anybody still rocking the hard drive digital recorders from in the 00's ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter christopher crusty
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IF the 1608 has the USB connector then it has the board installed. I see where there is a panel for the expansion board to reside.

I don't think you'll need a driver for it. I know there were drivers for Win ME, 2000 and XP but USB wasn't as universal as it is today. Win 10 and 11 and the Mac should handle just about any USB device.
 
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TalismanRich said:
IF the 1608 has the USB connector then it has the board installed. I see where there is a panel for the expansion board to reside.

I don't think you'll need a driver for it. I know there were drivers for Win ME, 2000 and XP but USB wasn't as universal as it is today. Win 10 and 11 and the Mac should handle just about any USB device.
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Thanks. Yes, it has the USB.

At this point I'm strongly gravitating towards the Yamaha AW1600 though. The only thing the Zoom MRS1608 seems to have as an advantage is that every review mentions it's rhythm section being superior. But I haven't been able to find out exactly how it is superior. The AW1600 also has drum loops etc right? Any ideas of what it is lacking in comparison to the MRS1608?

I also still have not found examples of the AW1600 used as a looper. It seems to have the function right? How well does it work? Apparently the MRS1608 is not very useful there as it leaves a gap in the end of the loop and there seems to be no way around that. I have a Boss RC30. But for practice and writing/composing, a proper looper in the recorder would be great.

If I may ask yet another questions, since you have the AW1600, when exporting tracks in batch you can’t specify which virtual track (take) to export with each track, right? You can only do that when exporting tracks individually. Does this become counter productive? if you want to mix and master in a PC, and have access to all takes on each track, to choose, you would have to export each track individually. Or is there any work around?
 
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I really didn't use a looper function. It has 4 pads, where you can assign loops. The manual is available online from Yamaha and it shows how that process works. For drum tracks that weren't actually drums, I used an Alesis SR18.

When I was working with the AW1600, I didn't even use a computer for recording. I did everything inside the box. The effects were good sounding. I would burn things to CD back then. Remember, this was almost 20 years ago! I was rocking a Pentium 4/Windows 2000 with maybe 1GB RAM at that point, and it didn't have anywhere near the capability of today's processors. There weren't a lot of good DAWs back then!

This is one of the tracks that I did entirely in the Yamaha. SR-18 drums and my Heritage H535 into a 1953 National amp for guitar.
 

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TalismanRich said:
I really didn't use a looper function. It has 4 pads, where you can assign loops. The manual is available online from Yamaha and it shows how that process works. For drum tracks that weren't actually drums, I used an Alesis SR18.

When I was working with the AW1600, I didn't even use a computer for recording. I did everything inside the box. The effects were good sounding. I would burn things to CD back then. Remember, this was almost 20 years ago! I was rocking a Pentium 4/Windows 2000 with maybe 1GB RAM at that point, and it didn't have anywhere near the capability of today's processors. There weren't a lot of good DAWs back then!

This is one of the tracks that I did entirely in the Yamaha. SR-18 drums and my Heritage H535 into a 1953 National amp for guitar.
Click to expand...
Nice track! :)

I just looked up the Alesis SR-18 and it costs almost double what I would pay for the AW1600. So if I decide the drums and bass is that important, maybe I should but the MRS1608 and live with the weak points, or get a cheaper drum machine such as a Zoom RT-123. I found a RT123 for dirty cheap. But I know it's older so nowhere closer to the SR18. Do you have any experience with it? Because if it's not that good, I already have drum beats on my Boss RC30. Bass would be handy though.

For the loop, I just watched a whole 56 min. video on the AW1600. It seems to be some sort of official video. It's named as a quick guide. Apparently, loop is limited to 1 bar. But in another video I saw something about being able to set an A and B point on any recorded track and play that back in a loop. I must find the manual and check if this is true and how it works.

From what I gathered, what I would like is the AW1600 with the Rhythm section of the MRS1608. But apart from the drum and bass machine, the Zoom seems to be inferior in every way.

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I use the Boss BR-800. Ebay for about £130, I think. I also have the walkman sized Micro BR, and BR-80, but this one is table based and easier to work on, although you have to dive into virtual tracks and their settings rather than just turning a knob on the device. I get pretty decent results out of it, using just one guitar and the built in effects to convert it to acoustic, electric, solo, bass, layers etc. Built in drum machine looping round at the right beat. I also sometimes go through a Roland GR-55 to mess about with strings, orchestral instruments, trumpets etc for fun, but I'm really a two guitar, bass and drums guy.

32GB SD card has used up about 10GB for about 20 songs. I take the SD card to the computer then to trim it, fade out etc, but really it could all be done on the machine. Here's a recent one.

The Honeymoon Flops
 
VS-2480CD...also Zoom R16...
 

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I have not read the whole thread but this>https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/korg-d1600 tells me the box cannot send multitracks to a PC, it does have a S/PDIF output though so you could at least get a digital mix down out using a S/PDIF to USB converter or buy a suitable interface? The NI KA6 is a very good one.

Dave.
 
I was thinking about getting one of those Roland VS units just because they're so cheap and for the nostalgia. I remember spending so much time on one, and I loved using it, but then I remember the access times, and the noise of the zip drive!
 
