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Digital 4 Track Recorders?
leftist writes "I'm looking for an entry level digital 4 or 8 track digital recorder to experiment with in the $500 range. Any product recommendations or warnings out there in the geek crowd? Something that uses mp2/mp3 natively a plus!" Krow: What, you wanted content with your story?
Digital 4 Track Recorders? What about them?
Way to go guys. There's no article there. Swift.
Canthros
Slashdot no longer even has time to post the body of post...just the titles.
I'll take one.
Do not confuse duty with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different.Duty is a debt you owe to yourself.
Off-topic, my ass.
Call 1-866-436-5707 now to vote for Ashley Hartman, the hottie on American Idol.
David Cole
www.davidcole.net
That always seems to be the response to Ask Slashdot anyways, so I'll pre-suppose the question and provide a Google link: here
Finally! We can't get yelled at for not reading the article, or even the post now!
I touch computers in naughty places
You have to figure out the story yourselves. It's not 4'33" by any chance?
Ladies, form queue here -->
Maybe the answer is 42?
Okay, as a /. editor you cop lotsa crap when you do a repost
You even cop crap for posting about every release of Mozilla/Phoenix/other OS darling
But did you really have to revert to denying the existence of the posted article by posting the textual equivalent of John Cage's patented 4:33?
(Is the title - pertaining to music creation - a reference to the aforementioned composition?)
Are you posing the ultimate philosophical yet slashdotical question:
"If a post has no text, does it get read?"
Cliff, I give you 11 out of 10 and salute your originality.
But don't let CowboyNeal repost it!
This sig intentionally left bla... dammit!
Who's got the whiteout?
I think everybody know what he wants to ask. "Ask Slashdot: Digital 4 Track Recorders?"
Yes, it turns out, Bruce Willis was dead through the entire movie. He only realized it when he saw that his wife dropped the ring; but there were numerous clues dropped, like his choice of attire through the entire thing, as well as some foreshadowing with the "I see dead people."
Question answered.
Sorry, I couldn't help it.
It is just too stupid.
(appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
42
Awesome, I love. It's a go~ When can we ship?
Figures they'd screw up the first post in a while that interests me...
So I'll post my own question, guessing what the post was supposed to be: I'm in the market for a digital multitrack, but since I'll be recording my wife's voice, a guitar and keyboard, I shouldn't need more than four tracks. I've seen lots of expensive digital 8-track and 16-track recorders, but a simple, high-quality digital equivalent of the old casette four-tracks (we own one of the casette types) would be really nice and would save some money. So what do people recommend?
I did not design this game/I did not name the stakes/I just happen to like apples/And I am not afraid of snakes-AniD
seeing as how noone's pointed this out, you forgot the body text to the article...
Hold on, everybody's pointed that out. Oh well.
Digital 4-track recorders do exist. Glad I could help.
Some people have a way with words, and some people, um, thingy.
Comment
Hey, does this mean nothing can be considered off-topic? ;)
"Yeah, well, Dracula called and he's coming over tonight for you and I said okay."
I can't wait for the double post. I simply have too much work and don't need to waste any more time reading actual stories.
There are 3 basic problems in using a Digital 4 Track Recorders to pull a dog sled in the Iditarod.
1) Current regulation prohibit non-canine devices from pulling the sled. However, a more liberal tone has been taken in recent years may allow this. Cats are supposed to considered for next year's race
2) Current power consumption is pretty high, the solar power banks required to power it would be prohibitive.
3) It may come as a surprise to you, but Digital 4 track recorders don't provide any locomotive capabilities. However, apparently some Japanese company is preparing to release in Q4 of 2003 a dual tread model, so keep the look out for that
the /. editors are just seeing how many lame comments people will make as opposed to actual answers. So far, I've seen two or three actuall (aka serious) answers to the topic (there is no question since there is no post).
Otherwise I think they've jumped April Fools Day by a month and some-odd days.
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 16:25 (NKJV)
No, only nothing is on-topic. You are off-topic!
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
Parent topic is Not "insightful", he just copied+pasted the article word-for-word!
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
I think you forgot something.
Quality or Quantity, don't tell me they're the same.
That story must have been sent by Pioneer 10. Give it 12 hours or so, it's a long way out.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
(see subject)
I've had this sig for three days.
In Case Of Slashdotting:
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I think the post page says it all:
(Use the Preview Button! Check those URLs! Don't forget the http://!)
I once saw one that used Sony Minidiscs and supported only four tracks. It looked like this or this.
Sunlit World Scheme. Weird and different.
Yes.
sig sig sputnik
I suppose some troll is going to write:
In soviet russia nothing nothing's you???
