mixer or recorder?

[Vurt]

Hi-I've been messing around with a Porta 02 recorder for a few months now and need a lot more. I've narrowed the field down to the Mackie 1202 Pro mixer and Tascam's 424 recorder, but don't know which route to take.

In a perfect world I could afford both, but since that's not an option right now, I have to make a decision. Should I use the mixer with the Porta 2, or scrap that recorder altogether and just use the 424?

Thanks a lot for any comments/suggestions...
Adam

 

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Vurt: Don't get hurt. [The poet in me couldn't resist.]

I would suggest you review and audition some formats before you decide.

For example, I use a Yamaha MD-8 8 track machine. I believe you would enjoy 8 tracks because you can do much more than 4 tracks would allow without bouncing. Once you bounce, you only can control the volume/eq for the one or two tracks and trying to balance 4 or five instruments on two tracks doesn't work out too well.

The MD-8 doesn't produce CD quality because of compression; however, there are the Roland units that do produce some fine sounds according to what I read on this site.

You can, of course, get a Tascam 8 tracker, like the 488 which is selling for incredibly low dollars. [it is old technology and the digital units really out-perform it.] But the 488 is a nice box to start with. Check one out before you buy; prices are from $500.00 up to 800.00 depending where you buy.

So get out there man and check out some gear or communicate with the group here to get more information.

Green Hornet