Korg D1600 Digital Multitrack Recorder

I used to have a Korg digital recorder, but I sold it and bought the Akai DPS16.

The Akai is a much more "user friendly" in my humble opinion.

www.akaipro.com

Both units are quite good. The only difference is a few of the features vary between the two.

Do your homework on this.... it's a big investment.

Buck
 
D1600 --> DSP16 ????

Buck62 said:
I used to have a Korg digital recorder, but I sold it and bought the Akai DPS16.

The Akai is a much more "user friendly" in my humble opinion.

www.akaipro.com

Both units are quite good. The only difference is a few of the features vary between the two.

Do your homework on this.... it's a big investment.

Buck
Click to expand...

Hey Buck62,

What model Korg did you Have? And if it was a D1600 why did you switch to a Akia DSP16.


Darius
 
I had a D8.

Yes, I know it's not the greatest comparison, since the D8 is a 4 year old design. But, I've also had occaission to check out the D16.... which I thought was too small to work with, as far as size of faders, dials, etc. and editing functions.
The D1600 seems to be a big improvement, but the editing features on the Akai are superior.
This is just my opinion.
Your mileage may vary... etc. etc. etc. :D
 
Check out the Roland VS-1880

18 tracks as opposed to 16.

Also, Korg pretty much copied the VS concept. I've rarely seen a ripoff compare to the original.
 
I just got one 2 wks ago and already used it to record a live concert. I burned the CD and it sounds absolutely awesome.

Before I got it, I read up, then talked to some studio engineers who I respect. I only heard good stuff. One guy said that he thought it sounded better than the Yamaha AW4416, which I had already heard sounds better than the Roland VS2440. For me that was a clincher. At a much more reasonable price ( the Yamaha is almost twice the price and the Roland VS 2440 is almost thrice) the Korg sounds better!

I didn't research the AKAI, so I can't tell you about that.

I also don't care who copied who. I am mostly interested in sound, ease of use, and features.

So, there you have it. Just realize a couple of things about the Korg, and comperably priced units:

(1) You've got to pay alot more for motorized faders. Neither the Korg nor the comparably priced unit from Roland (VS1880) have 'em. Instead, the Korg gives you "scenes" which are fader setting "snapshots" that you can save. Not as good as motorized faders -- but not bad at all. And of course, you can always do standard fading while mixing down. For me this works fine.

(2) The number of simultaneous tracks halves when you switch from 16 to 24 bit mode. This is a little deceptive in terms of their advertising, but what are you gonna do. With the Korg it goes from 8 to 4 tracks for recording, and from 16 to 8 tracks when playing. For me this is still fine.

I say get it, you won't regret it.

Hope this helps.
-jk
 
PPS: Remember, I am talking about simultaneous tracks, not total tracks, which is around 8 times that amount, I think.
 
Thanks Guys

Hello Everyone :-)

I just wanted to thank all you guys who have given me tips and just general information. Im fairly new to the art of recording. I've been looking for a digital multitrack recorder since im really over my 4 track Tascam 414 tape recorder. Not that its a bad machine for beginners, but im looking for a better, more professional sound. I think i've made my decision. Too bad none of you are in Miami so we could hook up and jam. Thanks for taking the time to help.

Iry the Irygirl
 
For the price of a D1600 you can...

Buy or build a P3 800Meg computer.
Buy Digi-001 soft/hard-ware.
Record 24 tracks at 24bit
Record 8 Tracks at a time at 24 bit
Edit in ways you never thought possible
Have your sessions mixed in a studio at a later time

Also...spend a little more and you can record 16tracks at 24bit.

Hellofa deal!
 
But if you can afford that....I really don't know where you could buy a computer, good sound card and good software for under 1500$. with the Korg you get portability. That's why I bought my D16....I was thinking of the computer route, but for the final price I got the Korg, computers were completely out of that range. The korg will soon allow you to export .wav files in multitrack forms to such platforms as cool edit pro (with version 3 software). The Korg is a really good buy. But do some research as well. Another unit may suit you better.

Peace, love, and chicken,
Mike
 
mikemoritz said:
But if you can afford that....I really don't know where you could buy a computer, good sound card and good software for under 1500$.
Click to expand...

I built my computer for 800.00 and bought my Digi for 767.00.
I did use an old monitor, mouse, and keyboard but the added capabilities are astounding. I almost bought the Korg.

This was my first computer build too. It is 10x easier than most people think. I really had no problems in the build as everything only goes one way.
 
Computers vs. Multitrackers

There's one very important thing about computers - almost every multitrack audio sequencer (except Logic Audio) does NOT mix down tracks properly. The timing & jitter artefacts depend numerous facts inside a computer so even the mightiest machine can screw up your mix.

These issues are not noticeable easily but I tried to mix down an 8-track project on my computer (Vegas Pro) and also mixed it on VS880 - I digitaly copied every track to it from computer. The results went out different: VS-mix has clearer sound, better stereo placement and less phase problems as opposed to computer mix (to be sureI copied the final VS-mix back to PC and compared 2 files with Pinguin Audiometer - an analyser tool). I did not use any effects in both cases - just level and pan of each track

I'm pretty sure that if you're going to record & mix a lot of audio you have to get a dedicated device - even 8-track old machine like 880 or D8.
 
