Need the most portable 4 track out there!! What is it???

V

vitamin worm

New member
My band is begining to play some shows and I have always enjoyed listening to bootlegs. I thought it would be cool to have some recordings of our band.

So here is what I am looking for:

1. Portable Portable Portable! The smaller the better!!!

2. The ability to record 4 tracks simultaneously.
(both the audience and the board in stereo. i know there will be a delay but i plan on mixing the two digitally later).

3. Price ... the sky is the limit.

Analog and digital are both fine.

Ok, i know you guys are vastly more intelligent than I am so lemme know if you have any ideas.

Thanks.

-vw
 
If sky's the limit get an ADAT. It's 8 tracks and even if you dont use them all the quality is vastly superior to any portable 4track.

Do you need battery power? If not you have a lot of options. Choose digital tape over HDD's as they are generally more reliable and easy to change tapes if you need more recording time. You would even have the option of recording everyone to their own tracks.
 
Zoom Palmtop

You want small, this is about as small as it gets.

You might prefer a wee bit bigger and get the Korg PXR4 instead.

Both are digital.

Carl
 
Thanks for your input guys.

Krakit -
I have already considered both of these but unfortunately i believe that neither one can record 4 tracks at once which makes them impractical for my purposes.

TexRoadkill-
I have a blackface ADAT sitting around collecting dust. i guess that could work, although it isnt as portable as i had hoped. i imagine i would also need some sort of line mixer (i think that the tascam m1b would probably do). can you think of anything else i may need?


any more suggestions guys?
 
I didn't know that they couldn't simultaneously record on all four tracks.

The Zoom MRS-4 is all digital and only costs a portly $229.99

I don't know if this is any more capable of recording four on the floor either, but it's a bit bigger than the other two I mentioned and just may have the inputs.

Carl
 
If you have the ADAT already than definately try that. If you got a decent stereo pre for the live mics and 4 channels of limiters to protect against clipping you would be all set. Put it all in a rack and its pretty portable. Its not a little box but the sound quality will kick the ass of any dinky portastudio.

Anything more complicated like individual tracks for each of you will require a lot of cooperation with the sound man but if he can give you the feeds then you can just plug the line level signals straight in.
 
Something like an Akai DPS12 would be good for 5 bones at shreveaudio.com, or maybe a used Korg d12 or d1600. I love my D1600, and packed in it's suitcase, it is fairly portable. However, live shows will burn the 4 gig Akai and the 20+ gig D1600 hard drives real quick. I think that ADAT is the way to go. You can have infinately removeable and replaceable media, and you already have one. Rack it up and go buy a small A&H or Ghost or Mackie board, maybe some nice pre's if sky is the limit on funds, and think ahead about digitally editing later. Will you need a sound card or an adat interface? Good luck, and let us know what you do.

Pete
 
Drop everything, and go get a 424mkIII at Mars Music for $299.

It's not the smallest unit, but it's the smallest unit that does what you want it to do, without compromising important features, like channels, EQ, sound quality, etc.
 
Korg has a 4-track out (I think it's a "Toneworks" unit) that is about 6" by 6" by 2". That is the ultimate in portability. Plus, I'm pretty sure it has built in effects, EQ, etc.
 
Korg's PXR4, is small & portable, alright,...

but it only has one input, no input-side mixer, and won't record 4-tracks simultaneously.
 
It is funny that you mention the tascam 424mkiii because i just sold mine :)

I was looking at the 414mkii which is a step down but is smaller and apparently allows 4 tracks to be recorded at once.

thanks for your inputs everybody. if there are any more suggestions i will be happy to consider them.

thank you!

-FRANK
 
Neither the Korg PXR4 nor the Boss BR532 record 4 simultaneously.

That, and the onboard 'standard' 32MB of Smartmedia memory only holds ~4 minutes of 4-track data.

The 424mkIII is still, IMO, what you're looking for, and it's funny & coincidental that you just sold one.

Anyway the new 414mkII is currently only about $50 less than the new 424mkIII, so the price difference is minimal, but the features between the two are more stark, when compared. I'm sure you already know,...

but IMO, the 424mkIII having a full 6 channel strips, and 3-band EQ is a boost in features that's a worthwhile improvement over the 414mkII.

Still, with that said, the 414mkII is a capable machine, that will do basically what you need, albeit with less the EQ, channel strips, or other more high end features that the 424mkIII offers.

Good luck./DA
 
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