If they're offering, I'll take 2!
having fully read the aforementioned article, I'm definitely qualified to comment this time.
...what you said.
I guess nobody actually took the time to TRY and answer the guy's question.
Well, here's my answer:
I guess you're thinking of those little "pocket studios" that you can buy that have a few tracks, a crappy mixer, some shitty f/x, and run on CF cards or something else (wow, I can record a whole 30 minutes!). Some of them have CD-R burners.
Well, they are nice, but I suggest a laptop with sound in/out and Pro Tools (free version). That will make your life much easier. Not quite as portable as the 4-tracks but a LOT nicer and more flexible. You can master your CD on the thing when you're through. All the 4-tracks I've seen have been cheap. Granted, I haven't looked very hard.
I was never big on the analog four-tracks either, come to think of it. ADAT all the way.
Taco or Timothy will post the same empty article again later this week...
Wax-Museum Fire Results In Hundreds Of New Danny DeVito Statues
Er Google
Slashdot for people with serious ADD.
Well, I was thinking more along the lines of physical (like Tascam) recorders. Didn't even think about software. This is a fun game - guessing the post. I bet Linux has something to do with it.
so the cops didn't know that internal affiars were setting them up?
Of course, the article is completely blank, but I'll take a guess at what you were asking..
:)
Simply: Don't buy one. Why: Too expensive, very inflexible and not expandable (unless you pay even more through the nose.)
Instead, go for what the pros use: Protools. I've mixed extensively in the Protools environment, and I am constantly blown away by its power.
Protools: Tracks limited only by the computer's power
4 Track: 4 tracks, often 'virtual tracks', but at a great loss of flexibility
Protools: Amazing expandability, FX, Midi, virtual instruments
4 Track: Expandable only by FX units you can plug in
Protools: Brilliant UI, ease of use blah blah, takes a while to learn, but the skys the limit
4 Track: Simple, basic, not powerful
I could go on and on, but I'm tired and busy at work.
Protools can be expanded at your own rate, as you need it, and as you can afford it. Because it doesnt get 'damaged' or worn out (just out of date), it'll have a higher resale value too, if you ever decide to part with it.
The only advantage a four track digital recorder would have is that its more portable. Easier to chuck into a car boot and jam at a mates place with it. You could also use it for the most basic live sound, but thats probably not a consideration.
If you can afford it, get Protools, and remember that it will pay for itself in the long term. While you're at it, get a decent computer for it too.
Hope this helped
Rock or Doof on
This is one of the most straight-forward and insteresting ask-slashdots in recent memory.
...Instead Only Try to realize the truth
What Truth?
There Is no article. Only then will you see it is not the article you read, but ARTICLE READS YOU
Stupid? yes Pointless? yes
Famous Last Words: "hmm...wikipedia says it's edible"
What about Sonic Foundry's Acid? Protools is probably the budget of most aspiring musicians.
cpeterso
I meant to say "Protools is probably beyond the budget of most aspiring musicians."
cpeterso
echo audio sells digital multitrack recording products. one product of theirs that my friend bought on ebay for only like $50 (retails for only a few hundred, i don't remember) is the Layla 20bit, which is a combination rackmountable piece of hardware for all the inputs, and a pci card for your computer connecting to the rackmount...they include software for it, and my over all opinion is its very good. I believe its a 4 track, but again, i could be wrong. Ebay search for Echo Layla, lowest price first
Hasn't anyone come to the conclusion yet, that the entire question is "Digital 4 track recorders?"
Sometimes all you need is a subject, without any elaboration. So, everyone talk about DIGITAL 4 TRACK RECORDERS. sheesh.
"Champagne for my real friends - and real pain for my sham friends!" http://ericblade.postalboard.com/
Or, what was the question again?
If you don't have to go digital, you might check your local pawn shops to see if you can find a used 4- or 8- track Tascam. Even the cheapest Tascam recorders were fairly decent-sounding. Depending on how long it's been on the shelf, you might get away for under $100.
The biggest warning I can think of is don't bother with anything that uses mp2/mp3 as a native recording format.
I don't know about you, but when I write and record my own music, I don't want a lossy compression codec to remove any of the sound I've worked hard to produce.
If it doesn't have to be portable, get 4 SoundBlaster-16 PCI cards and the cheapest copy of Cubase you can find. The cards should be less than $30 at your local computer store and the el-cheapo version of Cubase should be less than $300.
Once you have that built and in the computer, see if you can find ASIO drivers for the SB cards; Creative doesn't make them but there is at least one free aftermarket (http://come.to/sblive) ASIO driver package. Install those, and you've got a decent-sounding, 16-bit digital recorder.
