simple standalone "portastudio" for home recording

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thos

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Hi everyone,
As someone who works on a computer eight hours a day, I'm looking for a simple home recording setup, in which I'm *not* looking at a computer screen and working with a mouse/keyboard all the time when laying down tracks. It would be nice to have some kind of standalone DAW that I could record/mix tracks and compose with, that feels more like a "portastudio" setup.

Of course, I'd want to be able to take the tracks into a computer DAW later (like Logic, Cubase, etc) to do the real "final" mixing, etc. But what I'm getting at here is the experience while composing/laying down tracks/ playing with ideas. I'd like to do those things in a different setting than on my computer.

Forgive my ignorance about the state of home recording gear (which is why I'm asking the question). I go back to the days of four track cassette recorders. I used to have a Tascam and had a creative fun time recording and mixing tracks. I'm aware in more recent times there were digital versions of this kind of "portastudio" setup.

So my question is: In this day and age, what are good options for this kind of setup?

Any ideas are welcome and appreciated. Thank you!

Tom
 
The first ones that I would recommend would be the Zoom R24 and the Tascam DP24SD and 32SD. Both use SD cards for storage, and save files in wav format. I have the R24 and use it for remote recording. One 16GB SD card will record 8 channels at 44.1k/24bit for 4 hours straight. Great for live sessions. I buy SDHC cards about 5 at a time and use them like tape (for about $5 each).

You can record 8 tracks at one time, the play those 8 back and track on the next bank of 8. Its the size of a laptop computer and very light. Great for hauling around. I bought an aluminum case at Harbor Freight for about $20, added some foam and have a nice portable case.

A friend had asked the same question this week and I noticed that the DP32SD was the same price as the 24SD and the R24 ($500). That's a good deal with 32 tracks available, 8 mic inputs plus effects.

Of course, if you want to mix down tracks in the computer, you just pull the SD card, copy the wav files to the hard drive, and go at it.

There are smaller units, like the H4 and H6 from Zoom, and the Tascam DR40. They record 4 to 6 tracks and are small enough to hold in your hand. They have some limitations, but they will get the job done.
 
Thanks for the info - I like your first suggestions especially since I'm looking for a portastudio type experience as opposed to a handheld (I actually do have a Zoom H2N that I use for 2track recording, which is great) i'll take a look at the Zoom R24 and the Tascam DP24SD and 32SD. It sounds as though Tascam has kept their portastudio line through the years. I had a Tascam 244 back in the day, so theirs might appeal to me. It'll be interesting to see where they've taken it in 30+ years.

Let me know if you have any insight on the pro's and con's between the Tascam and Zoom products.

Thanks again
Tom

TalismanRich said:
The first ones that I would recommend would be the Zoom R24 and the Tascam DP24SD and 32SD. Both use SD cards for storage, and save files in wav format. I have the R24 and use it for remote recording. One 16GB SD card will record 8 channels at 44.1k/24bit for 4 hours straight. Great for live sessions. I buy SDHC cards about 5 at a time and use them like tape (for about $5 each).

You can record 8 tracks at one time, the play those 8 back and track on the next bank of 8. Its the size of a laptop computer and very light. Great for hauling around. I bought an aluminum case at Harbor Freight for about $20, added some foam and have a nice portable case.

A friend had asked the same question this week and I noticed that the DP32SD was the same price as the 24SD and the R24 ($500). That's a good deal with 32 tracks available, 8 mic inputs plus effects.

Of course, if you want to mix down tracks in the computer, you just pull the SD card, copy the wav files to the hard drive, and go at it.

There are smaller units, like the H4 and H6 from Zoom, and the Tascam DR40. They record 4 to 6 tracks and are small enough to hold in your hand. They have some limitations, but they will get the job done.
Click to expand...
 
thos said:
Hi everyone,
As someone who works on a computer eight hours a day, I'm looking for a simple home recording setup, in which I'm *not* looking at a computer screen and working with a mouse/keyboard all the time when laying down tracks. It would be nice to have some kind of standalone DAW that I could record/mix tracks and compose with, that feels more like a "portastudio" setup.

Of course, I'd want to be able to take the tracks into a computer DAW later (like Logic, Cubase, etc) to do the real "final" mixing, etc. But what I'm getting at here is the experience while composing/laying down tracks/ playing with ideas. I'd like to do those things in a different setting than on my computer.

Forgive my ignorance about the state of home recording gear (which is why I'm asking the question). I go back to the days of four track cassette recorders. I used to have a Tascam and had a creative fun time recording and mixing tracks. I'm aware in more recent times there were digital versions of this kind of "portastudio" setup.

So my question is: In this day and age, what are good options for this kind of setup?

Any ideas are welcome and appreciated. Thank you!

Tom
Click to expand...

