My husband has a recording studio. He and his friend have not had luck with multitrack digital recorders.  The hard drives seem to always go out.  They just lost months worths of work on a Fostex.  So I thought I would help out with their next purchase, but I want this one to last and I want them to be pleased with such a large investment.  Can anyone help.  They do not use computers in their studio so I am looking for the best stand alone multitrack digital recorder.
209144
Alesis Adat recorders have been the best ones in my experience. You dont loose the tracks if the unit malfunctions because they are backed up on removable hard drives. Even people that I have worked with who have powermac G5's in their studios have these interfaced to them because of reliability and their extreme usefulness for tracking live shows to be mixed/edited in a studio.\n\n“Adats are a bizillionjillionkathousand (plus infinity) times better then anything else. Including: long walks on the beach, puppies, kittens, good wine, making out with a good looking woman, and kicking your arch nemesis in the face.\n\nThey have more gravitational pull/heat outsource, pretty colors, and poems written about them then the sun does. They can cure cancer, give everyone a job, and elect an efficient congress. Like electricity, they posses powers of magic that are beyond our control and understanding. \n\nYears from now we'll have reality TV shows and documentaries about Adats, the people that use them, and how much they are better then everything else in this world (see first paragraph). Japan already has several animated series about specially trained people that are licensed by the government to use Adats for the powers of good.\n\nOne day... Many thousands of billions of years in the future, long after our civilizations have turned to dust, and the dust has turned into smaller dust, and then that dust has turned into microscopic dust, Aliens will find our Adats and know that we were totally awesome- they'll will create their own Adats and the cycle of outstanding multitrack recorders that are a Kazillion times better then any thing else we have ever known (see first paragraph) will continue.”
113469
Many moons ago....before we had such toys as computers I was heavy into audio experimentation. This was before anyone had even heard of EVP. I fiddled in my little shop with all sorts of home brew audio equipment. I built myself an early wireless microphone and found that by placing the mic in different places...I.E. outside, in the basement, in different rooms, etc. and feeding the signal to my audio amp with the volume way up I got some very unusual and frightening sounds. Sometimes I swore I heard voices. Got the crap scared outta me a few times! I had an old reel to reel recorder and recorded some of the sounds...I also remember my first portable recorder.....wish I still had some of those sounds. Get yourself a cheap hand held cassette recorder and set it up in different places and just record sounds. Try putting it in places that seem quiet to you. Put the cassette in your audio system and crank up the volume.you will be surprised!
481050
This really depends on what type of music you are playing. On Download.com there was the anvil studio software, which in demo form is like a limited cakewalk and shouldn't present too many problems. Of you are more into dance/techno you can get a restricted trial use Fruity Loops, which is fun to play around with even if you don't like this type of music. I have seen 20 year old portastudios in auction very cheap just recently...this may be an interesting analog option.
432074
I am a non-conformist myself so I go for Creative.  Check out their Zen Neeon 2.  The design's sturdy and elegant.  According to many review Creative is superior when it comes to audio quality (and I agree).  It's really great value.
25795
I like the korg karma. I know its been replaced by the oynx but that has more keys. \n\nWhy?  Because it does what a synth should do. And if you really go deep into it its amazing. I think alot of people don't know what to do with it. Most other keyboards can't compete with software. I still use the mpc 2000xl also and prefer that to software. I also prefer it to the newer mpc 4000 becuase its so durable. The korg karma is also alot smaller than the oynx so i would want both of them really. But i will have to save up.
518081
I don't now is it dangerous bcs for this conclusion you have to use it for a long time. I tried for several hours and it didn't affect me then I stopped. Cool Edit Pro can do almost the same thing as brainwave gen. but you have to make samples by yourself. Brainwave has a bunch of presets. You can try it without fear.
