timtheenchanteruk Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Ive been asked to source a portastudio, or similar for our school (where I work) we need somthing that can accept XLR, and provide phantom. it needs to be simple to use, HDD based would probably be best, with an integrated burner and/or simple way to transfer to PC. we do have a full studio, this is more for "on the fly" recordings, but nbeed to be still of sufficient quality for BTEC/GCSE recording. I have a fostex, and and a tascam unit, neither of which are simple to use, especially if non-tech minded. any Ideas? Ive been trawling the net all afternoon, but non really give an idea of simplicity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomHoward Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 If you want truely simple why not a solid state recorder that records direct to SD / other cards? I think most multi-channel recorders are going to be more difficult to use by their nature, they're usually trying to fit a lot of functionality onto a small surface, so they're probably going to be pretty fiddly to use. Could you get away with a stereo recording, as opposed to close-mic'd multitrack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Riley Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 I'm thinking zoom H4n. 4 channel multitrack recording (inbuilt stereo mic + 2 XLR.) Phantom power supplied. Can run off batteries, mounts to a stand, robust and easy to use. http://www.thomann.de/gb/zoom_h4_n.htm M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolley1466 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 How many channels are you looking for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 I think you're dreaming of a product that isn't out there and probably never was. The simple bulletproof portastudio died with the withdrawl of the Tascam 424 and even that only met a subset of your needs. All thats out there now are the marvels of technology, the digital portastudios, which offer tons of capability, but only if you are prepared to press a lot of buttons. I have a Fostex VF80 as a toy recorder and understand exactly what you mean by not simple to use; I always need the manual the first time I pick the thing up after a while... (and it has hellishly noisy preamps that are spectacularly badly designed but its still a handy tool in the right circumstances) The Tascam DP-004 looks the closest to a modern box with knobs and no tape, but its XLR-less, let alone phantom... Howzaabout the Zoom HD8CD, or the Korg D888 which seems to have no shift button which is a distinct advantage - this is just a bit of searching... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Agreed! The proven concept of the portastudio has vanished now that you can add some ins and outs to a PC for hardly anything - and most come with Cubase LE. A hardware alternative will either be big and feature filled to have a sales advantage, or something too basic. Nothing really like it anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timtheenchanteruk Posted January 26, 2010 Author Share Posted January 26, 2010 looks like the portastudio idea is dead then... my new studiospares catalogue arrived yesterday, and theres a few portable recorders in there, similar to the Zoom that Matt linked to, any one used these? they look as easy as a dictaphone to use, im presuming the mics are a MUCH better quality. I,m going to try and find somewhere in the Leeds area that has a stock of some of these to audition them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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