Hi Tom,

I've had the Tascam dp24sd for years. It's a great writing tool and with recording on eight tracks simultaneously it's wonderful for band rehearsals / collaboration if you want to capture things and then work on parts separately. Brilliant if it's a busy band that has trouble meeting up. Just about every key parameter has a physical knob as well, which keeps things simple on the fly.

You can export WAVs easily. The dp32 and 24 sds are identical, but the 32 has more stereo tracks. Two minor irritations. No pad feature on board, so acoustic drums can come in a bit hot. And the instructions are terrible. Luckily a chap called Phil Tipping has published a superb tutorial series on You Tube.

One thing. There's a newer Tascam device now that works like a portastudio but has more integration with DAWs when you need it. It sacrifices some mixing facilities and isn't cheap, but looks very interesting.

Pete
 
Thanks Pete, that's great info. It sounds like this is pretty much what I'm looking for. One question - Is it possible to export your mix as well as the .wav files? In other words , if you work on a mix on the portastudio, with levels, eq, effects, etc, and then want to bring it into a computer DAW to do more work on it, is that possible?

Thanks again

Tom


Petefrombristol said:
Hi Tom,

I've had the Tascam dp24sd for years. It's a great writing tool and with recording on eight tracks simultaneously it's wonderful for band rehearsals / collaboration if you want to capture things and then work on parts separately. Brilliant if it's a busy band that has trouble meeting up. Just about every key parameter has a physical knob as well, which keeps things simple on the fly.

You can export WAVs easily. The dp32 and 24 sds are identical, but the 32 has more stereo tracks. Two minor irritations. No pad feature on board, so acoustic drums can come in a bit hot. And the instructions are terrible. Luckily a chap called Phil Tipping has published a superb tutorial series on You Tube.

One thing. There's a newer Tascam device now that works like a portastudio but has more integration with DAWs when you need it. It sacrifices some mixing facilities and isn't cheap, but looks very interesting.

Pete
Click to expand...
 
All of these machines will let you do everything, right down to a final mix to a master track. Of course you can make changes to that stereo master track later in a computer (EQ, compression etc).

Unfortunately, the edits you make with the recorder won't directly transfer to a DAW (on individual tracks!) because most machines don't really edit the wav file. They do what's called non-destructive editing. Changes that are made are stored as settings, and then are applied when you playback or mix down. They shouldn't be written to the track unless you applied them BEFORE the track is recorded. Since the effects you have in the machine aren't transferred to your computer, you just end up with the original .wav file.

You can do a mixdown of individual channels, and since you specify the start and stop times, things should align perfectly in the computer. This might be useful if you used something like an amp sim on a guitar track or an Leslie effect on an organ that sounded just the way you want. Send that to a master track as two signals panned hard left and right, and you can separate them easily in a DAW. Then you can do a submix of the drums and transfer that.

With a bit of work, you can do most anything, but it might be cumbersome. It just takes some thought.
 
Slowly getting back to this subject -

I also see Tascam has a Model series Model 12, Model 16, Model 24. These are listed as analog mixer / digital multitrack recorder (with the exception of the Model 12 which appears to be a digital mixer) . These are a little more appealing to me in terms of style/ appearance. Mmore similar to the old portastudios.

Is anyone familiar with these, and how they compare to the DP24SD and DP32SD?

-Tom


thos said:
Thanks Pete, that's great info. It sounds like this is pretty much what I'm looking for. One question - Is it possible to export your mix as well as the .wav files? In other words , if you work on a mix on the portastudio, with levels, eq, effects, etc, and then want to bring it into a computer DAW to do more work on it, is that possible?

Thanks again

Tom
Click to expand...
 
Tom,

The Model 12/16/24 line is really targeted at the live + recording market. You get the same basic recording capabilities as the Portastudio. They'll do great setting up your FOH feed to the PA system as well. The Model 24 has 16 mic inputs, which should handle most 4 member bands. You can record everyone at every gig.

What you don't get are the effects / sims / drum machines etc in the DP series. You'll get basic EQ controls, reverb, chorus and delay.
 
TalismanRich said:
Tom,

The Model 12/16/24 line is really targeted at the live + recording market. You get the same basic recording capabilities as the Portastudio. They'll do great setting up your FOH feed to the PA system as well. The Model 24 has 16 mic inputs, which should handle most 4 member bands. You can record everyone at every gig.

What you don't get are the effects / sims / drum machines etc in the DP series. You'll get basic EQ controls, reverb, chorus and delay.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot - good info.

I'm looking at it mainly for home recording but would use it for live group situations as well. Thanks for pointing out the differences compared to the Portastudios. I should consider those. I think I'm good with the more basic set up (less onboard effects, etc) and more old style feel, less distractions. (I can always pick up a drum machine or other effects if necessary) .

Do the Model series recorders have the ability to create loops? I'm thinking that's probably another feature that the Portastudio would have, but not the Model series.