The 16-bit sound isn't going to give you studio quality mix-downs or anything, but it'll do for just screwing around at home.
There's so little difference between politics and jihad lately...
Froogle it
Please, people, if you don't know what s/he's asking, keep your trap shut, m'kay? We're talking audio here, so signal-to-noise ratio counts, you see...
But, do you want to go the hardware or software recording route?
If you have a decent enough computer (G3 macs or PII upwards x86s will do the trick for about 16 tracks), you might consider getting a good soundcard.
I personally use a M-Audio Delta44, 4 inputs, 4 outputs, nothing more. Perfect for recording. They have nice break-out boxes, so you don't have to crouch behind your computer when plugging in your guitars, basses or mics, they work under Macs, PC's and have linux support via ALSA (yes, linux can do multitracking as well). When you need more tracks, you can just add more cards and get 8/8 or up to 16/16 in/out-system.
As for recording software, well... my delta came with a cut-down version of Logic Audio, which should be good enough for start. Most 'pro-sumer' soundcards come up with basic software, so you shouldn't need to cough up any more money for it in the beginning.
Other software: Cubase is nice, and there's nice 'lite'-versions for beginners (some soundcards come with this instead of logic). Cakewalk is quite popular as well.
If you just want audio recording (the aforementioned do MIDI as well), then there's Cool Edit Pro. For free, there's Audacity (audacity does Windows, Linux and Mac) which is proficient enough multitrack audio editor. SLab is a good linux multitrack recorder.
And mp3, well, you don't want to use mp3 for multitrack recording, but most modern software can import mp3-sounds, and output the result to mp3 (some of them [cool edit/audacity] can do ogg as well)
If you want a proper hardware recorder (which are nice, since you can take them to your rehersal space, summer cottage, ..., what have you), then there's plenty to choose from. Most of these are a couple of years old, so you can find them for reasonable prices used (or even new!)
Roland VS-8xx series, they're nice, compact, can do 4-track recording, and 8-track playback. Loads of features, and useful later on even if you grow out of this one. Earlier models had inbuilt harddrives, the later ones have ZIP-drives (if I remember correctly). If you can get one for cheap (and i think you should), then go for this one.
Korg D-8. A bit easier to operate, but quite useful nevertheless.
And i think Fostex had some as well, just keep your eyes open in the pawnshops.
I am pleased with my Zoom MRS-4. In particular, I like the on board effects: compressors/limiters during recording, reverb at mixdown. These effects are useful to anybody using the device, and there aren't any guitar effects that I wouldn't use (I'm recording accoustic intruments and voice).
It is also possible to mix down onto two "virtual tracks" without the need for an external recorder.
You're welcome
Tom
Recording live sets with digital media can be quite a pain in the... challenging. Make sure you have 1-2 analogue compressor/limiter per channel before the signal hits your deck. Digital distortion is nearly non-restorable and will ruin the recording beyond usability.
Because of this I routinely record on analogue 4track (Tascam 424Mk3) and feed that into my PC for postprocessing. In fact, most of the time I do the mixdown on the analogue 4track and only record the pre-mixed stereo into the PC. Saves time and hassle.
So where do you want the 4track for? If only for home studio use, a decent software (CoolEdit, Cubase) will be much more convenient and more flexible to use.
Don't run with scissors.
I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
My personal recommendation would be the Boss BR-8 digital multitrack (http://www.musicstop.com/update/200008/product.ht m). It has eight tracks, and you can mixdown as much as you want - with no degradation of course. There are two multi effects devices built in, and a decent set of other features. It records onto Zip disks, which are more convenient than a hard disk based system IMHO.
It looks like it retails for around $600 in the States (I picked up mine for £450 in the UK). In comparison, all the computer based digital recording systems I've used are unstable, unfriendly and overpriced. Why people still buy things like Steinbergs software is beyond me, they've not produced a stable release since Pro 16 on my humble Commodore 64.
Chris
Actually, I didn't see the original story. Could someone please post it? Thanks.
Free Java games for your phone: Tontie, Sokoban
http://www.ntrack.com/what_is.shtm
complete recording studio. You can record and playback a virtually unlimited number of audio and MIDI tracks, depending on your computer's speed
Supports VST Instruments and DirectX Instruments synth plug-ins
live input processing allows to process with plug-ins live signal(s)
Supporting standard Windows soundcards drivers (MME), WDM, Asio and DirectSound drivers
and lots more. ive had some fun with earlier versions but havent tried the recent ones.
cool edit is also worth a try.
