Topic: what do you think the best current 4ch deck is?

[stevetoney]

^ 744 if $ not a problem.

Or the lack of a hold button. 

You've mentioned this before. Don't know where you are getting your info from, but you're dead wrong. The 7xx series *does* indeed have a hold function. I can power on the deck, hit record, and lock it in about 5 seconds. Another 10-20 seconds to set levels. The rest of the show I just chill near the bag to make sure no one dumps a rack of suds on it or tackles the stand.

He might be mistaking the 744 for the zoom F8, which has a completely useless hold function as currently designed.

[Carlos E. Martinez]

What about the best low priced 4ch deck? Particularly with very good mic preamps?

[capnhook]

What about the best low priced 4ch deck? Particularly with very good mic preamps?

Used R-44. 

[voltronic]

What about the best low priced 4ch deck? Particularly with very good mic preamps?

That depends on your definition of "low priced" and "very good preamps".  What is your budget and what are you recording?  There are a quite a few units with good built-in preamps nowadays, but some of the more expensive options might be more than you need.  I want a SD 788, but I don't need it.  (...and it's a moot point since I can't afford it.)

The DR-70D is far from perfect but hard to beat for the price.  Currently on sale for $210 at B&H.  I had mine upgraded which cost about another $135 because I wanted a bit more transparency for what I do, but if you're doing louder amplified stuff the stock preamps are more than up to the task.

[hi and lo]

This is actually an incredibly soft spot in the market right now. The only two decks not disqualified for being play school toys are:

R-44
744T

Unfortunately, both these decks are ancient and the only other options on the market are 6-8 channels or cost north of $5000, falling into the unrealistic category. Sound Devices really needs to stop working on mixers and update their recorder line. I would also love to see some new players *coughgracecough." Still crossing my fingers for that V4.

[voltronic]

This is actually an incredibly soft spot in the market right now. The only two decks not disqualified for being play school toys are:

R-44
744T

Unfortunately, both these decks are ancient and the only other options on the market are 6-8 channels or cost north of $5000, falling into the unrealistic category. Sound Devices really needs to stop working on mixers and update their recorder line. I would also love to see some new players *coughgracecough." Still crossing my fingers for that V4.

Sure, Sound Devices needs to get moving on a revamped 7-series, but I had to laugh at the bold statements above.  I could send you quite a few very good recordings I've made with my "play school toys" as I'm sure could many, many other members here.  Not everyone has the scratch for Sound Devices, Sonosax, Nagra and such.  And there's no need to spend anywhere near $5000 for high-quality recording 6-8 channels or above, unless you are a professional and need all of the features of those highest-level units and/or the very best built-in preamps.  Obvious examples at much lower cost are DR-680, HS-P82, Zoom F8... etc.

[noahbickart]

I'm sure I''l get slammed for this but I say the Tascam Dr70d.

It's $200. Use a card on the approved list and it's rock solid.

Save your money for transducers.

[cybergaloot]

Never saw a compelling reason to go for anything other than my R-44 for field recording. I'd rather invest in a good preamp and better mics.

[Fried Chicken Boy]

I'm solidly in the Edirol/Roland R-44 camp when it comes to a reasonably priced, reliable 4-channel recorder.  I've had mine for just about 8 years and it hasn't given me a lick of trouble in that time.  Works every time, all the time, with any SD card I've thrown at it.  Solid as a rock.  If I have to ding the R-44 for anything it's that it can't (I believe) handle a card any larger than 32 GB.  But even with those you'll still get over 12 hours of recording time on 4 tracks at 24/48. 

If I could afford, or rationalize, purchasing a Sound Devices 744/788 I would probably grab one.  But even in the used market they are more than twice what a new R-44 costs. 

With the decks that will work flawlessly as long as you stick to the approved SD card list, that's fine and I'm glad for the folks that are very happy with their recorders.  What makes me uneasy about that is the "what if": your card craps out and you don't have a backup, you need to purchase another that day for a show that night, there are a few available but you cannot find one that's on the approved list.  Roll the dice on a non-approved card?  Might be a silly scenario, but with all the other random variables that a taper has to worry about in a typical situation, the last thing I want to be concerned with is whether or not the card in my deck is going to give me issues.  My .02 cents.

[cybergaloot]

Agreed but always carry spares of whatever is reasonable price-wise and weight & volume-wise. SD cards are cheap now.

[kubacheck]

is there a 4 channel recorder that can accept two different mini-plugs as sources??.... so I can run both tinybox rigs into one recorder rather than having to use two r-05's....

[hi and lo]

is there a 4 channel recorder that can accept two different mini-plugs as sources??.... so I can run both tinybox rigs into one recorder rather than having to use two r-05's....

All of them can. Connector format is trivial, you just need the appropriate adapter cables.

If you wanted to run into an XLR input, the only thing to watch out for would be engaging phantom, otherwise the inputs are more than happy to accept the Tinybox's unbalanced TRS output.

[kubacheck]

is there a 4 channel recorder that can accept two different mini-plugs as sources??.... so I can run both tinybox rigs into one recorder rather than having to use two r-05's....

All of them can. Connector format is trivial, you just need the appropriate adapter cables.

If you wanted to run into an XLR input, the only thing to watch out for would be engaging phantom, otherwise the inputs are more than happy to accept the Tinybox's unbalanced TRS output.

that's a good point.... so then I'm wondering if any of them actually have two separate mini-ins??

[F.O.Bean]

SXR4+ if $$ is no concern, even though Ive only heard 1 single show from it Im basing this decision based on the older SXR4 and how good its preamps sounded, so Im sure the SXR4+ is right up there!

Tascam 70D[with APPROVED SD card ] if $$ IS a concern It does 4 channel and has Phantom on ALL 4 XLR inputs!!! Its a stripped down deck with just what you need from it to get by, without a ton of options to sort through! I did wish it had better metering and monitoring, but for what it is and how good it sounds, its easily the best 4 channel deck out there for the $$ IMO! As always, YMMV! But I have [2] 70D's and they have treated me very good so far

The 744 is old news IMO, and sounds as good as most cheaper decks do now IMO! Not a bad thing, I just think that preamps have come a long way since the 744/722 came out! Not to mention it only has 2 inputs with Phantom Power But reliability-wise, the 7xx is HARD to beat! The 788 preamps sound a little better to me than the 744/722/702 preamps, but that could just be in my head lol And obviously, the SD metering is the BEST out there! That said, I wouldn't turn down a free 744

[Jonmac]

And, of course, there's the Zoom H6, 4 channels on board and 6 channels with the 3.5mm socket on the  XY mic module or add on XLR module.

Preamps perfectly good enough for music and dialogue, if you want to record a flea sneezing, maybe not