Feb 23,  · This is a really dumb unit and I hate it. I remember wondering how to do this too, but the information is all there in the manual. Basically, you first have to create the projects on the device (with the SD card of course), THEN you copy files in the Audio folder of the appropriate projects (I just power the R8 from the USB port on the. Buy Zoom R8 Multi-Track Tabletop Recorder, Interface, Controller, 2 XLR Combo Inputs 8 Tracks, Customer Reviews: out of 5 stars ratings. out of 5 stars: The R8 packs a lot of functionality into a small affordable package, but suffers from the same malady inherent to many DAWs: poor input audio quality. Reviews: Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Zoom R8 Multi-Track Tabletop Recorder, Interface, Controller, 2 XLR Combo Inputs 8 Tracks, USB Audio Interface, The R8 packs a lot of functionality into a small affordable package, but suffers from the same malady inherent to many DAWs: poor input audio quality. /5.
 
 

Zoom r8 – User review – – 4 Year Music Accident Protection Plan

Ship from Store. In addition to being an 8-track recorder, it’s a pad sampler and a rhythm machine, and can even serve as a DAW control surface and computer audio interface.

Recorder With 2-track simultaneous recording and 8-track playback, the R8 is the perfect tool for capturing audio on-the-go. Record live music performances, rehearsals, songwriting sessions or even audio for film and video.

You can even mix down completed songs inside the R8 and save a mix for each project. Audio interface When combined with your computer, the R8 becomes a powerful audio interface.

If you use the A dedicated control lets you adjust the mixing balance between the DAW playback sound and the direct sound for monitoring. Control surface The R8 can be used as a control surface for DAW transport functions play, record, stop and mixing operations. In addition, you can easily move multiple faders at the same time.

No more mixing with a mouse! The R8 makes mixing a pleasure. You can play the pads in real-time and combine loops to create a performance for an entire song. When setting loop intervals, you can see the waveforms for visual confirmation. Time-stretching, which allows you to change the tempo without changing the pitch, and trimming the unneeded parts of loops, is also possible.

You can use the sampler and recorder functions together seamlessly to play back loop tracks while recording instrumental performances on other tracks. Create your own beats with the powerful rhythm machine The R8s rhythm machine includes 10 types of drum kits that use linear PCM audio samples. Use the touch-sensitive drum pads to program up to of your own beats, and use the rhythm patterns that you create just like audio loops.

Use the R8s pads to start playback of patterns and use the R8s sequencer to arrange them into songs. You can start fast with the preset patterns, which include intros, fills, endings, and other phrase variations. Built-in stereo microphones The built-in high-sensitivity stereo microphones are convenient for recording sketches of musical phrases and melodies as they come to mind.

Use these mics for clear recordings of vocals and acoustic instruments. Unlike tape and disk recorders, this unit has no motor, making it more resistant to physical interference and concerns about mechanical noise. Locate functions make editing easier Set up to markers and directly move to them whenever you want. Also, use the A-B repeat function to play or re-record a designated interval and use auto punch-in and punch-out for efficient editing. Tuner and metronome functions The R8s built-in tuner is great for quickly tuning instruments and checking vocal pitch.

The metronome can provide a click track for a drummer during recording and is also useful in practice settings. The metronome can also be sent to just the headphones. This allows you to play along to backing tracks previously recorded on the R8.

Power the R8 on its own in one of two wayswith the included AC adapter or four alkaline AA batteries not included. The R8 operates for over 5 hours on batteries, plenty of time for most field recordings. When using the audio interface or control surface functions, the R8 can be powered by the computers USB bus. You insert a drum track the R8 has its own drum machine built-in , follow along and record two guitar tracks.

One rhythm and one lead. Did you need any external effects or amps? The R8 has all that built-in. After than you pop in batteries and take the R8 to the singer’s house. Can that singer plug right in? Record the vocal tracks, done. Did the singer forget or break his mic? No problem. Use the R8’s internal microphones instead for a quick fix. After that, run over to the bass player’s house, have him plug in, same thing.

Record and done, done, done. And yeah, the R8 remembers where you set the faders for each project saved. It’s also a can’t-go-wrong environment, because the moment you turn if off, even if accidentally, it auto-saves what you were doing. If the batteries run low, no problem. The R8 detects when the batteries are low, will auto-save, then power off with a warning of course. The only real problem with it other than the “bad” stuff I mentioned above is that yes, you will have to dig through menus to get certain things done usually with setting effects.

But other than that, the R8 is as good as it gets for what it is. Every time I try something new with the R8 I’m just amazed at what it can do in such a small size. Yes, but only if the tracks were recorded separately. And that’s only because the R8 has just two inputs, so it can only record 2 simultaneous tracks at a time.