I hope I didn't brain my damage.
I realize this is offtopic, but just go get an ADAT off of ebay. They're 8 track digital, they can scale out, and they use VHS tapes.
meh.
why not unlimited track recording. try windows or mac sound recorder
Quartz Audio Freeware - 4 tracks for free, more tracks for $
One of my friends is a hiphop artist and he uses a 4-track MD walkman to work on rough experimental tracks. (Sony isn't the only company that makes them either, if their DRM obsession turns you off.)
It's not what you would use for final CD-quality tracks, but it does suit experimentation and ought to hit your price point.
If you like Cage, check out this article about the performance of as slow as possible
yes, I know I'm off topic.. but, I actually AM in the market for a digital 4 tracker, so leave me alone!
Spoon not. Fork, or fork not. There is no spoon.
This is one the one I'm going to buy... Fostex MR8 Records to compactflash, 8 tracks, cheap as hell, predominantly hardware interface, built in mic for fooling around... I'm there! Unless of course some smart /. poster sways me in another direction?
Spoon not. Fork, or fork not. There is no spoon.
thank you :)
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
Go looking for a Seasound SOlo with the expander. Seasound made some amazing hardware, but they unfortunately priced themselves out of business. Their stuff was way too expensive a few years ago, but since they've gone under you can get an excellent, pro-quality 8 track with 2 very nice preamps for something like $250, if you can find someone selling new old stock. This is a digital audio workstation, not a standalone. I switched to mine from an M-Audio Delta 88, and never regretted it. There are even new WDM drivers still being made for it on www.byteheaven.com. As of about 6 months ago, you could order them from www.sixtecycle.com, but Ihaven't checked recently. BTW, their page is frequently screwed up so you may have to call them. Great people though.
If you are looking for something a little cheaper than the Digi-01, you might consider the MBox from DigiDesign . I haven't used one but have heard good things. It plugs in to a Mac or XP machine via USB and allows recording of 2 tracks at once. Although it isn't firewire it provides zero-latency monitoring. Also comes with the ProTools software which has just been updated for OS X. Worth a look. I believe you can get them for around $450.
Has anyone had any experience with the Mbox?
Check out M-Audio's Delta series. You can get a PCI card that will handle 10 inputs and runs on OS 9, OS X, Windoze, and Linux for around $500.
.php
http://midiman.com/products/m-audio/delta
You may be interested in the Tascam Pocketstudio.
http://midiman.com/products/m-aud io/delta.php
Not the right place to post this question! Also. Why would you want it to natively use a lossy format? That's a real waste. Mix down through a digital output onto a computer and then convert it. It's not worth doing any other way.
I use a midiman DMAN 2044. It only works in Win98, but it's awesome. It has 4 in / 4 out 1/4inch jacks. I use CoolEdit Pro from Syntrillium software for multitrack recording and editing. Everyone I know in a band smacks their head after paying thousands of dollars to rent fancy studios when they see this cheapo setup.
Hello, You might look at a used Fostex FD-4. It's a 4-track digital recorder that uses external SCSI storage. I used to have one and I used a Zip 250 with it. It will work with a Zip 100 but you only get about 12 minutes total recording time (and that's all four tracks), so figure about one Zip disk per song.
I picked up a used Akai DPS12 awhile back...haven't had the time to play with it as much as I'd like, but it's pretty nice. May be ore than you're looking for, though.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
I'd also place an importance on:-
:/
- durability
- portability
Because these are the advantages 4-Tracks offer.
Can you take it round pubs or the sqat? Will it survive? Will it not inhibit making decent music?
Because of this I think a long record time and ability to quickly find the good stuff is important so you can just leave it going.
Also I'm guessing that multitrackers may work nice with computers. Since the software method is mostly free (especially since the ASIO sound-blaster drivers) you might as well try it. My preference would be to:-
- use the multitrack to jot down ideas / jam with mates
- get this onto computer
- polish it up / fiddle
The 'get it onto computer' stage is what I know little about. Slashdotters to the aid. Hopefully a nice Firewire link would be nice. Unfortunately multitrackers and the industry isn't quite like the video industry so this sort of thing may be unavailable
Finally don't dismiss minidiscs. Yes they are technically a bad idea but if there isn't any better... personally I like reliablity, proveness and removeable, cheap media over a HD for example.
The main message I say to you is
THINK PRACTICAL.
Slashdotters may give you lots of handy advice but wether you are happy using the thing matters most. Power is pointless if it is not used.
A blog I run for the wealth
"Weapons should be hardy rather than decorative" - Miyamoto Musashi
I think that goes for OS's too