using two tracks, then you still have two more tracks to record bass parts on. Just a thought, but if it's strictly for 'note-taking', I think this could be a good alternative that won't take up a load of room and have features you don't need, if, as you say, you have access to a decent pro-tools rig. Hope this hasn't confused the matter further! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiu Posted June 22, 2008 Author Share Posted June 22, 2008 [quote name='jamesf' post='223659' date='Jun 21 2008, 04:11 PM']No problem. If you're just using it as notepad, do you really need eight tracks? If you go for a four-track digital recorder, you can get one quite cheaply that will be much smaller and you can carry with you everywhere in your gig bag and will run on batteries. The newer ones use flash memory formats such as SD cards, so if you got a cheapo card-reader for your computer, transfer couldn't be easier. If you have, for example, a stereo mix of a song you're working on using two tracks, then you still have two more tracks to record bass parts on. Just a thought, but if it's strictly for 'note-taking', I think this could be a good alternative that won't take up a load of room and have features you don't need, if, as you say, you have access to a decent pro-tools rig. Hope this hasn't confused the matter further![/quote] Thanks, that seems like the most sensible option. The reason why I initially thought of getting an 8 track rather than 4 was due to the memory. I assumed 4 tracks wouldn't have sufficient memory, however the SD cards seem like a good idea! I'll look into it. ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Why not just get an audio interface? Or do you need it on the move? That way you have upgradability.. I have an interest in recording so i figured i would cover I would cover as many bases as i could. However it sounds like you just want to record twiddling and pick out parts you like and work on ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOD2 Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 How about this [url="http://www.absolutemusic.co.uk/shop/view_product.php?product=fosmr8mk2"]Fostex MR-8 Mk2[/url] ? This is the Compact Flash version (although note you'll need to allow for the cost of additional CF cards). It has 8 tracks, but only 6 faders since tracks 5/6 and 7/8 are stereo pairs. You can, however, record 4 tracks simultaneously as unusually it has 4 separate inputs. You can also "bounce" tracks onto the stereo pairs (i.e. reocrds tracks 1-4, then bounce to 7/8 then record 1-4 again, then bound to 5/6 then record tracks 1-4 again). It has a USB port which allows you to connect it to a computer. You can then transfer your recordings as standard WAV files which can then be written to the CD drive on the computer. There's also a Hard Disk version [url="http://www.absolutemusic.co.uk/shop/view_product.php?product=fosmr8hd"]Fostex MR-8 HD[/url]. I've just bought one of these myself and have to say it's very easy to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesf Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I've been playing with a Boss Micro BR this morning, and I have to say I'm very impressed. It does everything you requested in your first post and lots more, takes standard SD cards, is right on budget (£150 but seen cheaper) and most of all, sounds superb for something that's smaller than your average tuner. It has an in-built mic that's good enough for scratch tracks, has line ins, guitar ins, can play, record and export in a variety of formats, has USB connection, and obviously you can use a card reader with the SDs. You can record up to 4 tracks on it, and it has an in-built drum machine which isn't half bad for idea-generation sessions. Check them out, for the size and the money, I think it'd be perfect for your application. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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