Recommended Audio Recording Device ???

[musicworld1]

Registered: 05/25/09 
Posts: 154 
Loc: London England

Hi 

I'm looking for advice on what external audio recording device would be recommended for recording the piano sounds from a Yamaha P115. Someone mentioned the Zoom R8 Recorder.. anyone else using simular divices?

[John Willett]

Yes - but professional ones - I use the Nagra VI and the AETA 4MinX.

Both these are 8-track portable machines and I use them for piano recordings.

[Mike Stranks]

There's a huge array of machines that will do this, from the cheap to the eye-wateringly expensive.

What's your budget?

What do you want to do with the recordings once you've made them?

Will you be recording by using a direct connection or using microphone(s) - in-built or external?

[musicworld1]

There's a huge array of machines that will do this, from the cheap to the eye-wateringly expensive.

What's your budget?

What do you want to do with the recordings once you've made them?

Will you be recording by using a direct connection or using microphone(s) - in-built or external?

Hi
I intend on recording an album (solo piano) will be using a direct connection.. no mics. And will only ever use the device as one track for recording piano.. Budget is £250

[Mike Stranks]

There's a huge array of machines that will do this, from the cheap to the eye-wateringly expensive.

What's your budget?

What do you want to do with the recordings once you've made them?

Will you be recording by using a direct connection or using microphone(s) - in-built or external?

Hi
I intend on recording an album (solo piano) will be using a direct connection.. no mics. And will only ever use the device as one track for recording piano.. Budget is £250

I've been researching this market a lot recently in preparation for a purchase of a decent all-in-one device myself.

For that budget I'd plump for the Zoom H5 - which is what I went for. True XY stereo mics. Many other similar recorders offer their mics in a form of stereo configuration which are, at best, variants of standard miking techniques.

Another one worthy of consideration would be the Tascam DR100. (An interesting option is the Tascam DR44 which gives you remote control of the device via wifi.)

Up to your budget max there are numerous machines available from Tascam, Zoom and Olympus. However, in my own listening tests I definitely preferred the sound of the H5. To my ears the cheaper Tascams (not including the DR100) seemed a little congested in the mid-range in comparison. (I'm not anti-Tascam... I have two other of their recorders....)

HTH

[Wonks]

It's a digital piano with direct outs. So it's just going to be fed into line inputs. Mic pre quality doesn't really apply here.

So, once you have the basic recording, what are you going to do with it?

Is it purely piano, or are there vocals and maybe other instruments?

Do you already have a computer with recording software (such as Reaper, Cubase, Logic etc.)?

Do you have monitor speakers, or are you using headphones for listening/mixing.

Do you know anything about recording audio and mixing; about the use of reverb etc?

Whilst a P-115 may be fine for stage use, it's not going to have as a good a sound as a good sampled piano (or a decent real miked-up piano). If you are serious about this, have you considered getting a sample player (such as Kontakt) and a decent piano instrument for it and just use the P115 as a master keyboard to play it with?

[Mike Stranks]

Thanks Wonks for clarifying... I missed the crucial 'for direct connection'.

[alexis]

Thanks Wonks for clarifying... I missed the crucial 'for direct connection'.

... But you gave a great rundown on devices in that price range ... thank you!

[musicworld1]

So, once you have the basic recording, what are you going to do with it?

Is it purely piano, or are there vocals and maybe other instruments?

Do you already have a computer with recording software (such as Reaper, Cubase, Logic etc.)?

Do you have monitor speakers, or are you using headphones for listening/mixing.

Do you know anything about recording audio and mixing; about the use of reverb etc?

I intend to sell it to the gentle public, as I'm a full time street musician (piano player) and for some time people have been asking for discs.

The album will be solo piano.

No PC no DAW, will be leaning on others to support me with this.

No monitor speakers, will be using canns.

