Need advice to upgrade from 4 track cassette.

[Denv12]

Hi.

I have a Tascam Portastudio 414 Mk11 that I bought about 8 years ago.Its perfect for me.Its simple use,records brilliantly.No complaints.As blank cassettes are getting harder to find here and I dont use ebay I need to find another recording device.

My current equipment consists of:
Roland RD700sx stage piano.
Roland KC350 keyboard amp.
Tascam Portsastudio 414MK11
I use 2 mic that plugs into the XLR on the back of the tasdcam,.the 2 piano leads run into the channels on the front of the tascam and thats it.Add a blank tape and recording is simple.

I've been looking around for the lastest digital recorders to replace the tascam.It needs to be able to take over from my current set up.

The zoom R16 is of interest to me.Its one of the first I saw.My budget is no more than $500 Australian.Is anyone using the R16? What other new recording devices are just as good? I wont be buying second hand items.

Thanks.

Chris.

[64Guitars]

Hi Chris. Most of us here are Boss users since the site started as a Boss Micro BR forum, then expanded to add other BR series recorders, and then other brands and software DAWs. There are several good recorders you could consider. As a Boss enthusiast, I have to recommend that you consider the BR-800. It's $514 AUS.

http://www.musoscorner.com.au/site/index.cfm?prodname=Boss-BR800-Digital-Recorder&module=STORETIGERV2&pageMode=indiv&productID=197830&storepid=1

One advantage of choosing Boss is that there's lots of friendly help available right here at Songcrafters.

But other brands offer some good products too. The Zoom R16 seems to be a great recorder for the money. I like that it records directly to WAV files, and that you can specify the WAV file to use for each track, giving you a virtually unlimited number of record tracks. It can play back 16 tracks at once, but be aware that you can only adjust the levels of 8 tracks at a time. You can switch between the two banks of 8 tracks but this presents a problem. Since the faders are not motorized, the physical position of the fader only corresponds to the level value of the corresponding track in the current bank. When you switch banks, the fader position no longer corresponds to the current track level. Then, as soon as you touch the fader, the track level jumps from its current value to the value of the fader. These level jumps can sometimes cause problems. Also, I don't like the Zoom's level meters. They consist of only 4 LEDs. That's not enough resolution to accurately gauge your levels. The BR-800 has high-resolution, peak-holding meters for each track, the four inputs, the two drum channels, and the stereo outputs. As far as I can tell, the R-16 has no drum machine. That might not be a concern to you since your RD700sx has a drum machine. But the BR-800 does have a nice drum machine built-in.

Since you're currently using a TASCAM portastudio, you might want to consider one of TASCAM's recorders. If I were buying a recorder today, I'd probably buy the TASCAM DP-24.

http://tascam.com/product/dp-24/

But it's a little out of your price range at $789.00 AUS and may offer more than you need anyway.

http://www.videoguys.com.au/Shop/p/25908/tascam-dp-24-digital-portastudio-tas-dp-24.html

The DP-008EX and DP-006 look good. They're less expensive than the Zoom R16, have an excellent control layout, and are very easy to use (especially since you're already familiar with TASCAM portastudios). However, as far as I know, they don't have any virtual tracks. This is a big disadvantage. It means that, when you bounce tracks, you have to re-use your previously-recorded tracks, which is limiting when it comes time to do your final mix. With the BR-800 and R-16, you never run out of tracks. As I said, the R16 has a virtually unlimited number of record tracks. And the BR-800 has a total of 64 record tracks, which is plenty. So, when you bounce on the BR-800 or R16, you always record the mix to an empty pair of tracks. When you do your final mix, all of your individual tracks are still available since you never had to overwrite any of them as you would with the TASCAM DP-006 or DP-008EX. The DP-24 doesn't have that problem since it has 8 recording tracks per playback track, for a total of 192 recording tracks.

