I am in a pickel. Well, not literaly, but I have just found out that a local band would like to have me run a recording session for them (that's good news!) the bad news is, I dont have a digital recorder! So, most of this afternoon has been spent looking arround the internet for the best digital recorder I can find, and now I would like your advice.
I will be using this recorder for a w i d e variety of things, from some studio type sessions, where it is ok to do multiple takes, but probably more of the stuff will be 'live' where I will have to get as many tracks recorded as I can in the one pass I have, and then edit later. I am hoping/expecting to get about $800 from the band for equipment, and anything overthat is out of my pocket. (which is a good deal, but they probably wont pay much for my hours but when they are chiping in for my equipment, i dont mind) So, probably arround $1200 is MAX, but I would probably prefer not going above $1000.
I have been primaraly looking at the "Zoom MRS1608 16-Track Digital Recording Studio" (
http://www.zzounds.com/item--ZOMMRS1608) with the CD drive and the USB upgrade. I like the fact that it has 8 XLR ins, which many others dont have. Other cheeper recorders do not seem to let you record as many tracks at the same time (most allow two, unlike this one's 8) Am I thinking correctly that going with a smaller number of recording channels will end up hurting me bad when i am recording live stuff?
If I were go up in price, it looks like you get into recorders like the "Mackie SDR2496 24-Bit 24-Track Hard Disk Recorder" http://www.zzounds.com/item--MACSDR2496 which are more just for recording alot of stuff without the editing features offered on the other console. This option would proabaly be better for a live recording situation with a post mix done on a computer, right? (about this model, it doesnt seem to have any level controls, does it do all that for you? is that something these higher end models do?)
I guess I would just like to scrape your brains about digital recorders, get your opinions, and any advice you have to give me. Please feel free to suggest other models or brands, or cheaper, reliable, places to get these devices. Thanks in advance! (Did I mention that this band would like to start recording next week if possible?! so time is a bit important! thanks!)
I will be using this recorder for a w i d e variety of things, from some studio type sessions, where it is ok to do multiple takes, but probably more of the stuff will be 'live' where I will have to get as many tracks recorded as I can in the one pass I have, and then edit later. I am hoping/expecting to get about $800 from the band for equipment, and anything overthat is out of my pocket. (which is a good deal, but they probably wont pay much for my hours but when they are chiping in for my equipment, i dont mind) So, probably arround $1200 is MAX, but I would probably prefer not going above $1000.
I have been primaraly looking at the "Zoom MRS1608 16-Track Digital Recording Studio" (
http://www.zzounds.com/item--ZOMMRS1608) with the CD drive and the USB upgrade. I like the fact that it has 8 XLR ins, which many others dont have. Other cheeper recorders do not seem to let you record as many tracks at the same time (most allow two, unlike this one's 8) Am I thinking correctly that going with a smaller number of recording channels will end up hurting me bad when i am recording live stuff?
If I were go up in price, it looks like you get into recorders like the "Mackie SDR2496 24-Bit 24-Track Hard Disk Recorder" http://www.zzounds.com/item--MACSDR2496 which are more just for recording alot of stuff without the editing features offered on the other console. This option would proabaly be better for a live recording situation with a post mix done on a computer, right? (about this model, it doesnt seem to have any level controls, does it do all that for you? is that something these higher end models do?)
I guess I would just like to scrape your brains about digital recorders, get your opinions, and any advice you have to give me. Please feel free to suggest other models or brands, or cheaper, reliable, places to get these devices. Thanks in advance! (Did I mention that this band would like to start recording next week if possible?! so time is a bit important! thanks!)