Digital multitrack recorders

[goodlife]

I currently have a fostex X-18 multitrack analog recorder and was thinking of upgrading to a fostex FD-8 (digital 8-track with mixer). I read your article on digital recorders and I was just wondering how good this one actually is. I would also like not to have to get the two hundred dollar option of a zip drive but would this make a difference? I was attracted to this because it was not too far off from my analog deck but it is a big step and I would hate to make a seven hundred or nine hundred dollar mistake. I oviously do not have alot of money to spend and if this is not what I am looking for then maybe you could point me in the right direction.
Thanks Alot
Andrew

 

[Purple-Tortoise]

I own the fd-4 which is just like the fd-8 only half the tracks. Yes, both are affordable and very versatile. But, media is so damn expensive! I have the 100 meg zip drive and can only get about one song at the 44.1 mhz per disc and those discs are a rip-off. Your other options are : an internal hard drive(you would still need a dat or some other device with an optical interface), external jaz drive(even more expensive discs). I recently purchased n-track multitrack software for my computer for $30.00 and get 8 tracks no problem. and I can back my files up to cd-rw(650mb).This is still 16-bit 44.1mhz cd quality audio. This is something to consider if you have a computer and want to get in to recording on a budget.