I’m looking for a way to mutitrack record my Modular so I can load stems into my MPC Live and develop them further. Therefore I’ve been searching for a unit with a minimum of 8 channel simultaneous recording, 24/48 quality and recording to either USB or SD so I can pop it straight into my MPC.
The Tascam DP-24SD seems to meet all these minimums - does anyone have any experience?
No experience with the Tascam but I’ve been using a Zoom Livetrak L-12 for a few years, meets your specifications and is absolutely excellent
I wish my yamaha would record to usb. Plus this has 8 inputs, that’s pretty nice. Too bad it only transfers files on usb 2.0 speeds.
I did look at the Zoom L12, and it’s really nicely featured, but I don’t need the audio interface function and the screen on it seems far more limited.
Plus its significantly more expensive.
That said, any digital multitracking tips?
What yamaha are you using?
used to use a zoom livetrak to multitrack and it worked great ! these days i depend on my 1010 bluebox . saves to an sd card. pretty slick little thing if yr willing to work with a touch screen .
+1 for the 1010 Bluebox. Lots of channels, EQ, effects and records direct to SD. I got one for similar purposes, capture ideas and then move to the DAW to develop further. The touchscreen interface is pretty good and it’s so tiny that you can slot it in anywhere. Worth a look.
Ah yeah I didn’t see the price sorry, though it looks like the zoom livetrak l-8 is cheaper than the Tascam although I’m not sure if it has all the same features as the L-12. Re: tips, this is of course a matter of preference but personally I love being able to multitrack without even having to switch on the computer, recording directly on the board and then bringing the tracks over once recorded feels much faster and less hassle than recording everything into a DAW over USB. Of course depends a lot on how you like to work though
I gotta say, I hadn’t looked into the Bluebox much. It might be a better option for me here.
Any guidance from Bluebox users?
Hmmm I’ve had a look at the BB reviews and checked out both manuals and I think I’d prefer the Tascam for half the money and accept that it’s a bit bigger.
I have an ancient 16 track digital workstation that I’ve had since the dawn of time and am just very familiar and comfortable with. It has most of the same essential features you’d find on modern recorders and a great bussing system and 2 banks of multieffects available per track, the downside being that I have to digitally record out from the digital recorder or rip data/audio with the onboard CD burner.
However, my computer’s cd rom drive took a dump, as did ironically all of the cd players in my house except for my DVD player, so I’m particularly aware of the need for a USB (flash drive/ssd) recording/transfer feature or at minimum an SD memory card which would be essential to me if I were to ever upgrade hardware recorders.
The Tascam may not be an audio interface, but it does appear to be a mass storage device of sorts which you can plug directly into your computer via USB and export files from (although it did say usb 2.0 so it won’t be as fast as 3.0+) and to me that’s just the kind of feature I’d want. Also, as I mentioned, the 8 inputs is a pretty nice bonus.
Otherwise, this is the first time I ever looked at that Zoom L12 and it seems to be a really nice unit. I’d love something like that but I don’t know if I could get my money’s worth out of it these days. Bluebox also seems like a really nice option and the size is appealing but it would have to be priced at about half of the going rate for me to consider it.
+1 bluebox
Just been looking into the Tascam Model 12 as well. Looks like another great option, but it’s a similar price to the Zoom L12, around £200 more than the 24SD.
Looks like it would actually multitrack directly into my MPC Live too, but in reality, that would only skip one step and I’m not sure it’s worth almost 2x the price…
An update:
I almost went for the L8 , but in the end picked up a boxed Zoom R16 for £115 from a police auction.
No interface, no fancy bit rates, but 8x 6.35mm jacks to an SD card than I can slide into my MPC Live for very little money.
I have a 32sd, the thing about the portastudios compared to the newer model 12 is that they are more all in one with mastering, effects, ghost tracks, markers etc. The tradeoff is that they are less hands on, a lot of the editing and assigning is done via the screen… only about one menu in for everything. I think it would be worth getting the model 16 as it is actually analog, but don’t see the point with the 12 really… However they should be similar prices unless you mean used… if you can get a 24sd much cheaper then that is a good deal… it is still a current product and the newest portastudio, they both sound very good and have a warm silky sound. The portastudio sounds more polished then the mpc for instance.
Thanks, good info for others, but I went bargain basement with the R16 
