Looking to purchase a digital recorder....need feedback.

Hello....I'm looking into buying a digital recorder....I"ve looked at the Yamaha aw16g...which is about the top limit of my spending or even the zoom mrs802....both of them have the CD burning installed, which I like....if you guys have either of these items or could give me some other options I would appreciate it....thanx a lot......Season

Did you look for Korg recorders?

I hear the yamaha is good, but Roland makes some good ones also. There's also the Akai DPS16 that is good also...

i got a roland vs-890. I love it. No cd burner built in though, but I think they make one that hooks up to it. The recorder has alot of good effects in it also.

Ive been looking at those DPS12s, they go for like $300 used.

DOVESKI wrote:Ive been looking at those DPS12s, they go for like $300 used.

what type of media does it take???......it would be the perfect match for a mpc2000/3000


BTW i see you bought the a$$ back....good sh*t

i'd cop that 788....easy to use and cheap to with the cd burner......

DOVESKI wrote:Ive been looking at those DPS12s, they go for like $300 used.

i use a dps16 which i bought new for a grand two years ago. it is perfect with a mpc as it can record 10 tracks at at time (8 analog and two digital which exactly matches the outs on an expanded 2000). it also comes with 4 effects processors (including a multi-band compressor for mastering). the effects respond to sysex. you can save tracks as wav files (this makes re-mixing your own work real easy). It can also record at 24/96, if thats an issue for you.

on the negative side, however, you need to buy an external cd-rw for back up and burning disks. the mix automation requires it to be hooked up to an external sequencer (like a mpc which i assume you have) and it does make a whiring fan noise that could be problematic for recording vocals in the control room.

so i'd say if you see one used from $400-$600 you should try that.

Prah_860_ wrote:

DOVESKI wrote:Ive been looking at those DPS12s, they go for like $300 used.

what type of media does it take???......it would be the perfect match for a mpc2000/3000

BTW i see you bought the a$$ back....good sh*t

word, i was getting sick of seeing my ugly grill every time i posted a message, it sounded like a good idea at the time (stoned)....anyhow.
: )

yeah dog, im just over pro tools and all this computer shit. i still like sample editors (wavelab, spark, etc) but for recording I like the ease of use and being "away" from a screen, im prolly gonna pick one up after i sell my digi001, plus i want something i can lug around for mcs to drop lyrics on. and i beleive the dps uses hard drives and zips for storage, and CDRs for archiving, descartes probablyt knows better than me.

as far as the dps16, it looks tight but i dont think i need 16 tracks, prolly 4 for the beat/samples (mix in the mpc), 2 for layering synth sounds and cuts and 2 for vocals, then the rest for bouncing....i think im leaning towards the 12i, cause its expanded or something like that...1.

Feeling you on that software tip...gave up Sonar last month...too many droputs during recording, plus a whole bunch of other crap I care not to mention...I copped a used Roland VS-1680 (16 tracks) on ebay for $450...you can get the VS-880EX (8 tracks) cheaper than that..I love it...easy to use and has a digital mixer, plus an optional effects board...I use the effects on my wave editor programs though...no internal cd burner...you can buy the external burner for $100-200...I'd rather use my computer to burn cd's...fyi, Kayne West used the VS-1880 (18 tracks) to record the College Dropout album...plus the MPC 2000

Interesting thread. I've been using Cakewalk/Sonar for the past 4 years and I'm really not feeling this computer sh*t. Yeah, tired of those drop outs and freezes. But one question, do these recorders have displays where you can view the wave forms if you need to edit them?

Question for Dandy- if you're using a digital recorder how are you applying T-Raks?

My VS-1680 can edit wav/aif files, so I'm sure the other VS models can also...you can edit damn near any wav/aif file that you record...the optional effects card is cool if you dont use/have a computer set-up...I use T-Racks for gate/limiting/compressing my finished product.
My recording set-up goes like this: MPC and Triton for audio sequencing, run the tracks thru my Behringer mixer (love the EQ's and digital effects), and into my VS and Audition. Once my song is in Audition, I add any additional effects and mix it down to a stereo file and then send it thru T-Racks for final compressing. Audition does have compression, but I like T-Racks better. I open up my cd burning program and voila...hot cd with hot tracks...another reason I'm glad I switched back to the VS-1680 is because I can easily track out my songs at MasterSound studio here in VA Beach without having to lug my PC hard drive, nor worry about if the engineer can't pull out my tracks...studio time is crucial, let alone expensive!!!

RonDu wrote:Question for Dandy- if you're using a digital recorder how are you applying T-Raks?

i heard they came out with some sort of card for the 1680 and up that excepts t racks and other plugs.

Glad to see the booty is back Dove... the DPS12's are good, you need to get one with a hard drive or cop a scsi hard drive for it... I was looking at those also cause they're a good deal but they got only 6 line in's I think...