recording devices

Joe Babb · Post by **Joe Babb** » 29 Jan 2003 3:18 pm

Does anyone have any experience good or bad to relate about the all digital recording 'studios' like Korg D1200? Tascam and others also make them. You can record digitally and burn your own CD's.

chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 29 Jan 2003 3:57 pm

The thing about any of the "thousand-dollar-recording-studio-in-a-boxs" is the more stuff it does or the more Swiss Army knife it is, the less likely it's going to sound great. I played on a cd a few years back that was done entirely on one of these things, I don't remember which one, and it sounded decent. He had it mastered at one of the top facilities and after they ran it through the Sontec, the HDCD and their converters, it was very decent.

Bobby Snell · Post by **Bobby Snell** » 29 Jan 2003 4:41 pm

A good resource...articles and forum. Keep your asbestos shorts on for some of the forums, but there are many knowledgeable folks there.
http://www.prosoundweb.com/

Ron Randall · Post by **Ron Randall** » 29 Jan 2003 9:39 pm

FWIW
chas is right!
Here is an input. I have been happy with a Yamaha 2816. I bought it for the reason you brought up. I can record and burn a CD, with the same unit.
About 2 years old now. In use everyday. Most of the time I use it as a mixer, playing CD tracks to practice with. I can mix in the steel, and listen to it all on headphones, too.
It does everything pretty good. I have added a couple of tube mic preamps. The mic pre's that are built in are lame!

I record my own rhythm tracks with bass, piano, acoustic guitars, etc. When I get a good steel track down, I mix it and pop out a CD. Good enough.

Hope this helps.

------------------
Stringmaster T8, Benoit 8, Tricone

[This message was edited by Ron Randall on 29 January 2003 at 09:40 PM.]

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 30 Jan 2003 5:13 am

Me, I use a Boss BR8 which I purchased off of EBAY for $400. It has 8 tracks with virtual tracks and a very good effects processor. I wrote my own effects for the Steel, Telecaster and the Bass.

This unit, as is probably the case for many, is very easy to use and very consistent. What I mean by that is I have taken very good notes during the recording/mastering process and can use the same settings with very consistent results and quality. This is a very simple unit which uses 100MB ZIP disks for media. Unlike tape, the digital domain can be very destructive if you try to record too hot past the 0DB reference.

I master on the BR8, send the output to my PC and burn CD's from there. I prefer to burn CD's outside of the workstation domain but there are many benefits for having it all
in one as mentioned above. Playing a CD and playing along with it is a huge benefit.

Additionally I have just begun using CoolEdit 2000 for additional mastering and cleanup on the PC.

I find these small digital workstations a real pleasure to work with from the former tape days of just a couple of years ago.

Here's a sound file of a recent tune done completely on the BR8, all Instruments direct and sent to the PC.

Rose Colored Glasses

The bottom line is choose a recorder that fits YOUR need. Whats good for me may not be close to whats good for you..but the Digital recorders are great..and good for all of us.
tp[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 30 January 2003 at 05:35 AM.]

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 30 Jan 2003 7:11 am

I'm happy with my Tascam 788.
Check it out via a forum search here, and at their website.

Jay Ganz · Post by **Jay Ganz** » 30 Jan 2003 7:18 am

I've had a KORG D1600 for about a year now
and it's absolutely terriffic!
It's very easy to use and it's portable.
You can also import & export WAV files so,
if you want to use your computer along
with it, you can. The effects (especially
the reverbs) are top notch (compared with
my old Lexicon LXP-1). The touch screen
makes it alot easier to navagate your way
around without scrolling thru a bunch of
menus like with some other recorders.
The new D1200's also have a USB port.

[This message was edited by Jay Ganz on 09 February 2003 at 09:32 AM.]

Jim Eaton · Post by **Jim Eaton** » 30 Jan 2003 9:16 am

I just upgraded to the Boss 1180C/D from the BR-8 model and both do everything I need and sound Sooooooo much better that the cassette 8 track unit I had before!
JE:-)>

Joe Babb · Post by **Joe Babb** » 30 Jan 2003 12:09 pm

You guys are great! These are exactly the kinds of feedback I needed to help me try to make a decision. I am new to the forum and my wife and I are new pedalers. We've only been taking lessons for a couple of months but are definitely hooked.
Thanks again for such great response.

Billy Woo · Post by **Billy Woo** » 4 Feb 2003 2:18 pm

I've had the Tascam DA-88 system (2) of them for a few years now and they are starting to become somewhat unreliable, a few trips to Teac in Montebello, CA and some costly bills is prompting me to rethink my recording needs for another system with more longevity and hassle free transport system, Pro Tools keeps coming back as a possible first along with the new Roland 24 track or 16 track system showing in second place. Still have'nt decided yet but it's nice to see all of the above to get a feel for what's out there..

Zumsteel U-12, Sierra U-12

James Quackenbush · Post by **James Quackenbush** » 5 Feb 2003 2:42 pm

Billy,
Do yourself a favor and check out the Akai DPS24...The Roland 2480 has some nice features but there are some problems with it that are not fun to work around...If something gets messed up on the hard drive, you have to send it to Roland for a fix !!...Too many other problems....Go to the VS Planet and see what guys who use them are going thru...Then go to the DPS24 site ...I'll send you a link to the DPS24 site later....It's MUCH easier to use, and has an open sound to it...Roland has a compression scheme that you can't do away with..Go with the Akai like I did, and you will NEVER be sorry...Email me offline if you need to know anything about the DPS24..Jim

James Quackenbush · Post by **James Quackenbush** » 5 Feb 2003 2:43 pm

Billy,
Here ya go....Jim http://pub52.ezboard.com/fdpsworldfrm3