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R
radiorickm
New member
well, here is my $.02
The Fostex MR-8 is a wonderful little digital recorder. It is very easily used, the learning curve is very small. It is portable, and can even run on battries, so it is very handy.
If you and you band are willing to record in one insturment at a time, (or a insturment set in a stereo pair) then it will suit your needs very well.
I assume as a band, you have SOME kind of mixer: even a powered head type mixer. For you first effort, that will probably work just fine.
!! (dont plug the speaker outs into the MR-8, use a line out or a puff of white smoke may alert you to a sudden impedence mismatch)
Now then, one thing to remember. You have 24 minutes worth of recording time on the included card. That 24 minutes, divided amongst the 8 tracks leaves about 3 minutes worth of recording time using all 8 tracks.
That is a little restricting. But you can doulble that time by using a lower sampling rate and output analog. Plus there are some other tricks like not recording empty channel to save time.
The VF 80 does add some features, but the MASTERING is not what you would consider EQ's. It's a push button turn it on effect.
I dont go to computer, i do everything on the MR-8, so i use the effects, the mike and cab sims, and the mastering buttons. It has served me well recording my 1 insturment at a time.
It takes a little practcie to get the adhesion or the unison feeling, but it can be done.
Good luck in finding your best bet.
The Fostex MR-8 is a wonderful little digital recorder. It is very easily used, the learning curve is very small. It is portable, and can even run on battries, so it is very handy.
If you and you band are willing to record in one insturment at a time, (or a insturment set in a stereo pair) then it will suit your needs very well.
I assume as a band, you have SOME kind of mixer: even a powered head type mixer. For you first effort, that will probably work just fine.
!! (dont plug the speaker outs into the MR-8, use a line out or a puff of white smoke may alert you to a sudden impedence mismatch)
Now then, one thing to remember. You have 24 minutes worth of recording time on the included card. That 24 minutes, divided amongst the 8 tracks leaves about 3 minutes worth of recording time using all 8 tracks.
That is a little restricting. But you can doulble that time by using a lower sampling rate and output analog. Plus there are some other tricks like not recording empty channel to save time.
The VF 80 does add some features, but the MASTERING is not what you would consider EQ's. It's a push button turn it on effect.
I dont go to computer, i do everything on the MR-8, so i use the effects, the mike and cab sims, and the mastering buttons. It has served me well recording my 1 insturment at a time.
It takes a little practcie to get the adhesion or the unison feeling, but it can be done.
Good luck in finding your best bet.
C
Comet Mutation
New member
Damn you guys mighty helpful! Ok, this is what I think I'm going to do:
1. Buy the VF80 (just because of the CD and H drives for the superior storage) and for the better programs. If I cant muster up the cash for the VF80 just go with the MR8 and deal with the low storage problem I suppose.
2. Pickup a nice inexpensive non-powered mixer (I have a nice powered mixer but I'm picking up that they are not exactly what's needed?).
3. Get Ntrack before it goes all sellout!
4. Record tons of crap and post it all over the damn web!
Just a few more questions for you vets:
1. Does a mixer go through the mic and or 1/4th inputs on the unit or does it get placed somewheres else?
2. So the VF80 doesnt have EQ either? But a mixer would fix this easily right?
3. Is the VF80 actually worth the step up in price over the MR8? Or is the quality pretty darn close to the same?
1. Buy the VF80 (just because of the CD and H drives for the superior storage) and for the better programs. If I cant muster up the cash for the VF80 just go with the MR8 and deal with the low storage problem I suppose.
2. Pickup a nice inexpensive non-powered mixer (I have a nice powered mixer but I'm picking up that they are not exactly what's needed?).
3. Get Ntrack before it goes all sellout!
4. Record tons of crap and post it all over the damn web!
Just a few more questions for you vets:
1. Does a mixer go through the mic and or 1/4th inputs on the unit or does it get placed somewheres else?
2. So the VF80 doesnt have EQ either? But a mixer would fix this easily right?
3. Is the VF80 actually worth the step up in price over the MR8? Or is the quality pretty darn close to the same?
L
LowZ
New member
Comet Mutation said:Say I did buy that Behringer mixer, and used the idea of dumping each track to pc after recording. Would it work out as a whole band device then, and still be able to record a fairly top notch sounding effort?
P.S. With the mixer, do you just plug it into the inputs on the MR8 and let it take over as the main input? [/B]
Yes I use the Behringer as the main input. The UB802 is a 6 channel mixer. Channels 1 and 2 both have XLR inputs and phantom power that you can switch off if you use dynamic mics like I do for now. Channels 3-4 and 5-6 are stereo channels. I use it as a preamp to get my levels up in the MR8 and it works well for that, plus it has an effects loop. With as many tracks as you'll want to do for the band project, using the one track at a time method and sending them to N Track would work and not break the bank. I use the freebie Audacity program to tweak the stereo wav file in the pc, but after reading so many positives here about N Track and what you can do with it, I think getting N Track will be my next step in this rig. You should be able to do fairly top notch sounding tracks for sure. I haven't had the MR8 that long and I'm still learning, too, but getting there.
M
mrx
New member
Re: n track
Dave where did you hear this? I saw one guy joking on the fasoft forum, but nothing that looked 'official'.
I'd hate for n-Track to get destroyed by those a-holes at Cakewalk...
dave in toledo said:
but i heard flavio(owner) is selling out to a corp, so prices will go up soon im sure,
Dave where did you hear this? I saw one guy joking on the fasoft forum, but nothing that looked 'official'.
I'd hate for n-Track to get destroyed by those a-holes at Cakewalk...
B
billisa
New member
2. So the VF80 doesnt have EQ either? But a mixer would fix this easily right?
3. Is the VF80 actually worth the step up in price over the MR8? Or is the quality pretty darn close to the same? [/B]
The VF80 has 2-band EQ for each channel, plus about 40 different reverb/delay settings, along with a few different guitar amp/mic simulations... The Mastering mode enables you to add adjustable compression to the overall mix, though you don't have to. Plus it has phantom power. It is a very significant step up from the MR8, before you even bring the CD burner into the equation...
P
pjh6467
New member
You don't have to necessarily transfer 1 track at a time to pc. You can record at least 6 tracks on mr8 then usb to pc to mixing software. Power tracks by Pro Audio is roughly 25.00 bucks and pretty versatile. I recorded a demo for my cover band and it turned out great. We did do it by recording one instrument at a time which left me much better control at mixdown especially with drums. Also the flexibility of panning once tracks are in pc is great. Don't forget you can mix 3 instrument rythmn tracks to a single wav and send back to mr8 as a reference and record more tracks to import to pc. Repeat the process as needed. You really do need a 256MB card or larger. I got lucky, the sales guy told me the MR8 came with a 256 and I found out it was a 128, they swapped it for free. But definitley a good machine for the money. I use Ed Dixon's method and works like a charm and you'll find some stuff of your own along the way. Good Luck Happy Overdubbing!! pj