One thing I noticed is that the Model 12 is listed as "Digital Mixer with USB Interface Recorder" while the Model 16 and 24 are listed as "Analog Mixer with USB Interface/Recorder". Any idea whether the analog versions (Model 16 & 24) actually sound warmer? (and how the SQ is compared with the Portastudio) .

Thanks again for you feedback!
 
Probably the simplest standalone item available is the dp008ex tascam. It's intuitive to use . Allows for 8 track recording (2 simultaneously) . Basic on-board mastering effects include compression reverb eq. Has inboard mics plus phantom powered xlr inputs for a decent external large diapragm condenser mic.records 16bit . Small simple piece of kit .
In effect it's the digital equivalent of what were the true portastudios of the 80s but significantly cleaner and more powerful . Granted by today's standards it's looking pretty primitive
 
You would be better served to go through Tascams website and their forum. I can't tell you how much difference there is between the 12 and the 16/24 in terms of the internal makeup (digital vs analog sections). They both have to use digital processing to do the recording. I dont know how much analog processing is done internally.
 
Looking at the Tascam 24 looks like a great choice. With 24 inputs from the USB and 16 preamps, that makes it pretty nice. If it had motorized fadres, then it would be a slam dunk. For around $1K not a bad price. So far I have had very good experience with Tascam.
 
agree with tascam dp008. Very easy to track and export files for mixing. I'm looking at the zoom r16. 8 track simultaneous recording. I'd like to use the track outs on a 4 track cassette recorder into the zoom r16 and explore mixing options. https://www.zzounds.com/item--ZOMR16
 
I’m sure OP has moved on from this thread, but I wanted to share my two cents. I also use the dp-24sd and I really enjoy it. It lets me spend time recording, not dealing with notifications and positioning windows and all those obstructions that come with the computer. One of my favorite things it does is automatically zero the waves at splices, so you don’t end up with pops and clicks from edits. (Most of the time anyway- I’ve had some mixed results in 24 bit and in 48khz mode.) I do my mixes with it and export the two-track for mastering in a DAW.

I’ve also used an older digital version of the DP-08. The onboard mics were very convenient for just getting stuff in. But mixing tools were very limited.

I also looked at the model series before settling on the dp-24sd, but I was afraid the mix and edit tools might not be as easy to use. I can’t say whether that’s the case since I haven’t used one. But the eq and one-knob compressors were tempting- the portastudios require more effort to set those and you’re limited on the number of compressors/effects you can use at once. Fortunately, you can insert them while tracking so you don’t have to worry about the limited number you get while mixing.
 
I had looked at the Tascam 'Model' series and also Zoom's Livetrak's as a possible replacement for my aging 2488NEO. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but on both the Tascam 'Model' and the Zoom's 'Livetrak' series, the channel to track relationship appears to be 'fixed'. You can't assign/route an input channel to a different track like you can for the Tascam DP24SD/32SD. The Zoom R24 can assign an input channel to one of three tracks (not sure how the R8 and R16 work in this regard). Not being able to assign an input channel to another track means if you have a mic or guitar plugged into an input channel, do a recording on its corresponding track and then want to record to another track with the same mic or guitar, you'll need physically move the mic/guitar cable to the input channel that corresponds to the track you want to record on. For live recording where multiple mics and instruments will stay put to an input channel and track this is probably fine, but if you're a solo guy building tracks from a single mic or instrument, having to swap inputs/tracks via cable moves may not be fun.
Again this is what I've gotten from the respective manuals and perhaps there is a means to route inputs to tracks, but it's not something I readily picked up on from the manuals.
 
That’s a really good point, assignments are easy on dp24. There is only one DI input but that hasn’t been much of a problem so far.
 
There's a trick you can use on the R24. Say you record a guitar direct on Track 1. If you want to do a second direct in track, you can use the SWAP function, and move it from track 1 to any other track, like swapping T1 and T7. Its on Page 25 of the manual.

My old AW1600 and 16G would let you assign any input to any track. I was bummed that the R24 wouldn't let me do it. At first I used a mic snake to avoid having to unplug the back of the recorder when doing multitrack vocals. Once I learned about the SWAP function, I would use my condenser on Input 3, say Track 11, then swap it down to Tracks 12,13,14, etc until I got all the harmonies I wanted.
 
I've been using an MR8 HD for years for tracking only. I go through a Mackie 1402 mixer and use it for the preamps and turn the pre's on the Fostex off. It will record 4 tracks at a time. You need to download the Wavemanager software to transfer to pc. I'll do mixes for guide tracks in the software and then move them back to the Fostex for additional overdubbing. I keep all imported tracks in folders so I can retrieve them if needed. Not the ideal setup but it works for me as home recording is a hobby for me and it's easy to use. I did record theme music for a couple wrestlers in the MCW here locally. And one of those songs was picked up by a minor league baseball team and played in between innings. And the other one a buddy of mine uses for is podcast radio show. But for the most part I just make demos for friends and mess around.
 
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