I picked up a Tascam Model 12 a few months back, but I haven’t had much time with it due to having to more or less disassemble my “studio”. TBH, aspects of it are kind of over my head as to how routing works. It’s far more complicated than the Tascam four-tracks of old, and I also have an easier time understanding my DAW.
I don’t want to get rid of the Model 12, but I’d like something much smaller that I could do some basic recording with, since I’m kind of hurting for space at the moment. I’ve been pondering using my iPad + the MOTU audio interface I use with my desktop. However, the idea of picking up a Tascam handheld recorder is appealing and seems easier to work with as well as being more approachable in a basic way.
I’m wondering how any DR-40X users here have felt about the ability to overdub a part over (or in addition to) a set of tracks recording via the XLR ins. I’d like to take my Microfreak through my NTS-1 into the recorder then maybe go back and put another Microfreak track over it. No need for fancy mixing or anything else. I’m mainly wanting to noodle around and possibly bring anything interesting into Logic. It sounds like I’d be limited to one set of tracks and another overdubbed set that can be saved as separate files. Does this sound doable, or does it sound like I’ll be disappointed and shouldn’t bother?
I was just GASing at digital audio recorders, but between my Zoom H2n and Sony M10, I’m not sure I really need a newer recorder.
Early this morning, I jammed with the Lyra, running into the Sony, and then to my headphones. Just now I took one of the recordings, dropped it in Logic and trimmed and faded in the beginning. Then I did a number of bounces. First for iMovie, so I could slap an image on it and upload to Instagram. Then MP3 bounces of various bitrates so I could upload here.
Overdubbing would be nice to play with, but transcoding and video integration are key parts of my process. If I didn’t have the Zoom and Sony, the DR-40x would seem like a great choice regardless of the utility of the bounce function.
Put another way, without bounce you can still record as many 2-track stems as you want and then go play with them in Logic/Ableton/OT/MPC/whatever. And the ability to capture ambient sounds without going crazy on mics is nice too.
(others have noted that the Zoom H2n cuts bass, even if you turn off the bass cut. The Sony M10 is long out of production but the clock always needs to be reset. Despite these flaws, the two have served me well over the years and don’t really need to be replaced)
Can’t comment on the DR40x, but I use a Zoom H5 for this purpose and it works great, if a tiny bit clunky until muscle memory kicks in. The included mic capsule has a 3.5mm stereo input so you can have two stereo sources connected at once, or the main combi jack inputs can also be separate mono.
The way I use it is to record a stereo track from each input, then do a mixdown and load that onto one of the tracks, then record one new stereo track and repeat. You can overdub, but I prefer the above as you end up with a separate file for each part as well as a stereo mix.
I have a Zoom H6 I use as a “6 track” pretty often. It has 4 combo inputs standard, and you can swap the stereo X/Y capsule for another 2 combo inputs (it’ll cost you an extra $70 for the capsule though)
I have a H4n Pro. For capturing a stereo recording it’s great, but I would never want to learn or trust the UI to do overdubs and more detailed work. The UI response is kinda slow and the LCD isn’t the easiest to comprehend. Guess if you experimented it’d get easier though.
The stock mic capsule has a stereo mini jack input on it, so you can do 6 stereo tracks without the extra input, albeit without the volume controls.
Also, to the OP, the H6 will act as an audio interface for iPhone or IPad, so you could use an app for multitrack recording if you don’t want to record on the Zoom itself and want to use effects, even with the free GarageBand (which should integrate easily into Logic sessions).
That looks great! I wish the H6 had reverb. This sounds great! I also love that you can reverse the mics for a wide stereo field. Plus it can capture audio over USB, which is nice.
I just realized that you don’t have to be in the same room to record (if you use your phone to trigger it). Great if you want to record a loud source or something really quiet. Man, wish I had waited. Haha.
Many thanks to everyone for all your informative replies!
I’m strongly leaning toward an H6 since it has four combo XLR-1/4" ins, but I’m also intrigued by the Portacapture. The latter seems kinda pricy, though. My Model 12 was only $100 more. As well, the Portacapture isn’t yet widely available here in the states.
The MixPre 6ii is quite nice, although more costly, and has a nice musicians plug-in that can be used for multitrack recordings. I’d buy one if I had the spare coin
I use an H6 but at times I wish I went for a Bluebox – Compact Digital Mixer/Recorder - 1010music LLC I dunno H6 is still probably a better fit for me but the menus on H6 are pretty terrible, blue box just looks easier to use. Wish it found a way to have full sized jacks though.
Yeah, I hear you. Pretty much twice the price of the H6 here in Japan.
If you don’t mind using the Camera Connection Kit, I just discovered that AUM on the iPhone or iPad works great with H6. After watching two great tutorials on AUM on YouTube, I was able to quickly dive in and route the different stereo channels on the H6 to different tracks and apply independent effects chains, and record a little jam. That definitely solves my issue with the H6 not having effects (although it would be nice), and you could even integrate all those hardware devices into the iOS world if you so wanted. I was never really interested in iOS music making, but the tutorials on AUM I watched showed some pretty cool stuff that I plan to try out (mainly for sampling purposes). Plus, AUM is on sale at the moment.
The H6 is a really nice piece of kit, especially for half the price of that Tascam. To be honest, I mostly got it for mic’ing up instruments and to record at a practice space, so using it as little mixer for recording groove boxes and stuff, and integrating with iOS ends up being a total bonus for me.
