M-Audio Fasttrack Ultra 8R vs Zoom R16?

[blabb]

I've narrowed my choices down to these two units, and would like to hear any thoughts you have before I buy one. My situation is, I want to record a drumset to Reason 7 on Windows 7 through USB 2.0, with different drums going to individual tracks. The M-Audio can do this in one shot, while the Zoom R16 only has stereo out to USB, but I could record on it then transfer the individual tracks to Reason. I also record keyboards and vocals to Reason, and this will be my main use for an interface.
My quandry is, 95% of the time I'll be recording to Reason at home, and the M-Audio will be just what I need. However, when I do any outside work such as writing with other musicians, or recording on the go, the Zoom R16 would be a great stand alone unit and I wouldn't need to bother with a computer. I like the convenience of the M-Audio for going straight to Reason multi-tracked, and recording then transferring every take makes the Zoom more labor intensive and interferes with the flow. Then again, the M-Audio would be just as much of a hassle when trying to record outside my home studio.
I'm leaning toward the M-Audio, but if anyone has suggestions on this or even other units I may have overlooked, I'd be grateful to hear them. I can go to around $400-$500, and need at least 8/8 over USB 2.0. Thanks for your assistance.

 

[DM60]

I've narrowed my choices down to these two units, and would like to hear any thoughts you have before I buy one. My situation is, I want to record a drumset to Reason 7 on Windows 7 through USB 2.0, with different drums going to individual tracks. The M-Audio can do this in one shot, while the Zoom R16 only has stereo out to USB, but I could record on it then transfer the individual tracks to Reason. I also record keyboards and vocals to Reason, and this will be my main use for an interface.
My quandry is, 95% of the time I'll be recording to Reason at home, and the M-Audio will be just what I need. However, when I do any outside work such as writing with other musicians, or recording on the go, the Zoom R16 would be a great stand alone unit and I wouldn't need to bother with a computer. I like the convenience of the M-Audio for going straight to Reason multi-tracked, and recording then transferring every take makes the Zoom more labor intensive and interferes with the flow. Then again, the M-Audio would be just as much of a hassle when trying to record outside my home studio.
I'm leaning toward the M-Audio, but if anyone has suggestions on this or even other units I may have overlooked, I'd be grateful to hear them. I can go to around $400-$500, and need at least 8/8 over USB 2.0. Thanks for your assistance.

Most of the time you will probably be recording one or two channels at time, unless you are setup to have many people and instruments in the same room.

I agree with you in that, the Zoom can travel with you, track, then load the results into your DAW for mixing (I am pretty sure you can get to the files and just drag them into your DAW verses having to re-record to your DAW). There are some Zoom users on here that can confirm.

I would guess the Zoom would meet 100% of your needs with only an inconvenience of maybe less than 1% of the time.

 

[blabb]

Most of the time you will probably be recording one or two channels at time, unless you are setup to have many people and instruments in the same room.

I agree with you in that, the Zoom can travel with you, track, then load the results into your DAW for mixing (I am pretty sure you can get to the files and just drag them into your DAW verses having to re-record to your DAW). There are some Zoom users on here that can confirm.

I would guess the Zoom would meet 100% of your needs with only an inconvenience of maybe less than 1% of the time.

Thanks for the reply. When I'm doing keys or vocals, yes, one or two tracks is fine. However, when I'm recording drums, I want 6 or 8 tracks recording simultaneously to Reason 7 so I can do individual processing and mixing. The Zoom can record that, but then I'd have to transfer the tracks to Reason every time I record drums. If I didn't need the muliple outputs this would be an easy decision, but I do.

 

[DM60]

Thanks for the reply. When I'm doing keys or vocals, yes, one or two tracks is fine. However, when I'm recording drums, I want 6 or 8 tracks recording simultaneously to Reason 7 so I can do individual processing and mixing. The Zoom can record that, but then I'd have to transfer the tracks to Reason every time I record drums. If I didn't need the muliple outputs this would be an easy decision, but I do.

Should be just a quick import. less than a minute as you can access the Zoom (I think) like a hard drive.