RS article on portable multi-track recorders

[mikehalloran]

Found this interesting:

https://www.rollingstone.com/product-re ... ws-890713/

Anyone else record primarily to a portable recorder?

Mine are a Zoom R24 or an iQ7 mic on an older iPhone 7+ these days.

I cut my teeth on live recording — find a good sounding room, set up and roll tape. My entry to DP was a $12K rig that included a Beige G3, a Fostex FD8 and a MOTU 2408 to tie everything together (plus microphones & outboard gear etc.).

It worked well, too. The 2408 + a Mackie 1604 let me turn the FD8 into a recorder capable of 8 channels simultaneous recording at 44.1kHz and only took up a card table + one large suitcase to hold everything — a significant weight and bulk reduction over my 80-8 based analog rig. Back in the office, the 2408 let me dump the FD8 tracks into DP 2.71.

Nowadays, it's a Zoom R24 plus a small case that may or may not have a mic pre + cables and mics etc. The only other pieces are the mic stands. If I'm recording ambient sound, just the R24 built-in spaced omnis or a Zoom iQ7 mic attached to an iPhone.

The R24 has 8 channel simultaneous 44.1/48k 24bit with 6 mic pres onboard. Battery life is terrible if phantom power is engaged as one might expect.