Yes, for many years I was Mac based working with Garageband and Logic recording MIDI and Audio. I was recording using Galaxy Instruments piano sample library in Kontakt, the Grand Vienna Steinway D, a 1929 Baby Grand Bluthner and a Steinway Vitage D, all great quality sampled pianos to record with.

Unfortunately my circumstances changed and I'm now having to resort back to basic recording technology.

Hence the reason for an entry level audio interface.

[grab]

Just a thought - why do you particularly want to record the sounds from a digital piano? Wouldn't it be better to record the MIDI? That gives you a lot more flexibility: you can put it through a VSTi instead for what will almost certainly be a better piano sound; you can fine-adjust individual notes to correct errors if you feel like it; and you still have the option of playing it back through the digital piano if you do genuinely find that's the best sound.

[The Elf]

Just a thought - why do you particularly want to record the sounds from a digital piano? Wouldn't it be better to record the MIDI?

+1

I was thinking the same myself.

[grab]

Um. I did notice the lack of a PC. But then the obvious answer is "buy a PC" rather than "buy something else at least as expensive which does the job worse".

And yes, any decent standalone recorder is more expensive than an old desktop PC off eBay, and that old desktop PC will be perfectly capable of running Reaper and a single stereo piano VSTi.

[musicworld1]

OP here,
been looking at the Zoom R8 and the Boss BR800 audio interfaces. It seems these recorders would be more then surfficiant in gaining a good quality audio recording. But as I will only be needing one input to record for digital piano, all other remaining inputs would never be used.
Could anyone suggest something more basic for my needs.

[Mike Stranks]

OP here,
been looking at the Zoom R8 and the Boss BR800 audio interfaces. It seems these recorders would be more then surfficiant in gaining a good quality audio recording. But as I will only be needing one input to record for digital piano, all other remaining inputs would never be used.
Could anyone suggest something more basic for my needs.

Errm... I did!

The devices I've recommended have 'line inputs' which is what you'll need if you want to connect directly to your keyboard.

... and surely you need at least TWO inputs - otherwise you won't be capturing any stereo effect - however subtle?

[Wonks]

Rather than buying something, why not either find someone from the SOS forums local to you who can do the recording for you, or else go into a studio for a day.

The former is probably going to be the cheapest way, and I know many people with good home studios would welcome the chance to record someone.

The latter isn't that expensive, will cost less than a hardware recorder (say £200-£250 for a full day) and you'll be buying the expertise you'll need to make a good sounding product. You don't want to issue any old recording, as people won't listen to it.

Don't forget that buying a hardware recorder still mean you're going to need a computer for editing the tracks to put onto a CD.

[ef37a]

OP here,
been looking at the Zoom R8 and the Boss BR800 audio interfaces. It seems these recorders would be more then surfficiant in gaining a good quality audio recording. But as I will only be needing one input to record for digital piano, all other remaining inputs would never be used.
Could anyone suggest something more basic for my needs.

If by "basic" you mean cheap and you have any kind of computer look at the Alesis iO2. That has the line inputs you require and MIDI ports so you could record the data as well and edit fluffs later. The data can also be used to play any of a vast range of other instruments.

Even if you got a Zoom or similar, surely you would end up saving music to a PC?

Dave.

[BJG145]

I'm a bit off the iO2 after getting a batch of around 25 and having about 6 of them fail, with the same characteristic documented fault.

[ef37a]

I'm a bit off the iO2 after getting a batch of around 25 and having about 6 of them fail, with the same characteristic documented fault.

Do tell more BJG! I bought mine for £40 from Cash Generators and it seems to be fine. I have also touted the AI on two other forums and yours is the first negative comment that I have read.

I understand that the M-Audio Mtrack Mk1 is and identical device? Have you had similar problems with those? They are of course now discontinued which is why I did not mention them. The Mkll lacks MIDI I understand?

Don't recall without checking but if OP is in UK he can borrow mine for a month.

Dave.

