ZOOM MRS 4 (very basic question)

[clavicle06]

right, bought my first ever digital multitrack today. very cheap one , the ZOOM MRS 4. it has NO usb output, and comes with a smart card memory.


my question is this.

once i get it, record onto it. how do i put these songs on to my computer? it doesnt have a usb output as i said, so im absolutly clueless as to what i do once i record my music onto this little multitrack.

any help?

(this is my first post of no doubt many on this forum)

[TimN]

Tell us what kind of soundcard is on the computer. Also, if you have any
recording software on the computer. With the computer-supplied card, you can send a stereo mix from the Zoom to the computer and record it that way, but it won't be editable in any useful way. Your computer probably has a stock bit of software for recording, but you can download free stuff that is quite good. Welcome to the wonderful world of computer recording.


--underlined: Get a 1/8 " stereo phone jack to RCA L+R cable. A 2 footer,
at least (it's got to go from the Zoom to the back of the computer). I'm assuming the Zoom has RCA out. Write back . . . .

P.S.: I checked out the website for Zoom, and you need to download the free software. Get a card interface that plugs in to a usb port; they're cheap, and this will help down the road. In the mean time get recording software (the DAW mentioned in the Zoom's lit.) also. You can still transfer the stereo audio as described above, but Zoom has the right idea with the card interface/transfer route.

[clavicle06]

you wouldnt believe what a novice i am.


basically, i have no idea what soundcard my computer has.
i wont be editing on my computer, im just looking to record songs onto this multi track, then put them onto my pc to convert them to mp3. thats all i want to do.


what would be the easiest and most basic way of doing this?

[Minion]

If it records to a Memory card then you can simply record your Project in your Zoom to the memory card , then take the Memory card and stick it in your memory card reader on your PC ,and then you will have to use a free utility you can download over at the Zoom website which will convert the Zoom Project files to Wav and then you can mix and Master and add effects ect....

My Guitarist has a MRS1608 so I recently had to convert a Zoom project file to Wav files to Mix and master it on my PC....The Sound quality of the Zoom unit was awefull but I was able to clean it up on my PC.....


Cheers

[TimN]

All the above is true, but clavicle06, if you have just a regular old computer, then you have a stock soundcard. Still, if you follow my advice, you can still load the sound files on the Zoom into the comp. via the RCA cable scheme described above. Go to Reaper (Google it) and download what they have (a DAW, or Digital Audio Workstation). There are free Mp3 converters; if you transfer the songs in stereo in real time into, say, Reaper, you can then convert the song into an Mp3. The stock sound card is fine for this, but do yourself a favor and get up and running on the computer with a good card and some DAW software. Read about soundcards here:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards...ome_studio.htm

[clavicle06]

what DAW software would you recommend? im looking for something fairly inexpensive.

[TimN]

I personally use Magix V 12. It retails for $79.99 US. It is a limited version of Samplitude, which costs 10 times that. The current version (12) of Magix is by far the best so far--I've used 11 and the 2005 version, and this version is better in many respects, but you don't need to worry about that. I would recommend this to anyone; like any deep program, it takes awhile to get used to running it. There is freeware out there, and good freeware at that, but this is what I'm familiar with, and I know what you can do with it, once you understand it. Graduate to Samplitude (or any other high end software; their essentials are about the same) down the road, when you can afford it.

[clavicle06]

right , well, a friend is giving me cubase sx for fairly cheap, is this programme any good for multi track recordings?


in fact, a real idiots question here. once i have a song on my multitrack, move it to my computer, MOVE it to cubase, what are you doing with it? what changes, are being made to the actual song?

also, if i move a multitrack recording to cubase, will it appear on cubase as individual tracks , or one file?

sorry for the dimness!

[Trumpspade]

Cubase is a good DAW! (I have Sonar 7PE)

Why don't you just record straight into Cubase and take your Zoom back to the store. You probably won't have to much need for it. You can then record your individual tracks and mix to taste. I actually still own my Zoom 1266 and record on it alot still. (Mainly because I had it long enough and I know what button does what so I am confortable with it.) But I tend to process everything through Sonar and Wavelab because I have tons of plugins. Going the hardware/software route has worked out for me!

Or, by reading Tim's post, you could do it that way. (It looks like the memory card route would allow you to transfer individual tracks.) The purpose of transferring to a software based DAW is there is much more flexibility using software with the progression of plugins that are affordable and vastly available. (Industry standard to boot!)

[Trumpspade]

Take a peek and browse around the Cubase forum as well..................

[clavicle06]

right, i have a slight problem here.

i am using my multi track, i got cool edit as i saw cool edit could deal with AU files, BUT- when i put the file sinto cool edit and play them, they play at something like 4 times the speed, and at a really high pitch. whats happening here? any other programmes that i can use for my AU files?

[Oancient1]

Originally Posted by clavicle06

right, i have a slight problem here.

i am using my multi track, i got cool edit as i saw cool edit could deal with AU files, BUT- when i put the file sinto cool edit and play them, they play at something like 4 times the speed, and at a really high pitch. whats happening here? any other programmes that i can use for my AU files?

According to the MRS 4 manual I have, the audio date is in AUD files not AU. The described way of transferring data to the computer is to take the SD card out of the Zoom, and use a card reader connected to your PC and free-downloadable Zoom Card Manager software to:

1. backup your data on the PC

2. convert from AUD to WAV, and viceversa.

Link to manual:

http://www.zoom.co.jp/archive/English_Manual/E_MRS4.pdf

Link to the software:

http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/downlo...tware/mrs4.php

Good luck,

Regards,
Tom