Four to Eight Tracks

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benttop

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I want to buy a new digital recorder. I don't need ANY of the hundreds of worthless features on most of the products out there - I just want four to eight preamps with XLR's and phantom power so that I can suck up the audio at a live gig, then squirt it into my PC for editing, mixdown and mastering.

But every four to eight track recorder I see out there has all kinds of other crap I don't need, and why the hell only two or four XLR's on an eight channel recorder?

Isn't there anything out there that does JUST audio recording, with XLR's for EVERY track?

I'm thinking I may have to just bite the bullet and buy a rack mount hard disk recorder and haul a mixer out - I really don't want to go that route if I can avoid it.
 
Chiba

Chiba

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Digi002R and a laptop should do the trick :)

But seriously, folks. The 002R only has 4 XLRs anyway.

It does seem like those 4 & 8-track recorders have piles of stuff on them - the manufacturers are trying to be all things to all people and, like you, I think they just pile on crap features to try to sell more units instead of making a real, quality piece of gear.

I've seen a few pieces of gear that have 8 preamps in them, with one of those you could run into pretty much any 8-track machine that has 8 inputs, whether they're XLR or 1/4".

--chiba
 
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benttop

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342
Originally posted by GaryNattrass
Add a Behringer ADA 8000 and you have 12 mic inputs!
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You know, I've been looking for exactly that kind of single-space preamp for literally YEARS! Since I have an old ADAT here, I could stick one of these and the ADAT in a five-space rack and have exactly what I've been complaining I can't find. Thanks for the pointer - how long have they been making the ADA 8000?

AND it seems to be fairly inexpensive - list is $279!
 
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GaryNattrass

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I don't know how long its been out but it seems the ideal interface for your needs and it is very inexpensive.

Have a look on e-bay they are around £156 here in the UK.
 
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benttop

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Originally posted by GaryNattrass
I don't know how long its been out but it seems the ideal interface for your needs and it is very inexpensive.

Have a look on e-bay they are around £156 here in the UK.
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Yeah, there's one on there now that is up to $153. But it's all the way across the continent from me. I'd like to look one over before I take the plunge, but maybe I'm being silly...
 
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benttop

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342
Originally posted by benttop
Yeah, there's one on there now that is up to $153. But it's all the way across the continent from me. I'd like to look one over before I take the plunge, but maybe I'm being silly...
Click to expand...

Walked in to Guitar Center today and sure enough, they had this thing! I talked to the guy there and he said he hadn't known about it until some customer bought one, and he realized he needed a couple of them. Cool unit - thanks for the pointer.
 
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benttop

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342
Originally posted by GaryNattrass
You are welcome and I'm glad you can get recording for such a low investment.
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Well at least I can hook up eight microphones or line feeds - now if I just HAD eight GREAT microphones. I have five good ones, but the rest will have to be whatever is on stage... :)
 
enharmonic

enharmonic

It's the same damned note!
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Originally posted by benttop
I want to buy a new digital recorder. I don't need ANY of the hundreds of worthless features on most of the products out there - I just want four to eight preamps with XLR's and phantom power so that I can suck up the audio at a live gig, then squirt it into my PC for editing, mixdown and mastering.

But every four to eight track recorder I see out there has all kinds of other crap I don't need, and why the hell only two or four XLR's on an eight channel recorder?

Isn't there anything out there that does JUST audio recording, with XLR's for EVERY track?

I'm thinking I may have to just bite the bullet and buy a rack mount hard disk recorder and haul a mixer out - I really don't want to go that route if I can avoid it.
Click to expand...

Have you looked at the Metric HaloMobile I/O?

http://www.mhlabs.com/metric_halo/products/mio/2882/

2882 + DSP would give you everything it sounds like you need. ;)
 
enharmonic

enharmonic

It's the same damned note!
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9,392
No problemo :). They're pretty "pro" units for the price. I'm actually considering putting a 24 input system together based on Metric Halo gear in order to do live recordings here in my region. The only options bands have right now, is to get a CD burned from the board at a show, or hire in a Mobile truck that they simply cannot afford.

When you consider what the Metric Halo channel strip costs as a stand alone plug, these boxes are really a no-brainer IMO...firewire...A/D conversion. Lots of live remote guys are using them...and with good reason :).
 
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LSchefman

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Mackie also has a new eight channel microphone preamp with a digital output, if I recall. I don't know what it will go for; they claim it will outdo high end preamps blah blah blah...

Doubtful, but their older mixer preamps were great for the money, so how bad could these be?
 
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benttop

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342
This is what I was looking for - well not EXACTLY, but this is the kind of stuff that I didn't know was out there. Now if they just had a cheap 8 track hard disk recorder with an ADAT interface, you could marry them up and have a portable system without a computer.
 
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