Audio-Technica AT2020 vs ???

[Don Grieser]

You have to have some way of listening to the existing tracks while you play along and record the overdubs. The H2 won't do that by itself. I suppose as long as you record on the H2 at 16/44.1 and have the tracks on your computer at 16/44.1, you could listen to the computer while recording on the H2 and have the tracks stay in sync. Make sure you give yourself a good long count-in at the beginning of your recordings.

[almeriastrings]

Much simpler to just get yourself either a basic interface + mic or even a USB mic, a pair of headphones, and any one of the several multi-track programs out there.....the venerable (free) Audacity, for example. If you do go the interface route, many of those come with some form of software anyway. Trying to post-align tracks manually from different devices is not always the easiest thing in the world..

[Joris]

For multitracking a zoom R16 (or R24) + a decent mic may be a better option than the H2. You can listen to all other remaining recorded tracks while recording. Evidently you can also use a laptop, but the zoom is in my experience easier to use and more stable. Has phantom power on two inputs and can record up to 8 track simultanuously (onto SD cards). Afterwards you can drop all tracks in multitrack software on the computer (I use sonar) and do the mixing. If you just want to record the R24 does not offer much more than the R16 in my opinion, while the R16 is considerably cheaper. Joris

[Barry Wilson]

well I bought the r24 over the 16 because of the added features. the drum machine and sampler I use a lot, plus it has midi triggers on the front and a few more internal options. and 6 channels have phantom power on the 24, more fx etc. I looked them both over pretty close before deciding on the r24.

nowadays $500 buys a kick butt recording studio.

[Joris]

Due to this discussion I picked up an SE X1 yesterday (I did have a zoom R16 which I use for the band where I play synth) and this afternoon I recorded this: http://soundcloud.com/klaus-mulheim/fishers-hornepipe Not very good mando (I'm just a beginner) or guitar playing, but I'm happy with sound ...

[Kip Carter]

Very nice.. was that the SE X1 though the R16? The tone is very clear.
Kip....

[Joris]

Yes, 2 tracks of guitar and 2 tracks of mandolin recorded (one by one) on the R16 with the SE X1.

I used the following sequence:
- Given there are only 2 tracks with phantom power, I recorded one track and copied it to one of the remaining 15 empty tracks. This is very easy, as the zoom is really very easy to use (certainly the basic things to do).
- Record new track. You can setup the mixing of all other tracks (with some reverb or other effects if you like) & the metronome to the headphones without any latency as far a I hear.
- Repeat as you like (upto 16 tracks).
- At the end I copied all tracks to the PC and copied them in Sonar. A little bit of post-processing in Sonar (reverb, "vintage" compressor), which warmed it up a bit. You can mix also on the R16 itself, but for me it is easier to do this on the PC.

I can post an original, non-processed track if you want. I guess it is a bigger investement to start, but if you buy an USB mic now, you will not be able to use it with the R16. The R16 (or R24) can double as audio-interface for your PC and controller for mixing/DAW programs. For basic recording of 1 or two acoustic tracks the R16 will do, if you have a use for the sampler/rythmbox or want to record more than 2 tracks with phantom powered mics (and have >2 mics) at the same time you will want the R24. These zooms are really good value for the money. Only problem is syncing to video, I just do it by hand in a video-editing program. I record a tap on both the audio track & the audio track of the videorecorder, and then I line up both audio tracks.

Evidently, you can do this also with a PC and a good USB-mic. It depends on how well your PC works for audio recording and how you want to work. I went the zoom R16 route, because I record my (rock/electronic) band practices and our laptop was struggling with recording 8 tracks simultaneously. I have no idea of the relative performance of these cheapish conventional studio mics vs their USB counterparts.

Joris

[almeriastrings]

Nice sound there. These really are a very nice little mic. They certainly stand up well against many others in the $400-$600 range. I gave ours a try out recently on some sessions I produced for radio use with a singer-songwriter. The vocals were done with an SE-Z5600a Mk. II tube mic, but the guitar was recorded with an SE X1 (shown here):



You can hear an example track here.

No mando content (sorry) but it shows how they can sound on fingerstyle acoustic guitar.

[Timmando]

How professional do you want it to sound Kip? If you want to go the cheapest route, here is a recording that I did thru a radioshack battery powered condensor lapel mic like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Radio-Shack-...item19d04bcaeb, into my mic line input on the the laptop using this recording software, the $69 version http://www.multitrackstudio.com/buy.php and ended up with this recording example http://soundcloud.com/mandoman-2/ashoken-farewell

The Multitrack studio is really simple to use. It has a wizard that you just keep clicking the Next button to record. After you use the wizard a couple times you will see what it is doing and not need it anymore. Once you record the wave files raw, you can add all kinds of effects, a little reverb is all I added. If you get the pro plus version, you can record 32 bit files. There are no latency issues that I have ever had. I add a click track, set the bpm, add an audio track, and record a lead break. Then I add another audio track, playback with one headphone on and record a rhythm guitar track, then add vocals to that, as many tracks as you want. The pro plus lets you record up to 50 tracks or more at the same time, but for home recording, the pro version suits me, one track at a time