[Richard Graham]

OP here,
been looking at the Zoom R8 and the Boss BR800 audio interfaces. It seems these recorders would be more then surfficiant in gaining a good quality audio recording. But as I will only be needing one input to record for digital piano, all other remaining inputs would never be used.
Could anyone suggest something more basic for my needs.

The Zoom H1 is as basic (and cheap!) as it gets, and will do your stereo line-in recording. They seem to go for about £75-£80, new.

With the rest of your £200 budget, you could afford a workable (second-hand) PC or laptop to edit your music, and burn CDs.

Ebay has loads of suitable ones, I've even found one with a SSD and a 22" inch monitor, CD burner and Windows 7, that would fit your budget.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-Core-2- ... 1c559d3fdc

[ef37a]

OP here,
been looking at the Zoom R8 and the Boss BR800 audio interfaces. It seems these recorders would be more then surfficiant in gaining a good quality audio recording. But as I will only be needing one input to record for digital piano, all other remaining inputs would never be used.
Could anyone suggest something more basic for my needs.

The Zoom H1 is as basic (and cheap!) as it gets, and will do your stereo line-in recording. They seem to go for about £75-£80, new.

With the rest of your £200 budget, you could afford a workable (second-hand) PC or laptop to edit your music, and burn CDs.

Ebay has loads of suitable ones, I've even found one with a SSD and a 22" inch monitor, CD burner and Windows 7, that would fit your budget.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-Core-2-Desktop-PC-6Ghz-4GB-RAM-250GB-SSD-Windows-7-22-Widescreen-Monitor-/121695453148?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1c559d3fdc

Indeed, three weeks ago I bought my wife an E-Systems laptop S/H from a local repair shop. All cleaned up and with helpful software. 1.9G Celeron 2 core and 2G ram £140. I have not tried it with an AI as yet but I shall this weekend and am confident it will perform very well for basic stuff.

Dave.

[musicworld1]

Thanks for all your support. I think I've made my choice with the Zoom H4N. This audio recording device seems capable of being able to record a digital piano by having left and right line inputs, XLR or TRS, thus being able to connect a direct line. The recorded audio is then sent to an SD card which can then be inserted to a PC for post production and final CD burn. It's portable and comes in under my budget range,

Any comments on the Zoom H4N?

[The Elf]

I very much like my H4N for what it is. I do find that it can be a bit noisy on very quiet sources, but it is what it is. As a portable device it's fine.

I really think you should consider grabbing an old laptop, a 3-quid MIDI interface and recording your piano's MIDI. My main audio laptop was well under your budget.

[Richard Graham]

Thanks for all your support. I think I've made my choice with the Zoom H4N. This audio recording device seems capable of being able to record a digital piano by having left and right line inputs, XLR or TRS, thus being able to connect a direct line. The recorded audio is then sent to an SD card which can then be inserted to a PC for post production and final CD burn. It's portable and comes in under my budget range,

Any comments on the Zoom H4N?

It's over spec for what you want to do. The H1 would do the job just as well and would leave you enough cash to get a workable PC or laptop, for editing, burning and uploading your music.

[Dynamic Mike]

If you don't want to get a PC involved (or even if you do) the Zoom R8 is fine for your needs. It'll let you record, monitor, playback, edit, overdub, mix & master in one box. It integrates seamlessly with a PC, or works fine as a standalone unit. The quality of the effects is awesome, the pre-amps are fine if you want to mic something up later, and it's solidly built & not too fiddly to use. I'm sure there are plenty of useable alternatives as suggested, but personally I'm a very happy R8 user.

[Mike Stranks]

If you don't want to get a PC involved (or even if you do) the Zoom R8 is fine for your needs. It'll let you record, monitor, playback, edit, overdub, mix & master in one box. It integrates seamlessly with a PC, or works fine as a standalone unit. The quality of the effects is awesome, the pre-amps are fine if you want to mic something up later, and it's solidly built & not too fiddly to use. I'm sure there are plenty of useable alternatives as suggested, but personally I'm a very happy R8 user.

+1... just the job if you really don't want to use any other kit...