Maybe it was the software. Protools LE is nothing less than a copy of the TDM software used professional around the world in the BEST studios. The differences are this. The A/D converter...001 is not quite as good as the 8824. Also, there are features which have been skipped, like beat detective, and a few others. It is limited to 24 tracks as well instead of 64.

The mixing, editing, and automation aspects are the same from LE to TDM. Everything I have heard has been great. The only artifacts are the ones I created in error and I will be fixing these.

I think you misunderstand the capabilities of Protools.
 
Pro Tools are OK:)

Please don't be upset - I didn't mean Pro Tools in my post - I was talking about PC software multitrackers. But there is an important thing about Digi 001 - It's different from another Pro Tools system because mixing is performed at software level when in Session cards mixing is done at hardware level. You know there are 4 basic levels of operation in computer systems - someone mentioned these in this BBS I think:

1) Application
2) Driver
3) OS
4) Hardware

The higher the level - the more inconsistences appear - timing problems etc 'cos neither drivers nor OS are perfect. When mixing is done at application (software) level, all audio streams (i.e. tracks) are combined with reference to clock generated by application (not very stable) and then only one stereo stream is sent to hardware output (or HD) through driver & OS. At hardware level the application sends separate audiostreams to hardware (card), where those streams are mixed much more precisely (on hardware clock) and then output to physical outs or HD.

The thing is that Digi 001 mixes tracks at SW level - not like more serious Digidesign interfaces. 001 has different architecture but it's Pro Tools compatible anyway.

That was my point actually:) There're always a trade off somewhere.
 
Re: Pro Tools are OK:)

Batat said:
Please don't be upset - I didn't mean Pro Tools in my post - I was talking about PC software multitrackers. But there is an important thing about Digi 001 - It's different from another Pro Tools system because mixing is performed at software level when in Session cards mixing is done at hardware level. You know there are 4 basic levels of operation in computer systems - someone mentioned these in this BBS I think:

1) Application
2) Driver
3) OS
4) Hardware

The higher the level - the more inconsistences appear - timing problems etc 'cos neither drivers nor OS are perfect. When mixing is done at application (software) level, all audio streams (i.e. tracks) are combined with reference to clock generated by application (not very stable) and then only one stereo stream is sent to hardware output (or HD) through driver & OS. At hardware level the application sends separate audiostreams to hardware (card), where those streams are mixed much more precisely (on hardware clock) and then output to physical outs or HD.

The thing is that Digi 001 mixes tracks at SW level - not like more serious Digidesign interfaces. 001 has different architecture but it's Pro Tools compatible anyway.

That was my point actually:) There're always a trade off somewhere.
Click to expand...

Good point. I forgot about the issue of protools being native. I haven't noticed any timing issues, for what it is worth ...2cents;)
 
There's one very important thing about computers - almost every multitrack audio sequencer (except Logic Audio) does NOT mix down tracks properly. The timing & jitter artefacts depend numerous facts inside a computer so even the mightiest machine can screw up your mix.

These issues are not noticeable easily but I tried to mix down an 8-track project on my computer (Vegas Pro) and also mixed it on VS880 - I digitaly copied every track to it from computer. The results went out different: VS-mix has clearer sound, better stereo placement and less phase problems as opposed to computer mix (to be sureI copied the final VS-mix back to PC and compared 2 files with Pinguin Audiometer - an analyser tool). I did not use any effects in both cases - just level and pan of each track

This is interesting. I haven't heard of this issue before. (I use cake to track and do level automation, but mix analog.)
What is different about Logic audio?
Thanks
mixsit
 
mixsit said:
There's one very important thing about computers - almost every multitrack audio sequencer (except Logic Audio) does NOT mix down tracks properly. The timing & jitter artefacts depend numerous facts inside a computer so even the mightiest machine can screw up your mix.

Click to expand...

Batat,
:eek:


You might check your information again. I don't believe that what you are saying is correct. There is a lot of information to the contrary.
 
Re: Computers vs. Multitrackers

Batat said:
There's one very important thing about computers - almost every multitrack audio sequencer (except Logic Audio) does NOT mix down tracks properly. The timing & jitter artefacts depend numerous facts inside a computer so even the mightiest machine can screw up your mix.
Click to expand...
The only place there could be a timing issue is right at the output of the sound card. So timing errors would depend on the sound card (or more specifically, the D/A interface) you are using, not the computer or software.

Remember, portable multitrackers are computers, too.

Batat said:
The higher the level - the more inconsistences appear - timing problems etc 'cos neither drivers nor OS are perfect. When mixing is done at application (software) level, all audio streams (i.e. tracks) are combined with reference to clock generated by application (not very stable) and then only one stereo stream is sent to hardware output (or HD) through driver & OS. At hardware level the application sends separate audiostreams to hardware (card), where those streams are mixed much more precisely (on hardware clock) and then output to physical outs or HD.
Click to expand...
No. You misunderstand. Software applications do not have timing problems such as jitter. Timing is not an issue there at all. When mixing, the first sample from track 1 is added to the first sample from track 2. Then the second sample from track 1 is added to the second sample from track 2, and so on until the end of the song.

However, there is controversy regarding the summing process of some applications in terms of levels, but not timing.

Also, hardware vs. software mixing is irrelevant. You are just adding numbers. Fundamentally, software and hardware do this the same. If there is a timing question it is whether or not the D/A converter is sending out the numbers at the right time.
 
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