DrummChris
New member
Hello all! Here is my first stab at a review here.
2/28/2003
Fostex MR-8
In the search for an affordable, portable multi track recording device, many options are available. Unfortunately, most are analog. I have had normal four track recorders in the past. Inevitably, tape noise would creep in and rear its ugly head. Even the highest quality units would hiss as if there were a snake charmer nearby. Digital is the way to go, but the price. A little too rich for my blood, or so I thought. PC digital recording is great, I do it all the time, but I was looking for something portable and a brand new laptop was out of the question.
I thought that I would have to dash my digital dreams and return to the land of hiss.
Then, a diamond in the rough. A digital multi track, eight track to be precise, that has tons of features and doesn’t break the bank!
(Clouds part, angels sing) Halleluiah!
This thing rocks.
It was very easy to learn and the layout design makes sense. If you have used a four track before, you will have no problem with the MR-8.
It uses compact flash cards as the recording media. The unit comes with a 128MB card, enough for a few songs depending on the number of tracks used. That would be my only gripe about the unit, storage. But wait! The built in USB interface lets you export the seperate tracks or finished mix, in the form of .wav files, to and from your PC or Mac via USB. Storage problem solved.
There are onboard effects in the form of reverb and delay. I quickly discovered a neat feature called microphone simulator. Tube, condenser and dynamic simulators tie into the mic inputs on channel one. Also included are onboard amp simulators and distortion, for the four and six string crowd.
There is no channel by channel equalizer controls. Equalization can be altered during mix down in with one of three settings. Powerful, natural and bright. If you need extream eq control. You will have to do it on a mixing board at the time of recording or on a PC after recording. Everything sounds stellar so I have yet to have a need for more eq.
Inputs consist of two XLR and two quarter inch line or guitar inputs. Also, a built in mic is included. Recording is limited to two tracks at a time. That is not a problem for me as I don’t record more then two tracks at a time anyway.
Two headphone jacks with a separate volume control are used for headphone monitoring. Right and left, quarter inch stereo main outs, and S/PDIF Digital Output optical jacks are available for output. There is also a MIDI out port for controlling outboard MIDI devices.
Bouncing tracks was never so easy or fast. There is an “Undo/Redo” button that comes in real handy as well.
The knobs and faders are very smooth and the unit itself has a “high quality feel” that continues to impress me.
In summary, I really like this recorder. It has most of the features that you would find in other machines that are twice or three times the price. It sells for $299.99 at the time of this writing. Yes, you read it correctly, $299.99.
If you get one, check Fostex’s web site for firmware upgrades and a small software utility named WAVManager that makes MR-8 to PC or vise versa .wav transfers a snap.
2/28/2003
Fostex MR-8
In the search for an affordable, portable multi track recording device, many options are available. Unfortunately, most are analog. I have had normal four track recorders in the past. Inevitably, tape noise would creep in and rear its ugly head. Even the highest quality units would hiss as if there were a snake charmer nearby. Digital is the way to go, but the price. A little too rich for my blood, or so I thought. PC digital recording is great, I do it all the time, but I was looking for something portable and a brand new laptop was out of the question.
I thought that I would have to dash my digital dreams and return to the land of hiss.
Then, a diamond in the rough. A digital multi track, eight track to be precise, that has tons of features and doesn’t break the bank!
(Clouds part, angels sing) Halleluiah!
This thing rocks.
It was very easy to learn and the layout design makes sense. If you have used a four track before, you will have no problem with the MR-8.
It uses compact flash cards as the recording media. The unit comes with a 128MB card, enough for a few songs depending on the number of tracks used. That would be my only gripe about the unit, storage. But wait! The built in USB interface lets you export the seperate tracks or finished mix, in the form of .wav files, to and from your PC or Mac via USB. Storage problem solved.
There are onboard effects in the form of reverb and delay. I quickly discovered a neat feature called microphone simulator. Tube, condenser and dynamic simulators tie into the mic inputs on channel one. Also included are onboard amp simulators and distortion, for the four and six string crowd.
There is no channel by channel equalizer controls. Equalization can be altered during mix down in with one of three settings. Powerful, natural and bright. If you need extream eq control. You will have to do it on a mixing board at the time of recording or on a PC after recording. Everything sounds stellar so I have yet to have a need for more eq.
Inputs consist of two XLR and two quarter inch line or guitar inputs. Also, a built in mic is included. Recording is limited to two tracks at a time. That is not a problem for me as I don’t record more then two tracks at a time anyway.
Two headphone jacks with a separate volume control are used for headphone monitoring. Right and left, quarter inch stereo main outs, and S/PDIF Digital Output optical jacks are available for output. There is also a MIDI out port for controlling outboard MIDI devices.
Bouncing tracks was never so easy or fast. There is an “Undo/Redo” button that comes in real handy as well.
The knobs and faders are very smooth and the unit itself has a “high quality feel” that continues to impress me.
In summary, I really like this recorder. It has most of the features that you would find in other machines that are twice or three times the price. It sells for $299.99 at the time of this writing. Yes, you read it correctly, $299.99.
If you get one, check Fostex’s web site for firmware upgrades and a small software utility named WAVManager that makes MR-8 to PC or vise versa .wav transfers a snap.
