Topic: Zoom R16: 8-tr portable rig (2ch P48) MRSP $400

[cybergaloot]

The Tascam DR-680 knocked this out of contention for me.

no doubt but thats $867 and this is $400. you can get two of these and have 16 channels...at 44.1/16.

Actually I paid $338 for mine new off eBay. The R-44 is still my main recorder, the R16 is for certain projects that need more channels, for backup and for grins and giggles.

[kirk97132]

The Tascam DR-680 knocked this out of contention for me.

no doubt but thats $867 and this is $400. you can get two of these and have 16 channels...at 44.1/16.

OK but then lets add in four channels of preamps that supply phantom since only two channels have phantom on the R-16.  Or even just some good phantom units and that $400 starts climbing quickly.  And there is no wordclock sync on the R-16 either so the units will run different. 

[rastasean]

Actually I paid $338 for mine new off eBay. The R-44 is still my main recorder, the R16 is for certain projects that need more channels, for backup and for grins and giggles.

That's a good price and i can understand why this wouldn't be useful for a taper but for certain activities, I think it would do well for the price.

[rastasean]

OK but then lets add in four channels of preamps that supply phantom since only two channels have phantom on the R-16.  Or even just some good phantom units and that $400 starts climbing quickly.  And there is no wordclock sync on the R-16 either so the units will run different.

oh just get some sm57s and hold them up in the air with your friends.   

[cybergaloot]

OK but then lets add in four channels of preamps that supply phantom since only two channels have phantom on the R-16.  Or even just some good phantom units and that $400 starts climbing quickly.  And there is no wordclock sync on the R-16 either so the units will run different.

oh just get some sm57s and hold them up in the air with your friends.   

In my case I can use my R-44 to phantom power four more channels if needed. I have a small local festival coming up in a few weeks and I'll probably run the R16 at one stage, the R-44 at another and my old CA-11>CA-9000>H2 rig at the third

[rastasean]

In my case I can use my R-44 to phantom power four more channels if needed. I have a small local festival coming up in a few weeks and I'll probably run the R16 at one stage, the R-44 at another and my old CA-11>CA-9000>H2 rig at the third

Please be sure and let us know how it turns out with the r16! what mics would you be using?

I found out that the max record time, for one consecutive recording, is four hours.

Q:      What is the longest available recording time?
A:    Regardless of the number of tracks, the maximum continuous recording time is 4 hours.

http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/support/faq/r16.php
second question

[cybergaloot]

Since a stereo recording usually runs about 1GB an hour, then a mono recording would run 0.5GB per hour. The file size limit for FAT32 (most SD cards are formatted FAT32) is 2GB, 2GB/.5=4hours. That's MAX!

If you record all eight channels into eight mono files, you can go 4 hours. If you link the channels in pairs into four stereo files the limit would be 2 hours. And that's what I hit running it once. It just stops, it does not start a new file like the H2 or many other recorders. That may be fixable with a firmware update.

[rastasean]

those times are accurate when recording at 16/44.1

i'm confident zoom will update the firmware to bypass the recording limit and make the recorder start a new recording.

[Nick's Picks]

I use a 16 gig card in mine.  at band practice, I use all 8 chan and we usually play for 2.5-3 hours.  at 16/44, it typically comes out in the 7gb range for the entire project.  I have yet to have file limit issues at this moment, but they are all under 1gb individually.

[kirk97132]

OK but then lets add in four channels of preamps that supply phantom since only two channels have phantom on the R-16.  Or even just some good phantom units and that $400 starts climbing quickly.  And there is no wordclock sync on the R-16 either so the units will run different.

oh just get some sm57s and hold them up in the air with your friends.   

In my case I can use my R-44 to phantom power four more channels if needed. I have a small local festival coming up in a few weeks and I'll probably run the R16 at one stage, the R-44 at another and my old CA-11>CA-9000>H2 rig at the third

And using the R-16 as a mic & line input would work great for the festy set up to do matrix.  But if you wanted to add any other mics to that rig they have to be dynamics not 48v condensers.  .  But isn't using the R-44 as a 4 channel pre kinds of a hard way to go just to be able to get 6 mic inputs?  Not to be  pot stirring  or a nay sayer.  Believe me I looked at the R-16 for a long time but could never get off the fence on it.  Then poof the tascam unit showed up.  And that price point was what drew me to it at first.  But then again I already had three preamps to use with it. 

[cybergaloot]

OK but then lets add in four channels of preamps that supply phantom since only two channels have phantom on the R-16.  Or even just some good phantom units and that $400 starts climbing quickly.  And there is no wordclock sync on the R-16 either so the units will run different.

oh just get some sm57s and hold them up in the air with your friends.   

In my case I can use my R-44 to phantom power four more channels if needed. I have a small local festival coming up in a few weeks and I'll probably run the R16 at one stage, the R-44 at another and my old CA-11>CA-9000>H2 rig at the third

And using the R-16 as a mic & line input would work great for the festy set up to do matrix.  But if you wanted to add any other mics to that rig they have to be dynamics not 48v condensers.  .  But isn't using the R-44 as a 4 channel pre kinds of a hard way to go just to be able to get 6 mic inputs?  Not to be  pot stirring  or a nay sayer.  Believe me I looked at the R-16 for a long time but could never get off the fence on it.  Then poof the tascam unit showed up.  And that price point was what drew me to it at first.  But then again I already had three preamps to use with it.

The only reason I'd use the R-44 to power four more more mics is because I already own the gear. Otherwise I'd be looking at a different recorder or one of those Rolls boxes for phantom power. Its something I can do with what I have, not something I'd do all the time.

I bought the R16 for occasional use, not as my primary recorder. For me, it was a cheap way to get more channels for those occasional times I might need them and it gives me a back-up/second recorder.