Good starting setup for recording demos, a speech, whatever...

[JBbitchin]

 

Hi guys..Long time OLD user here (not been signed in here for 5-7 years probably), recently back in the forums because I missed the spirited debate and great information available here, and Mr. Knobs cool stories (Is he published yet?).

 

Anyway...I recently looked at buying this CD recorder, a Yamaha AW1600 since I have wanted desperately since I was a punk kid, something I could sit at home and lay all my tracks down on...( I can play and sing and all, except drums, and then I could bring in a friend who could lay down the drum tracks and have some demos to work with for songs to sell or give out or keep or whatever...whatever we might want to do with them).

 

I know this machine is NOT user friendly, but they were not cheap when they came out and I can get this for under $300.

 

Question is, while someone thought I was limited in 16 channels, I am thinking all I really may want is:

1. Vocal

2. Rhythm guitar 

3. Lead guitar

4. Bass

5. Drums

And maybe...later on down the line, I might add in some keyboards...or some backup singers like Dwweezil Zappa singing God save the Queen.

 

So...maybe I will really not need all the extra channels, but I'm new to this and so...I really have no real idea what I might need or what I am doing.

 

I have seen these older Fostex tape recorders for as little as say $29, but then I want to be able to ultimately convert it to disc and I dont want to invest in a ton of extra stuff and I want to learn and am a quick learner.

 

Anyway...

 

Does anyone have any knowledge or opinions on some decent equipment for a few hundred dollars that will do what I want and make solid, serious quality recordings?

 

Price is a factor here, as well as the fact that it can burn a CD, but if there is a problem using this or converting formats since this is ten years old (or more) and what were we using then, Window 98?

 

 

 

 

Any ideas?

[MikeRivers]

I take it you've decided that you want a hardware unit rather than put together a system based around a computer. I think that makes good sense for someone who's more a musician than a computer whiz and expert video game player. Yamaha made pretty good stuff and there's no reason why you can't do what you want with it.

It's hard to predict how long it will last, however. Recording is to an internal hard disk, 40 GB or so, probably a laptop (2.5" format) IDE drive, which may be hard to replace. Also, most devices like this have the operating system and application software pre-loaded on the hard drive and you may not be able to get a fresh copy of the software should you need to replace the drive.

You probably won't find as many tracks/inputs with as good quality in the current Zoom and TASCAM flash memory based recorder/mixers. I'd suggest that you buy it with the option of returning it for a refund if you find that it involves more fiddling around or hunting for menus than you want to put up with when you're ready to start playing. On the other hand, it's good training for a computer-based system which you will likely end up with if you keep at it for a year or three.

[JBbitchin]

Thanks...all good stuff to think about and consider. I saw somewhere that ther3e has/had been a firmware upgrade somewhere along the line for this and obviously have no clue if this has been done. I should check with Yamaha too and see what kind of response I get with any needs there.

 

I'd been looking at a small Fender PA-250 for multiple uses at the same price as this (and these are somewhat more current with less to go wrong), but in reading reviews, the worst part about any of it was simply that people who did in fact have any problems had HUGE issues getting service.