Which multitrack recorder?

[OCD_Stee]

Hi there,

First of all, is there a multitrack recorder with Bluetooth, so I can connect to a BT speaker? Can't seem to find one.

Anyway, it's not a deal breaker. Would just be good.

But I want to know which multitrack I should get? Don't want to spend loads coz I do have a PC and audio interface for most of my recording. I'd be using multitrack for convenience when I don't want to be turning my computer on etc.

Ideally I'd like it to have built guitar effects and drums, along with and XLR input.

Auto punch is a must too! The Zoom R4 would have been perfect, but no auto punch?! A major design flaw in my opinion.

Also, I had a Boss BR 80, which was good. But that scroll wheel?! Absolute garbage and stopped working properly within a few weeks.

So there's the older Boss micro, without a scroll wheel. But I feel that's a bit dated now.

So is there a modern alternative???

Many thanks.

 

[PorterhouseMusic]

I'm an owner and user of the Tascam DP24/32(SD) stand alone recorders. It sounds like a stand alone is what you're looking for - and I'm not sure it gets better in terms of the bang for the buck. They've been around for about 10 years now. Very capable recorders - loaded with features. The onboard effects are quite good - but I will say the guitar "drive" effects and the sort are underwhelming.

Anyway - you may want to take a look at these. The 24 track version was $400 for years - it's now up to $500 I think.

Also - Bluetooth has an inherent latency that I think makes it a poor option for this sort of application in general.

 

[spantini]

My Tascam DP-03SD has that damn scroll wheel. . . hate it! My solution is to glue a Tonka Toy truck wheel onto it - Big Knob it! I haven't done that yet because I might be trading it on some new gear.

 

[TalismanRich]

I have an Zoom R-24 that I got years ago. It's great for remote recordings, and I've used it for tracking. Since it basically operates like a tape recorder, it's reasonably painless, and being self contained, there's no latency when tracking. However for mixing, it's much more difficult to work with. I prefer to move the recorded tracks to my DAW. As for manual or auto punch-ins, the R24 does both. You can do it to merge the new recording into the old, or you can use it do the punch in as a different take, so you don't lose your original.

Unfortunately, the R24 is not one of the current models, but you can find them. There are a half dozen on Reverb.

As for the bluetooth, I don't know any contained systems that use Bluetooth for monitoring because there is significant internal latency in the bluetooth system. It would make any type of multitracking nearly impossible.

 

[TapeRoll]

Allen & Heath has a powerful compact product in their CQ series. A fellow studio owner purchased one for pre-production purposes and it seems to offer quite a bit for a small footprint multitrack recorder. I messed around with it for about and hour one day without looking at the user guide and it was fairly easy to navigate and get a recorded signal flow with dynamic and effects processors in the mix. It has that good ol' British engineering.
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