Help Selecting Recorder

[bestevens]

Hello,

I am in the market for a new recorder. Once-upon-a-time I had a Fostex
4-track and had a great time micing my amp, recording live drums, etc.
Times have changed since I became a father and I am looking for
something different. Here is what I want a unit to do;

1. Have different decent sounds so I can plug a guitar directly in.
2. Record two tracks at once - either play and sing or a stereo guitar
parts via a delay pedal.
3. Easily be able to link with a Mac (OS 9) to create files to burn to
a CD. Also be able to back-up raw tracks to the Mac if possible.
4. Be small and light - something I can keep in the closet and get out
after my daughter is in bed.
5. Be battery powered if desired.
6. Have built-in effects for mix-down.

Basically I am looking to spend more time playing music and less time
setting up and tearing down equipment.

I have seen three units that look like they might work. They are (in
no particular order);

Boss BR-864
Korg Toneworks Pandora PXR4
Tascam Pocketstudio 5
Fostex MR-8

What do people think of these units? Are there others?

Thanks For the Help,

Bruce

 

[billisa]

Of these, I'd go with the Fostex -- 8 tracks. The Boss, and maybe the others use data compression, whereas the Fostex is a full 16bit recorder. However, the Fostex's effects are not considered that great. I can't vouch for the other models.

Have you considered a Fostex VF80CDR? Great machine. Nice effects for guitarists, gives you a fully mastered CD.

 

[dwillis45]

I would also take a serious look at the Fostex recorders. And, if you have the money, the Fostex VF160. In the long-run the extra tracks really come in handy.

The OS9 interface is somewhat complicated. According to the manufacturer, the Fostex MR8 has a USB port which allows the user to load Wav files on to a computer. My impression, however, is that your computer must be DOS formated and I assume that excludes Mac's running OS9. I'm not an expert, so hopefully others will chime in on this point. On the other hand, if you are recording audio from the Fostex to the computer (recording as opposed to loading data), the USB port should allow you to mix down you 8 track recordings to stereo using software like Cubase, Cakewalk, Digital Performer, etc. As far as the other recorders (Korg, Tascam, Boss), I assume that they also fall into the same boat. Remember, many of these machines are designed with large markets in mind, so they tend to favor PC users when it comes to loading data.