Digital Multi-Track - First Purchase

[JimJD]

Hi everyone,

This is My first post here. Please go easy on Me....

I know a little bit about home recording, which really is'nt much at all when I think about it. I'm getting back into music(vocals)and would like to pick up a digital multi-track recorder. I'm planning on getting into/forming a band soon too.
I don't expect the world out of one of these units, I want it to be decent at the least. I plan on using it for the usual tasks. Getting ideas down in a hurry, taking it to a practice space, etc.
But... I might not be able to do any editing or tweaking on a computer with files. My PC has died and I'm using someone else's. Until I get another, the only thing I'll be doing for now is burning files to a CD on a PC. Can I mix down fully in the multi-track internally, or do I need a PC to do that before I burn it to a CD?

Anyway, I'm seriously considering the Tascam DP-01 Digital 8-Track Portastudio and the Fostex MR-8 8-Track Digital Recorder. As most, if not all of you already know, the two record to two totally different mediums. hard drive vs. compact flash media. The Tascam has 40 gigs of HDD space and the Fostex, well that depends on the size of the media card. There's a hundred dollar difference between the two. $300 for the Fostex $400 for the Tascam. If I buy the Fostex, and an additional card... I'm almost at the Tascam price point and I'll only have about 640 MB. Plus, If I'm at a practice space with no computer and just the Fostex... I'm going to run out of space pretty quick. But then I hear talk of track bouncing to save space?
Hmmm... But I've read that some have had serious problems with the Tascam's hard drive.

So, besides available space for files, What unit will serve Me better? Anyone know the pro's and con's of the two? Can these be hooked up to a windows PC only, or is it Mac and Windows?
I know that's a loaded question and all, but I'm really not sure which one is the one for Me. If I missed anything(probably did), I'll add to it on this thread.

Help on this is greatly apprecieated! Thanks!

 

[manning1]

jim.
if were me i would consider a cheap laptop for getting song ideas down.
then you can take it anywhere. ive just tried powertracks that i use on several laptops. works great. 48 tracks of audio/midi recording.
try the demo at pgmusic.com on any reasonably powerfull laptop like a sempron, amd 64 or preferably centrino if you want intel.
i'm tired of typing....as its a big area to cover - if you have q's - just ask.
and i'll make further recommendations.
ps...if you select the right laptop - with powertracks you can do a whole album from start to final mixdown and mastering to cd on the laptop.
without using anything else. of course youll need a mixer (eg..yamaha mg are cheap and good for 100 bucks) and some mics as well as an external soundcard for the laptop if you want hi quality recorded tracks. eg...maudio interface.
i saw a nice laptop today for 900 bucks.peace.
ps...also your not constrained to 48 tracks.
lets say the laptop only records 28 tracks for example. which a cheap one might do ...
just mix to stereo on the laptop. import the stereo mix to a new session and add 28 more tracks and mixdown again.
i'm sure 56 tracks is plenty for most songs !
jim - if you doubt what i'm telling you to be true , talk to some powertracks users using it on laptops on the pg user forums.
and youll get a slew of positive responses re...ease of use.

 

[fraserhutch]

If you go ythe pc route, try a bunch of eval/demo packages. I personally would recommend either a Cakewalk package or a Cubase/Nuendo package.

 

[dmc777]

I have a fostex Mr8 myself and unless you have a mixer, mic, and a bigger media card than the one that comes with it then it's only good as a sketchpad for ideas. I still have the original card in mine so I record one track a time and dump it to my pc. I haven't tried editing in the mr8

 

[JimJD]

I'm not looking into PC based recording.
Anyone else have any info to share?

 

[manning1]

jim.
an alternative might be to look at a tascam tsr 8 used multitrack tape machine. pretty good tape machines - if you dont want the digital approach.
just an idea.

 

[JimJD]

Manning1, are you talking about a cassette based machine?
I've been looking at those too since My PC is dead, and with recent developments in life, I might have to do this on the very, very cheap. Was looking at this to start out with: Porta02mkII Start-Up Package

If I went that route, what is the eaisest and cheapest way to get My tapes mixed and ready to go? A standard home tape deck? Some other method?
Oh yeah... and how does one get an analog tape put on to CD if needed?
The audio out(s) from the 4-track w/ an adapter to a PC w/ burner? From the home tape deck to a PC w/ burner, Or a stand-alone burner unit, All of those methods?
I know on one hand I can get that warm analog sound w/ tape, but I can also get unwanted noise on there too. And tape is dying, right? or am I being hoodwinked?! But for what I want to do for now, it might not make all that much of a difference. In some ways and for certain reasons, I'd like to be able to not use a computer for anything at this stage.

Oh almost forgot... is the Tascam DP-01 alright? I keep on hearing about these hard drive problems, and the lack of XLR is a problem for some people, why?