If you want a unit that can record up to 8 simultaneous tracks, you get an R That thing can absolutely record a full band live with no problem at all. But like I said, if the band doesn’t mind recording their tracks individually, yes the R8 can definitely record a whole band, and easily. The one issue that stopped this product from being the absolute best purchase I’ve made in recent years is the drum machine.

It includes a built in drum machine with drum pads along the bottom It doesn’t include drum samples you can just mix and match to make awesome drum kits. It includes a handful of really digital sounding, crappy kits that sound very un-even and stand out in the mix. You can look up videos online of people trying to do this, it’s a lot of hassle and doesn’t work. It’s nice that they included the drum machine, however. There are maybe one or two kits that are usable.

But it’s a great feature to have when writing songs and brainstorming. If you’re already working out guitar parts on the recorder, it’s so easy to just record a hi-hat rhythm with a kick and snare that will be perfectly synced up to your recording in a matter of seconds. I am extremely tired and feel like I’m rambling on, but this device is so much more than just something that will record and playback what you send through it.

It’s truly a home studio in a box. I’ve played guitar as a pro and semi-pro for over 40 years and made a number of instrumental recordings using a Zoom H4N.

I recently retired from my engineering day job and decided that now is the time to start arranging and recording all the original songs I’ve written over the years. The Zoom R24 was the right tool for the job. The R24 is small and lightweight but loaded with great features.

Having H4N experience helped in learning the interfaces and file structure. It even offers guitar amp modeling although I prefer my own guitar preamps. I have done solo acoustic arrangements as well those with a rhythm section and multiple guitar overdubs. So far, all my recordings sound great and weren’t difficult to make writing a good song is the critical part. I have received a lot of positive feedback and encouragement from my fellow musicians.

My only concern with the R24 is that the input jacks are very tight. But, they are holding up just fine. So far, I’m very happy with the R I have always had problems with looper pedals because I could never time them right ha ha! I could not believe how easy it is to make a guitar loop! Perfect for practice and jamming.

The drums could be better but they do the job. Also this is a bit more fun than a DAW. The manual can help but the book mentioned is a great option to get up and started. The recordings are good and man there are lots of distortions and good EQs. The EQs really help with mixing and mastering. There lots of algorithims for ranging from distortions to mastering and mics. I bought this from Amazon back in July and it just sat in my closet cause the first time I used it I thought was too cheesy and too complicated.

But finally I decided to give this thing a try. Finally on December 11, Glad I did! It’s a fine piece of equipment, but for me, I didn’t like having to navigate through menus. Learn more. Review this product Get the facts. Review Tools. Subscribe to our mailing lists. By using this site, you agree to our use of cookies. Code by Port Forward. It is even possible to apply the on-board effects either as inserts during recording or to the return path for monitoring, although only if recording at the lower sample rate of For the purposes of testing the R8’s own recording abilities, I worked up a demo song I’d been meaning to for some time, and was really pleased with my results.

Zoom must surely have cut costs somewhere in the design, but no matter what they have done in this respect, it is still possible to get great-sounding recordings from this little device. Not quite studio quality, perhaps, but not a million miles away from it. When recording vocals, I was able to find a suitable limiter from the range of options, and for my guitar and bass there were plenty of good-quality effects to choose from. Even the standard rhythm sounds are pretty usable, although this is understandable, given that Zoom have long history in manufacturing stand-alone rhythm machines and effects processors.

As for the process of recording, it really is a no-brainer. Using the Auto Punch-in feature to amend segments of audio could not be simpler, and assigning inputs to record tracks is equally straightforward.

If, for example, the LED is green, a track is turned on and playing; if it is flashing red, it is armed; and when it stays red, audio is being recorded. Similarly, adjusting the preamps and applying phantom power requires nothing but common sense.

The biggest problem with the R8 is that each of its operating modes inevitably compromises the others a little. Primarily, it is optimised for recording and playback both to SD card and via USB , so its sampling and controller functions are not as well developed or implemented as they might be. For example, by accommodating a row of drum pads, Zoom have not been able to find space for a row of band-assignable EQ and pan knobs, the inclusion of which would make mixing much quicker and easier, and would also be very useful in control-surface mode.

It would be useful to have more audio editing tools onboard. Granted, Zoom intend a DAW to be used for audio editing purposes, but as there are mastering processors and mixdown tracks, there should also be the editing tool necessary for preparing audio mixes for mastering. As there’s already a sequencer on-board, perhaps some kind of automation system could be implemented in future — and it would certainly benefit the process of creating mixes.