Advice wanted on digital 8-track recorders

Chris Rohde · Post by **Chris Rohde** » 16 Sep 2003 2:36 pm

My sister in law wants to buy my brother an 8 track digital recorder for his birthday (he married well) and asked for my advice. Could anyone give me some input on which units between $500 and $1000 would be worth looking into? Also are there any extras that she'd need to buy (like a CD drive to store memory)? I know next to nothing about this stuff.

Jim Palenscar · Post by **Jim Palenscar** » 16 Sep 2003 4:29 pm

After doing a bit of research I settled on a Tascam 788 with a CD drive as backup. They can be had for between 600-800 on ebay (that was a year and a half ago) and have lottsa bang for the buck. A small mixer is a good thing to add but not a necessity.

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 16 Sep 2003 4:38 pm

I'll second the Tascam 788 endorsement.
I've been using one for almost two years.

ajm · Post by **ajm** » 16 Sep 2003 5:22 pm

I'll third the Tascam 788, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it may be discontinued soon. No proof, but just a hunch. You can easily upgrade the hard drive to give you all the storage you're ever gonna need. The manual is very well written also; people often comment about how easy it is to learn this machine compared to others.

I have strong suspicions that the Boss BR1180 is one to stay away from. I did some research on it one time and decided that I personally wouldn't care for it. (Of course, it could also have something to do with the fact that store trying to talk me into one is suspect in terms of integrity, but that's my own personal opinions there FWIW.)

Whatever you do, make sure that you get one with a CD drive. It's important for two reasons:
a) to make audio CDs, and
b) to back up your work/data digitally.

I have a feeling that whatever you get he's gonna love.

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Artie McEwan

Charlie Moore · Post by **Charlie Moore** » 16 Sep 2003 7:24 pm

I have a boss 1180CD and i think it is fantastic,Artie, what did you not like about it???,the effect's are ok, but could be better,thanx,,,,Charlie.............

Kevin Mincke · Post by **Kevin Mincke** » 16 Sep 2003 7:58 pm

I have a Boss VS-880 which is very nice but no cd with it. There is a newer model however that does have the CD onboard but not certain the model number.

Kevin Mincke · Post by **Kevin Mincke** » 16 Sep 2003 8:00 pm

I have a Boss VS-880 which is very nice but no cd with it. There is a newer model however that does have the CD onboard but not certain the model number. www.rolandus.com

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 17 Sep 2003 3:00 am

ok..here we go..this is almost like the tone argument..or conversation..

This is a tad long but may be worth the read..

As usual, I have opinions on this stuff as well..

The Tascam 788 is a great machine..but it is on the bottom of the downside Bell curve in it's life cycle of technology and quite honestly I am very suprised that Tascam has not come out with a new updated machine that fits the market where Boss, Roland, Fostex and Yamaha have kept current.

My take ?
I look at these units almost daily and am in the process of upgrading right now..I constantly download reviews and updates from all the manufacturers and play with them in the stores regularly.

I entered the market a year or so ago with a Boss BR8 used off of EBAY..this may be the best piece of gear for the money I have ever purchased..it took about 5 minutes to learn how to use it..

I have made many many recordings with this little piece of 12x14 inch plastic. I would get one of these off of EBAY for about $200 if that was my budget.This unit uses zip disks which is fine, 1 or 2 songs per disk.

I am not saying that I am the answer to the recording Engineering world but I have played tracks for many who asked which studio I did the tracks in..

Regardless of the machine, if you are familiar with recording concepts and your machine, hi quality results will be achieved.

The Boss machines make this very easy for an entry level recordist.

From this point on all machines are hard drive recorders.

The next model which is the Boss 1180 CD will have you making recordings in 5 minutes or less, and they sound awesome.And you can burn direct to CD. This probably the most popular machine out there in this price catagory..well recieved and very reliable.
Anyone in a retail store not recommending one of these for a first time solo recording artist is not doing you any favors..he is upselling or recommending there own personal preference..which may not fit your needs.A sales rep is supposed to find out what your
needs are and match an item to your need.

I have a friend in Florida who played the Florida Opry circuit,Steel, Tele, Banjo, Fiddle etc... he was asked to make a demo CD for show promotion, he bought the 1180 CD and finished the CD in 10 days.

ok moving on..

In my opinion , the best machine and value on the market in the under $1000 range right now is the Yamaha AW16G..16 tracks with CD burner..This machine can be purchased for around $900 new..including a CD burner. The learning curve on this machine, actually all of them compared to the Boss machines is a bit steeper.

I personally am upgrading to a Yamaha AW2816 or the Roland 1824 this week.

The number one thing which must be considered is what do you want to do with the machine ..

Do you want to record as a solo musician building tracks to a completed song ? If so, the Boss 1180 CD is the answer. I would go for the 1180 CD..These machines record 2 tracks at a time max and do include on board
simple drum tracks. Zoom also has similar machines in the same price range.

If you intend to record live with mutiple feeds, then a machine that can record multiple inputs at the same time is required, so the Boss series is out..

Keep in mind that the 8 track units that can record multiple tracks for the most part have all been upgraded to 12 or 16 tracks for the lower cost line. This is why I commented on the Tascam 788 being behind the current market offerings.

Korg makes an excellent 12 track, D12 and D1200.

I am not saying do not get a Tascam 788..what I am saying is be aware of where it is in it's market life and technolgy life if you buy one new. If you can get a real hot blow out deal on one then that would be fine.

The next arguement or discussion will be 16 bit vs 24 bit recording and effects.

I doubt anyone will ever tell the difference ,especially if you are not recording in a sound studio and using the best front end gear money can buy.

At the end of the day, all of these machines in the $700 to $1000 range will knock your socks off in quality of sound if you record well and play well and mix down well..

Know what you're buying for before you buy it and the rest is simple..now all ya gotta do is play good !

Each of the manufacturers websites are very clear with what they offer..

Under $1000..my 1st choice, the Yamaha AW16G.
second choice, Boss1180CD..

Over $1500..Roland VS1824 or Yamaha AW2816

Over $2000.. Any of the Roland or Yamaha machines..

I guess we can see who the market and technology leaders are..

I know several folks who have paid big bucks for machines, have no previous recording experience and no resources to do mutiple tracks at home, meaning they do not play mutiple Instruments...sadly the machines will sit idle..until they end up for sale at probably half price.or less..

Buy a machine that will let you spend your time playing and recording rather than learning how to use it, even if it is the lowest price entry level unit.

I would choose the Yamaha AW16G or the Boss1180CD.
Also..
Musicians Friend has a full Fostex VF80CD 8 track complete package with powered monitors, mic , headphones etc..for $999..thats a good deal as well..The VF80CD sells on it's own for $699..

And they offer the 788 with external burner for $799..but thats too close in price to a Yamaha AW16G in my opinion.

Good luck

TP

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 17 September 2003 at 06:47 AM.]</p></FONT>

Shaan Shirazi · Post by **Shaan Shirazi** » 17 Sep 2003 4:56 am

Here's another vote for the Tascam 788. I wish I could do direct you to the awesome 788 forum to further your research but the darn thing has been down for weeks with a statement about site updates and server maintenance. They do say that big things are in store so maybe they're coming out with that 2nd generation product finally. If so the 788 prices might really drop.

Still, you can get a 788 for less than $500 from e-bay sometimes with the 788rw burner for about $600. You HAVE to get their burner or things don't work right and you need to get firmware version 2.02 to get all the great features like wave import/export and clone master. If you but a new burner from a music store it should have the 2.02 chip that you can install yourself if you need to upgrade, mine did.

Shaan

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The Pickin' Paniolo