Rmasias said:
Hi everyone I m new here. I have a Korg 1600 digital recorder and I m in a position where I have to record myself. I was recording in a studio for many years. I see it's capable of importing and exporting wave files but how do you actually get the files to a PC,lab top? I m rerecording a 6 song demo with the first band I recorded with 30 years ago which is really cool. But one of us is in Australia!! So I m recording my vocals and sending to him from my laptop after recording on my Korg 1600. I m going to import the new updated music to the Korg record vocals then send just my maybe 3 vocal tracks back to him. What is the easiest way to do that? Thanks for any info!! Appreciate it!! Peace!!
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To transfer WAV files from a Korg D1600 recorder to a PC, you can export the files to a CD and then import them to the PC:
Press the TRACK button until the EDIT TRK tab is selected
Select COPY TRACK under EDIT TYPE
Select the tracks to export from
Select the CLIP to save the tracks to
Select EXEC
Press ENTER
Select YES and press ENTER to confirm
Press ENTER for OK
Select the EXPORT tab
Select the arrow in the box
Press ENTER when highlighted
Insert a blank CD
Select G: CD
Press ENTER
Select OK
Press ENTER
Select EXEC
Select YES and press ENTER to confirm
 
christopher crusty said:
To transfer WAV files from a Korg D1600 recorder to a PC, you can export the files to a CD and then import them to the PC:
Press the TRACK button until the EDIT TRK tab is selected
Select COPY TRACK under EDIT TYPE
Select the tracks to export from
Select the CLIP to save the tracks to
Select EXEC
Press ENTER
Select YES and press ENTER to confirm
Press ENTER for OK
Select the EXPORT tab
Select the arrow in the box
Press ENTER when highlighted
Insert a blank CD
Select G: CD
Press ENTER
Select OK
Press ENTER
Select EXEC
Select YES and press ENTER to confirm
Click to expand...
Awesome of you to post step by step instructions.?
 
I still use my AW16G with a copious amount of post it notes to remind me of important commands, but it's like riding a bicycle once you ride it enough.
 
I know nothing of the recorder but notice it has S/PDIF in and out? Thus you could copy directly in digital mode into a suitable interface. The Native Instruments KA6 comes to mind. I think some macs have a S/PDIF input?

Dave.
 
I used to use a Zoom MRS802 CD. I did probably 20 songs on there. It was a great way to start recording, but with such a small screen I found it hard to edit. So I basically ended up playing the whole guitar and Bass parts through in one take, over the drums. I also didn't set any fills to the drums, I just let them run.
But that simplicity was also a huge bonus - you could have mutliple effects on each channel and not have to worry about it crashing. The effects were also pretty good for it's time (for a mutli-fx unit anyway).

I then moved on to a Zoom R16 but by that time I had lost about 5 years of playing and motivation so I didn't do much with it. I wish I had kept it though, as I think it also acts as a AI so would have been handy for DAW recording.

I don't know if it was just me being slow, but I find recording on a PC so much easier. There are downsides and times I wish I still had my Zoom, but especially for drums it is way easier to use grooves from Power MT Drums for example.
 
GG, I've got an R24 that I use for mobile recording, and occasionally for recording at home. It's so easy and compact. The Zoom is nice because you can dump the SD card into your computer and copy the files directly.

I did a track a couple of weeks ago on the R24 because my computer and interface is in the basement, and with temps in the teens and 20s, the furnace kicks in very often which and easily be heard in my recording area. The spare bedroom upstairs is very quiet, so I take a few mics and the R24 upstairs and get to work.
 
TalismanRich said:
GG, I've got an R24 that I use for mobile recording, and occasionally for recording at home. It's so easy and compact. The Zoom is nice because you can dump the SD card into your computer and copy the files directly.

I did a track a couple of weeks ago on the R24 because my computer and interface is in the basement, and with temps in the teens and 20s, the furnace kicks in very often which and easily be heard in my recording area. The spare bedroom upstairs is very quiet, so I take a few mics and the R24 upstairs and get to work.
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Why don’t you move everything to the spare bedroom and avoid the noise?
 
That's a spare bedroom. Occasionally people stay here. Plus I've got the desk, monitors, a bunch of guitars, amps and stuff which wouldn't even fit in the room! It's easier to just pick up the case with the R24 and grab a couple of mic stands and the case full of mics.
 
TalismanRich said:
I really didn't use a looper function. It has 4 pads, where you can assign loops. The manual is available online from Yamaha and it shows how that process works. For drum tracks that weren't actually drums, I used an Alesis SR18.

When I was working with the AW1600, I didn't even use a computer for recording. I did everything inside the box. The effects were good sounding. I would burn things to CD back then. Remember, this was almost 20 years ago! I was rocking a Pentium 4/Windows 2000 with maybe 1GB RAM at that point, and it didn't have anywhere near the capability of today's processors. There weren't a lot of good DAWs back then!

This is one of the tracks that I did entirely in the Yamaha. SR-18 drums and my Heritage H535 into a 1953 National amp for guitar.
Click to expand...
Just picked up a used Yamaha AW1600. Blown away by the quality of this. Audio from Alesis SR-18 into AW1600 or did you mess with MIDI sync etc.?
 
I just fed the audio output from the SR-18 to the AW. I'm not a "midi guy". Its something that I've fiddled with, but I just prefer using audio.
 
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