gotty Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I work with a middle school on their school productions. They use an Allen and Heath ZED 12FX mixer and a reasonable selection of mics, and I spend time training a handful of kids every year. However, the only real sound balancing practice they get is during rehearsals, which doesn't give them a lot of scope to experiment without disturbing the rehearsals. So I'd like to record each channel on a strand-alone multi-track, and then play back to allow the kids to experiment/practice. But I can't find an affordable stand-alone multi-track recorder that will also play back all channels. The ideal would be something like the JamHub MT16, if only it could also play back what it had just recorded. Does anyone know of anything that would fit the bill? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revbobuk Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Depends a lot on budget - what constitutes 'affordable'? There are boxes like the Tascam DP-24SD Portastudio that will play back multiple channels. You could also look at multi-channel audio interfaces, which when coupled with Reaper and a laptop will also do what you want - the Allen & Heath ICE-16, or the Behringer FCA1616 (with an extra ADAT box). Or even consider the Behringer X18. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilary Watts Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Zoom R16 ..or two of them sync'ed together for 16 tracks in and out ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handyandi Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Investigated this a while back using an A&H GL2200, other than spending alot on an audio interface that has as many outputs as inputs, I did in the end buy a second hand (£100 three years ago.) Tascam DA88 (or sony PCM800 ) that a least did 8 in & 8 out. It worked ok but was a right pain having to keep rewinding the tracks etc & the dropouts due to head age happened now & again. I do still have it gathering dust but having an X32 with virual soundcheck (using reaper) now its not used anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotty Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 Thanks revbobuk and Hilary for the thoughts. Depends a lot on budget - what constitutes 'affordable'? Around (or below) the price point of the JamHub I mentioned was what I was thinking of as "affordable". I want to give the kids experience with the Allen and Heath, so we need multi-channel audio output to feed it. Unless I've missed something (which isn't unusual!!) most of the portable studio type devices (like the Tascam and Zoom) seem not to provide multiple audio outputs (other than into their own integral mixers or into a DAW). In some ways, the FCA1616 with a laptop would be the ideal route, but I was hoping for a stand-alone option. Maybe there isn't one :-( Thanks for the thoughts - very much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryNattrass Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 How about this? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TASCAM-MX2424-24-TRACK-RECORDER-WITH-AES-CARD-/281804265073?hash=item419cd7d671 or ask him about the ones without AES cards as they should be cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revbobuk Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Thanks revbobuk and Hilary for the thoughts. Depends a lot on budget - what constitutes 'affordable'? Around (or below) the price point of the JamHub I mentioned was what I was thinking of as "affordable". I want to give the kids experience with the Allen and Heath, so we need multi-channel audio output to feed it. Unless I've missed something (which isn't unusual!!) most of the portable studio type devices (like the Tascam and Zoom) seem not to provide multiple audio outputs (other than into their own integral mixers or into a DAW). In some ways, the FCA1616 with a laptop would be the ideal route, but I was hoping for a stand-alone option. Maybe there isn't one :-( Thanks for the thoughts - very much appreciated. apologies; you are right about the Tascam. Don't forget that the FCA1616, like many similar, uses ADAT to achieve the high channel count, so you would need to budget for an ADA-8000 or similar as well. But you'd get a lot of versatility there, and you would be able to teach the use of a DAW like Reaper as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryNattrass Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 It may sound daft but for less than £300 you could buy this pro tools system and give them some experience of the industry standard for recording and post: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digidesign-Digi-003-with-quad-2-5GHz-8GB-Mac-and-running-ProTools-/111795588624?hash=item1a07894e10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave m Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Do you need to buy everything needed? C an't the school supply some of the kit from the music dept?I would be surprised if they don't already have spcubase or something similar? Then all you would need would be an audio interface like a moth or presonus FireWire/USB external 8 way boxAssuming that you don't need 16 tracks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotty Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 Do you need to buy everything needed? Yes - the school is a very small rural middle school, has very limited facilities and no budget for this sort of thing. Instead, their emphasis is on music rather than on music technology - that's for the high school. apologies; you are right about the Tascam. Don't forget that the FCA1616, like many similar, uses ADAT to achieve the high channel count, so you would need to budget for an ADA-8000 or similar as well. But you'd get a lot of versatility there ... Indeed. It's looking like a reasonable option and about the right price point with the ADA-8000. I'm wondering if I might get away with just 8 channels, although 12 is definitely preferred. I'm also trying to find if my laptop spec would be enough. and you would be able to teach the use of a DAW like Reaper as well. Much as I'd like to, I fear there'd be little time to do that. Also, I have to be aware that these kids (well, boys, as no girls have come forward) are only 10 and 11, and interested only as a passing phase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter F Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 How about an Alesis HD24? Needs you to find a little bit of budget, but I bet they are a bargain second hand. Sturdy and simple enough for use in an educational environment. 24 analogue in, 24 analogue out. Cheers, Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revbobuk Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Do you need to buy everything needed? Yes - the school is a very small rural middle school, has very limited facilities and no budget for this sort of thing. Instead, their emphasis is on music rather than on music technology - that's for the high school. apologies; you are right about the Tascam. Don't forget that the FCA1616, like many similar, uses ADAT to achieve the high channel count, so you would need to budget for an ADA-8000 or similar as well. But you'd get a lot of versatility there ... Indeed. It's looking like a reasonable option and about the right price point with the ADA-8000. I'm wondering if I might get away with just 8 channels, although 12 is definitely preferred. I'm also trying to find if my laptop spec would be enough. and you would be able to teach the use of a DAW like Reaper as well. Much as I'd like to, I fear there'd be little time to do that. Also, I have to be aware that these kids (well, boys, as no girls have come forward) are only 10 and 11, and interested only as a passing phase. Reaper isn't too demanding on the laptop specs; if you want to do much editing you need a big screen, but you don't need that if all you are doing is playing tracks back. Audacity is also popular, and simpler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam.spoons Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Also, you are hoping to get them mixing/sound balancing (you don't have a BBC background do you?), surely the extra excitement a DAW might generate would be worth the extra time and effort. If these kids are being encouraged to be involved in music then some little experience of recording must be a plus these days? Either way good luck with whatever you settle on and kudos to you and the school for helping get younger kids involved in music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Since budget seems to be a major issue, how about some lateral thinking... Couldn't you work with the drama teacher and schedule a few extra rehearsals for purely technical purposes? Free...and (even if the technical people call the shots, any rehearsal is useful for student actors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 I'm not clear about the kit? Are you looking for something you can buy for yourself and take in a few times a year, so you need facilities for yourself, or if they're wanting to buy it to keep, so needs another purpose to kind of justify the purpose? Computer based kit could be handy, because schools always have IT departments who may be able to re-purpose an old laptop. Audacity is free, so it's just multi ins you need and not ins and outs which is expensive. Old 8 in, 2 out units like the M-audio and Tascam 1600/1800 series might do the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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