If you own an iPad, you might be interested in TASCAM's portastudio app.

http://tascam.com/product/portastudio/

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/portastudio/id402568182?mt=8

It's not nearly as powerful as the other recorders I've mentioned, but it's only $2.99 and is very similar in operation and features to your Portastudio 414 MkII. At that price, it might be worth having even if you do decide to buy a standalone multitrack recorder, if only as a novelty or an interim solution till you decide which recorder to buy.

[Denv12]

Hi Chris. Most of us here are Boss users since the site started as a Boss Micro BR forum, then expanded to add other BR series recorders, and then other brands and software DAWs. There are several good recorders you could consider. As a Boss enthusiast, I have to recommend that you consider the BR-800. It's $514 AUS.

http://www.musoscorner.com.au/site/index.cfm?prodname=Boss-BR800-Digital-Recorder&module=STORETIGERV2&pageMode=indiv&productID=197830&storepid=1

One advantage of choosing Boss is that there's lots of friendly help available right here at Songcrafters.

But other brands offer some good products too. The Zoom R16 seems to be a great recorder for the money. I like that it records directly to WAV files, and that you can specify the WAV file to use for each track, giving you a virtually unlimited number of record tracks. It can play back 16 tracks at once, but be aware that you can only adjust the levels of 8 tracks at a time. You can switch between the two banks of 8 tracks but this presents a problem. Since the faders are not motorized, the physical position of the fader only corresponds to the level value of the corresponding track in the current bank. When you switch banks, the fader position no longer corresponds to the current track level. Then, as soon as you touch the fader, the track level jumps from its current value to the value of the fader. These level jumps can sometimes cause problems. Also, I don't like the Zoom's level meters. They consist of only 4 LEDs. That's not enough resolution to accurately gauge your levels. The BR-800 has high-resolution, peak-holding meters for each track, the four inputs, the two drum channels, and the stereo outputs. As far as I can tell, the R-16 has no drum machine. That might not be a concern to you since your RD700sx has a drum machine. But the BR-800 does have a nice drum machine built-in.

Since you're currently using a TASCAM portastudio, you might want to consider one of TASCAM's recorders. If I were buying a recorder today, I'd probably buy the TASCAM DP-24.

http://tascam.com/product/dp-24/

But it's a little out of your price range at $789.00 AUS and may offer more than you need anyway.

http://www.videoguys.com.au/Shop/p/25908/tascam-dp-24-digital-portastudio-tas-dp-24.html

The DP-008EX and DP-006 look good. They're less expensive than the Zoom R16, have an excellent control layout, and are very easy to use (especially since you're already familiar with TASCAM portastudios). However, as far as I know, they don't have any virtual tracks. This is a big disadvantage. It means that, when you bounce tracks, you have to re-use your previously-recorded tracks, which is limiting when it comes time to do your final mix. With the BR-800 and R-16, you never run out of tracks. As I said, the R16 has a virtually unlimited number of record tracks. And the BR-800 has a total of 64 record tracks, which is plenty. So, when you bounce on the BR-800 or R16, you always record the mix to an empty pair of tracks. When you do your final mix, all of your individual tracks are still available since you never had to overwrite any of them as you would with the TASCAM DP-006 or DP-008EX. The DP-24 doesn't have that problem since it has 8 recording tracks per playback track, for a total of 192 recording tracks.

If you own an iPad, you might be interested in TASCAM's portastudio app.

http://tascam.com/product/portastudio/

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/portastudio/id402568182?mt=8

It's not nearly as powerful as the other recorders I've mentioned, but it's only $2.99 and is very similar in operation and features to your Portastudio 414 MkII. At that price, it might be worth having even if you do decide to buy a standalone multitrack recorder, if only as a novelty or an interim solution till you decide which recorder to buy.

Thanks for all the info.The Boss and the zoom are my better options.I dont have an ipad.I'm going to  have a good look around for the Boss and see if I can find it cheaper here.The Zoom I found it cheaper at $429 (aust).That keeps my budget under control.

[phantasm777]

wonder why he quit?