34638
If you're serious about recording, you should purchase a Mackie Onyx 1220 mixer (Digital 12-channel - other models come with even more channels) which lists for about $300 at musiciansfriend.com (discount musical supply store) and the corresponding Mackie Onyx Firewire card which lists for about $400 at musiciansfriend.com  This digital combination will allow you to record and mix straight to your PC for editing and gives a studio sound so pure and clean that even experts have a hard time distinguishing it from a professional studio.  The Mackie Onyx w/Firewire is currently state-of-the-art for home-studio production and will allow you to produce your own professionally sounding CDs through your PC.  Of course, you'll need a CD burner on your PC and no less than Windows XP.  If you're on a limited budget, I would recommend a Tascam 8 to 16-channel analog (cassette) recorder/mixer.  It's very easy to operate and really comes in handy for recording your "creations" if you're a simple singer/songwriter, etc.  It is limited, however, in that you cannot record to CD.  You usually can find a used Tascam on ebay for $125 or less.  If you're doing vocals, you abviously will need some good microphones.  For single voices, I highly recommend the Shure SM-58 unidirectional mic which is standard hardware for most pros.  If you want to record multiple voices and/or instruments through one mic, I recommend the Behringer B-1 condenser mic for quality and price.  You'll need mic stands, and you'll need a sturdy,  high-quality one for a condenser mic like the B-1.  If you're going to run all of your instruments and mics directly into your mixer, you really don't need to soundproof your studio.  Soundproofing is necessary, however, if you're going to use a condenser mic (they're very sensitive) or are worried about disturbing other people.  If you want a beat, you'll need to do one of three things:  Find yourself a drummer, buy a drum machine, or buy a guitar-effects processor like the Digitech RP-100 which includes a built-in drum machine.  For the latter equipment, I recommend musiciansfriend.com, americanmusical.com, or ebay.com for lowest prices.  You'll pay a little extra at local music stores because of their overhead.  You usually can,  however, get good "sound" advice from the folks at your local music store.  You'll also need to invest in some cables.  It really pays to invest in some quality cables too.  Make sure you use low-impedence XLR cables for your vocal mics.  For instruments, I highly recommend Lifelines by Pro Co Sound.  They come with a lifetime guarantee and literally will give you perfect sound for decades - also usually available at musiciansfriend.com  I hope this has helped.
102922
Actually this is turning into a real mess. It turns out two or three years minimum and six to eight max is the life expectency of DVD's. Now they are saying if you want a stable long lasting backup you should use tape. Go figure, there are going to be a lot of people losing their pictures & data in a few years. Pressed DVD's last longer it is the "burned" ones that fail early. (Like the ones you make in your computer).\n\nI think all this publicity may encourage development of more stable CD's and DVD's.\n\nI have not read anything on life of the blu-ray. That might be better.
557574
Are you familiar with mixing and recording?If so,it should operate as any other board. Although a manual would show special features etc.The link below will give you a decent idea of all the features and if you have done recording you should be able to use the board without any difficulties.And you might be able to contact them for a manual! I wish I could have been more helpful!     Good luck!
230667
A keyboard sequencer is great but not nessisary!Your computer will do just fine,Cake walk pro is a great midi sequencer.Lol I first started sequencing midi files when all we had was an old Atari.Musicians loved it because it had a midi interface built in.on that I used cake walk,it installed from a floppy disk and Dr. T was great as you could really tweak each note,velocity etc.
325789
its so much easier to use a stand alone DVD recorder. There nice to have and getting very affordable now. hard to edit on tho
30039
I am a huge fan of Adobe Audition.  It offers 128 track editing, numerous plug-ins, and a lot of other features.\n\nI started useing it in 2000 when it was still called Cool Edit Pro.  It is very powerful, and lets you imput from various sources, beat match, tempo change, and other things.  And it can work with multiple codecs.\n\nIf you work with video, it also works seamlessly with the Adobe Premier video editing suite.\n\nAudition does take a bit of learning, but you should be mixing and rendering clips within an hour of starting.  And there are lots of books (and even college courses) that will teach you how to use it better.
