Good used 8tracks or the like?

[baddarryl]

Hi all. I have a need for a simple 4 track for my own practice purposes which I know I can pick up cheap all over the place. So as I was looking I realized that if I wanted to record our band live I would need at minimum 8 tracks and would love it if one could do it simultaneously. Budget constraints force me to go used. I am looking at this one and realize it doesn't have the simultaneous I am looking, but might do if I can get it cheap enough. Another fear, is I will want to convert and upload the files like everyone else. What are others that you could recommend as far as best bang for the buck and that capability that will still be able to interface and upload as .wav or whatever compatible files to share across the net? Not going pro or looking to spend lots of money. Am I being unrealistic? Maybe $300 used is what I am thinking. Confusing enough? Sorry if so.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=320364941241

[Nedmundo]

I'm not an expert on recording gear, but I could envision two approaches for your $300. If you don't have the mics for everybody, just get a cheap solid state digital recorder with built-in stereo mics, and do the best you can with placement. For the most basic recording needs, like hearing how your part works in the mix, learning new songs, etc., this approach is fine. I've gotten surprisingly good results running stereo mics into MiniDisc recorders, which is a similar approach.

If you do have the mics, still get the solid state recorder for about $200, then add a cheap, used eight channel analog mixer. Do some panning in the stereo field, maybe experiment a little with EQ, and you can get basic, serviceable recordings. With some solid state recorders, you can overdub additional parts later, but you will be stuck with that initial basic mix. I've done something like this too, running mics into my Mackie mixer, and sending a stereo mix into MiniDisc recorders. They're rough mixes, but definitely a huge step up from approach #1.

[baddarryl]

Thanks. Let me add that I am running an 8 year old Dell with Win2kPro so there is no way I can do software recording and I sure don't have the cash for a new Mac

Also for my own purposes I do want to multitrack so I can lay guitar lines/chords and see what works over them to improve my improv skills. That is really the main purpose, but if I can afford it would like to record the whole band as well.

[mrufino1]

A few suggestions for you.
For a recorder, a fostex vf16 or vf160 can record 16 tracks at once and is actually 24 tracks but can only play 16 at once. You will need mic preamps though. I had a vf160 with an smpro 8 channel preamp and a behringer ada1000 (is that the model, whatever their 8 channel lightpipe preamp is) and so I could do 16 tracks live. You could get just the behringer and a vf160 and do 10 mic inputs plus have 6 line inputs. You should be able to get there close to $300 used.
Now, computer option- learning curve but it would work
Get a used presonus firepod, should run you $200-$250. if no firewire card, get a firewire card for your computer ($15-30, get one with a TI chipset if you can, although my firepod works fine with my non TI chipset card and my TI chipset card).
Get a linux distribution geared towards music, like 64 studio or ubuntu studio. Free.... Use ardour and your firepod, even an 8 year old dell will do fine with 8 tracks of audio, especially under linux, and your firepod should work straight out of the box. You'll need to learn linux, but not hard to do and once you do...but that's another thread...Check out puppy linux too- VERY fast and it can run in ram, great for older machines. A guy is making "puppystudio" as we speak and when that is ready, look out, it's going to be good. PM me if you have questions. My linux audio works, but I don't use it for serious projects yet. Soon though. I have done stuff at home on it though with no issues, and I did record a church service to my laptop running ubuntu, used ardour for the recording and it worked fine.
You can also use reaper in linux with some workarounds (go the reaper.fm, go on the forums and search for linux) and it works well in puppy linux actually.
If you have mics, then you're all set. If you don't have mics yet, you'll need some! That's another discussion, but a quick tip would be to look up drum mic kits, for most of those the tom mics are good for things like guitars, horns, etc. You could do drums very well with a kick mic and one overhead, or kick, snare, overhead (or stereo overheads if you so desire). 8 tracks is plenty to record a band if you think that way. I have a superlux drum mic kit that I got for $140 on ebay years ago, it is their "pro" kit, and the tom mics are awesome on guitar amps. Also, for a good, low cost condenser check out the apex 435, I have 3 of them and paid $60 apiece, they have many uses. And of course, don't forget the sm57, good on pretty much anything (more so if you remove the transformer, but that's another story for another day).
Hopefully that helped.

[baddarryl]

Picked up an old cheap Tascam Porta03MkII Cassette recorder for $50.00 today. That will slow my GAS for a little while, but I know I will want more soon so thanks so much for the input. Linux? Not a bad idea at all. I know a thing or 2 about it.

[baddarryl]

Hey does anyone have or have a link to the manual for my Porta03MKII? Thanks.

[bassman4jc]

I have a Tascam Midistudio 688. I bought it used a couple of years ago for $325.(these units went for over 3k when they were produced from'89-'94) It has 8 XLR and 8 line inputs, and can record 8 tracks simultaneously. It uses a standard cassette tape. It is an older unit but the bass sounds very fat and lush. It has a learning curve to it tas well. It took me a good 3 or 4 hours of playing around with it to figure it out. I bought it for the same reason you want one, but my band broke up right after I bought it.

just a thought

Joe