NEW R20 Multitrack Recorder from Zoom - And now the R12 too!

[StephenM]

even with the R24 you are limited to using the insert effects to 1 channel at a time... so you can't have an effect for the bass track and another for the vocal and another for the guitar...but i get around this by getting the sound I want and then bouncing the track with the effect on it to another track...then I can use the insert effect on another channel...you can use basic reverb and chorus on any track however
there are some cool sounding effects though... looks like the new R20 has a lot better screen than my R24 does. 

[The Gobi Desert Canoe Club]

Many thanks for all the info 64, I'm definitely going to get on as soon as they are available in the UK. It appears that they can be pre ordered but I'm going to wait until I can get my hands on it.
It does look an interesting piece of kit, can't wait to splash the cash.
Willie (The Gobi Desert Canoe Club)

[64Guitars]

I'm not sure when the Zoom R20 will be widely available but it could be quite a while yet. Andertons says it will be "3 Months or Longer". GAK is expecting stock on March 18th, and dv247 says March 29th.

In the USA, most stores, including Sweetwater, don't have it in stock and aren't saying when they expect it. But Alto Music says "Ready to ship immediately!", zZounds says it will be delivered by Feb. 11 if ordered today, and American Musical Supply says it's "Back In Stock".

In Canada, Long & McQuade claims to have it in stock at several of their stores in Ontario and one in B.C. Their price is $519.99. But it's currently out of stock at their main warehouse for online orders.

I get the impression that a very limited supply was shipped to some retailers and was quickly sold out. Now most stores are waiting for more stock but it looks like that could take a while.

I do wonder about buying any new product from the first production run. I think there could be problems in manufacturing which they will then sort out before their next production run. And the firmware will certainly be updated. The Zoom website says about the R20's Control Surface capability "Supported in FIRMWARE V2.0 to be released in the spring 2022". Of course, users should be able to update their firmware themselves when it becomes available. But if you wait and make sure that you get one that already has firmware version 2.0, it will save you the trouble of doing the update. And hopefully by then the manufacturing will be running more smoothly and they'll have fixed any problems they might have had in the first production runs.

[64Guitars]

My Boss BR-864 is nearly 19 years old now. It still works just fine and I'm pretty happy with it, but I decided it was time to try something more modern. So I ordered a Zoom R20 on Tuesday and it arrived this afternoon.

First impressions are that it's pretty cool, though it has a few odd quirks. And some of my expectations may have been inaccurate. For example, I assumed that I'd be able to edit the settings of the built-in FM synth to create my own sounds, but that doesn't appear to be possible. As far as I can tell so far, it just has the 19 built-in presets (E.Piano, Bright E.P, Mellow E.P, Bell, Organ1, Organ2, Pipe Organ, Finger Bass1, Finger Bass2, Pick Bass, Slap Bass, AcousticBass, Synth Bass1, Synth Bass2, Brass1, Brass2, Brass3, Synth Lead, and Drum Kit) and you can't change them. That's disappointing. Although, an FM synth with 19 presets is certainly better than no synth at all. I don't believe there is currently any other multitrack recorder that includes a built-in synth, so the synth in the R20 is a welcome feature, even if it's not as versatile as I'd hoped it would be.

The insert effects are better than I expected. They include a simulation of the HIWATT Custom 100 and the HIWATT 4x12 speaker cabinet. I happen to own a HIWATT Custom 50 amplifier and the 4x12 cabinet, so I'm really pleased that I can now emulate it in my recordings on the Zoom R20.

I was also pleased to find that the Guitar Lab software for Windows seems to work just fine in Linux (using Wine). I was able to create a new patch using the HIWATT 100 amp and cabinet models, insert it at the top of the effects list (so I can find it quickly), and save it to the R20. I still have lots to learn about the Guitar Lab software, so I'll be studying the manual in the coming days and experimenting with Guitar Lab's features.

After I've had a few days to get to know the R20 and Guitar Lab, I'll post a detailed review. Meanwhile, if anyone has any questions, post them in this topic and I'll try to answer them.

[Hook]

That is awesome 64, I can't wait to hear more about it!!!
Rock on!

[The Gobi Desert Canoe Club]

Hi guys, 64 gave me the heads up regarding the Zoom R20 when my BR900cd lost the guitar input channel, it has given up the ghost totally now. It no longer recognises the memory card, I have tried all the suggested cures but to no avail.
Meanwhile I have bought a used BR800 which seems a bit fiddly but I think it's just a question of remembering which menu is needed for specific tasks.
I shall be very interested to know how SC members get on with the new Zoom. Willie

[64Guitars]

Hi guys, 64 gave me the heads up regarding the Zoom R20 when my BR900cd lost the guitar input channel, it has given up the ghost totally now. It no longer recognises the memory card, I have tried all the suggested cures but to no avail.

Have you looked in the CompactFlash slot for a bent or snapped pin? Could also be dust and debris in the CF slot which would prevent it from making a good connection. Do you get an error message about the unrecognised CF card?

Meanwhile I have bought a used BR800 which seems a bit fiddly but I think it's just a question of remembering which menu is needed for specific tasks.

Probably just a matter of getting used to it. Give it time. And study the manual. The more you learn about it, the easier it will be to operate.

[WarpCanada]

Does the Zoom R20 have onboard sequenced drums?

[64Guitars]

Does the Zoom R20 have onboard sequenced drums?

It doesn't have anything like the BRs have where you can string together a bunch of preset patterns into a drum arrangement. Instead, it comes with 150 drum beat clips in WAV files which you load into a stereo drum track. Each clip might only be a couple of bars long but you can drag its right edge to make it repeat for as many bars as you like. There are clips for intro, verse, bridge, chorus, and outro in a variety of styles. The R20 also includes 9 project templates which each include a selection of drum clips (intro, verse, etc.) in several styles (rock, R&B, electronic, hip hop, percussion, funk, disco, blues, and standard). The templates are meant to be used when starting a new project.

There's also another way to make a drum track on the R20. One of the included synth presets is a full drum kit. So you can use that to create a drum track in the piano roll editor. Or you can import a standard MIDI file of drums and the R20 will play it back through the drum preset of the synth.

Another way to use the synth's drum preset is to connect a MIDI controller and record yourself playing the drums live. Since it's recorded as MIDI rather than audio, you can fix up any mistakes later with the piano roll editor. I've connected my Nektar SE25 mini keyboard and my Korg nanoPAD2 to the R20. They both work well with the synth's drum preset, but the nanoPAD was really made for finger drumming.

[StephenM]

My R24 has synth..  i believe it can be edited.  I like what it does, especially on vocals