136907
well usually brand is a good indicator, I should say this though, Memorex is decent quality, I've used them my self \nwith no problems, Sony is good, Maxell is good, I've also \nhad good results with Fugi, yeap or even HQ, they are all \nmade pretty much the same, so you might want to reinstall\nyour software, or check your hardware.
250771
I started some 2 years ago - got myself a good soudn card like Creative platinum series and some software - a keybord and off you go.\nI have steinberg cubase as a recording software and you get a nice range of add ons such as guitars, digital effects and you can make some real neat stuff and best off all in your time and pace.\n\nNeed any help to get started - send me a not and i can help you out
200991
One brand of CD-Rs that works very well is TDK.  They are for computer burning.  You can copy any CDs that you want onto them or if you have any songs already on your computer, you can record them onto them.  They can hold up to 80 min. of music.  They have 700 MB and they are 52x compatible (I don't know what that means).  They play on both computers and CD players.  I have a HP Pavilion computer with Windows XP and a Sony stereo and the TDK CDs work well in both.  I copied some CDs onto these for my aunt.\n\nAnother brand of CD-Rs that is good and works as well as the TDK CDs is Maxell.  I don't remember what the compatibility of them is, but they also hold up to 80 min. of music and have 700 MB like the TDK ones.  I had a bunch of songs on my computer (enough for 4 CDs) and I recorded these songs onto the Maxell CDs and they not only worked in my computer, but they worked in my CD player as well. \n\nAnyway, those are just 2 brands that I know of that work in both a computer and a CD player as well.
42464
I am not sure what is happening, but here is a pretty simple suggestion.\n\nI would bring in a home style setup.  Remember that most studio equipment is high-end compared to the stuff most people have at home.\n\nCreate a track the way you normally do, and then play it on the home stereo you brought into the studio.  Now you have a comparison you can make in less than 30 minutes.\n\nWhen you make the first test recording, do it just like you have before.  For the second recoding, check the overdrive limit of the CD, and record this 2nd CD as high as possible without distortion.\n\nI hope this suggestion will help you.  My profile contains my email address, so if you experiment and are still having trouble you can write me.\n\nBest of luck,\nJeffrey
391889
I know very little about the Juno-D (I played one today, actually, but just for a minute), so I'll just talk about the Microkorg (there's one sitting next to me).  \n\nMicrokorg:\nPros:\na) great sounds (some seriously-fat synths)\nb) built-in vocoder\nc) endless hours of fun playing with it\n\nCons:\na) the keys are tiny (toy keyboard tiny), and the keyboard is only 3 octaves.  You can raise or lower the octave with buttons, but who wants to keep pressing buttons while they're playing? \nb) unusual layout.  There's alot to adjust, but only a few knobs to adjust with, so you inevitably have to turn 2 or 3 knobs to change 1 thing.  That may sound abstract to you, but trust me, it's annoying, and definitely not suitable for live performance (you'd need an extra person in the band just to turn knobs and push buttons).  \nc) 4 voices of polyphony. I see this as a critical flaw of the Microkorg.  What it means is that you can only play a maximum of 4 notes at once (sometimes less, depending on the preset), so you can forget about playing a chord with both hands.  Most modern synths have at least 32-voices, which is usually enough.     \n\nIf you're used to a piano, and you want something sort of close to a piano, your fingers will hate the Microkorg.  The Microkorg is, in alot of ways, a novelty synth.  Although it has really good sounds, everything about its design is SO atypical.  The Juno-D is a proper, standard synth: 5-octaves of decent-sized keys, 64-voices of polyphony, etc.  Plus it has that awesome d-beam controller.  I can't speak about the sounds, though.  Based on everything above, I'd say (out of those 2), go with the Juno-D.  If it's your first synth, I think you'll just be constantly frustrated with the Microkorg.  \n\nBut before you shell out the money, jump over to this website:\n\nhttp://www.tweakheadz.com\n\nGo to their forums and ask lots of questions.  They're professionals and they'll help you out.  They helped me pick out my first synth 4 years ago.