Yamaha AW1600 - Worth getting?

[Zorlee]

Thank you guys so much for the feedback!
I'm probably going to buy the AW1600! =) But I'm not completely sure, I still have some (before I get the money, hehe) to deside.
I will buy these microphones for my drums: SM57, Audix D6 and 2 x Studio Projects B1.
So that's the microphones that I'm going to need preamps for... So I'll at least start out with the onboard preamps on the AW1600. I hope I will get some decent recordings with them...

Keep the feedback comming - I love to read about your experience with this SIAB!

 

[iwanarock]

My two cents ....I bought a Yamaha AW4416 when they first came out years ago and still have it and use it. Yamaha makes a quality product and I get great recordings out of it and highly recommend Yamaha. Yamaha also offers some upgrades paths to their recorders with add on cards like the Waves Y96K card, and expansion cards, etc, which I believe the AW1600 supports as well. All in one boxes are in deed handy and provide most of what you need to get up and running quickly without having to buy and wire a bunch of stuff and components together. Editing on a PC is probably easier but can be done on a standalone. The one lacking piece I see on the AW1600 (which is a limitation I have as well on the AW4416) is a monitor port to attach an external monitor. That would be a very nice feauture that Yamaha continues to ignore on their multi-track recorders. But with the USB functionality you can eventually get the best of both worlds if you go this route. Yamaha sound quality on their recorders is indeed very good. PC solutions also are very good, but dont have the mobility of a standalone.

There is a learning curve with these boxes, make no mistake, but they do deliver the goods if you invest the time required to fully understand and utilize the technology built into these boxes.

There also is a very good web site that was started for the AW4416 and then the AW2816 but now has a section for the AW2400,AW1600 as well. That site has a lot of very knowledgeable users who are more then willing to assist you in the learning curve.

the site is http://socialentropy.com/aw4416/

 

[firby]

I agree completely. My opinion, to those who ask the question, is that Yamaha makes a fine SIAB for the money. I have no personal stake in Yamaha, nor does it bother me if others disagree. Life's too short. Your statement implying something otherwise is offbase and unsupportable. At worst, I usually throw in a plug for the aw16g user forum, which I was a charter member of a few years back. It's a good place for questions like yours.

I'm not sure why you're asking me about the mic pres, though, since I've never had much to say about them. I think they're OK, workable, for a low-budget system like mine, but I've also inquired here before about M-Audio's pres, which may be in my future. Still, I haven't had any special trouble with muddiness in my 16-track mixes although I only mic my acoustic guitars. If you're interested, you could check Recording mag's review of one of my tunes in the October '05 edition, which makes a special note of the solid/impressive sound of my acoustics using just a non-boutique guitar, a SP B1, and no external pres. I recorded the signals as hot as I could and kept any processing to a minimum, which worked pretty well. Keep in mind that I'm talking home recording here; when I need more, I use a local studio.

J.

BUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNN!


ha
ha
ha
ha
ha

 

[jeffree]

Good to see you back around these parts, Nate. Seems like you were gone for a while, or maybe I just didn't catch any of your posts.

J.

 

[NLAlston]

Good to see you back around these parts, Nate. Seems like you were gone for a while, or maybe I just didn't catch any of your posts.

J.

Hey there, my good buddy ~

Yeah...I had been quite encumbered by a number of very negative issues & circumstances. But all is indeed better, now, and I am trying to get back into the flow of things. I had been visiting, on occasion, but not being of the spirit to say much, or linger long. Once again, things are much different now - and I really appreciate your concern.

Great hearing from you.

 

[Zorlee]

Hi again!
I was just wondering..
This machine records at 24 bit when using 8 tracks. If I wanted to have more tracks than the 8 that this machine allows, is it possible to do something about this? Send the tracks to another file? Or upload them on the computer or something?
How can I monitor the 8 "old tracks" when I record for example 8 new ones? Or is it impossible to make songs with more than 8 24 bit tracks?

Sorry if this is really confusing to read. I'm not Mr. Perfect when it comes to english, I'm from Norway y'know

Thank you guys in advance!
Zorl...

 

[ssscientist]

The 24-bit option is something that can be switched on or off, meaning you don't have to use it if you want to use the AW1600 as a 16-track machine.

My AW16g only has 16-bit recording - the 24 bit option is something new to the AW1600 - and my tracks all sound just fine.

As far as I know, you can bounce 24-bit tracks within the 8 track limit, but the rest of the tracks are shut off when you put the machine in 24-bit mode.

Compact discs are 16-bit, 44.1kHz and as such any audio recorded at a higher bit rate (24 bits in this case) must be 'dithered' down to 16-bit before being reproduced on the regular CD format.

You can decide on a project-to-project basis, and if the project in question requires fewer tracks but increased quality from the tracks you can opt to use it as an 8-track 24-bit machine. If you are recording something like a full rock band and number of individual tracks is just as important as quality 16-bit will get the job done in high style.

To use an automotive metaphor, 16-bit is a Volvo and 24-bit is a nice BMW.