An out-of-box experience says our audio tech for field recording

Zoom R16 digital 8-track recorder

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The Zoom R16 Multitrack SD Recorder Controller and Interface is one of the best recording gizmos to hit the market for remote recording of audio.

It records 8 simultaneous tracks of 24-bit audio video using AA batteries.

There doesn’t seem to be a competitor yet near the $480 (Canadian) or $400 (US) street price from sellers like Source: Amazon.com. 

We’ve been recording music for five years. The annoying part of the process is how much time a musician has to waste on learning complicated technology when they should be working at the music.

The Zoom R16 is the best product we’ve seen for removing the technology from the process of recording music. It’s simple to set-up, operate and gets very good results. 

Two minutes before Long & McQuade closed in Charlottetown Friday night, we purchased a Zoom R16 digital recorder. Then we went around the corner and picked up a couple of 8 GB SDHC cards at Future Shop.

This was a crazy whim to record our last session of the summer on Victoria Row’s Always on Stage. Once home, we took the box apart, inserted the SD card and read the quick start instructions.

Within 10 minutes we were in the studio recording a two track guitar and vocal demo in 16 bit 44.1kHz. Then we copied the WAV files to the Sonar DAW and listened.  They sounded awesomely great, all humility aside.

Zoom R16 8 channel inputs use either XLR or 1/4″ cables

Encouraged we recorded another song but changed microphones, guitars, and guitar preamp. Right away I could tell the guitar preamp was taking some of the “live” quality from the acoustic guitar and there was a slightly warmer tone from the Neumann compared with the Shure mic.

Within an hour we had recorded two demos, one with equipment switches, and moved them to Sonar. They all sounded very good.

The LCD screen is small but the interface is intuitive. It took only seconds to figure out the basics.

At which point the sound tech quipped “This thing is a truly out of box experience.”

Field recording

On Saturday, we used the R16 to record 24 songs at an outdoor performance with 4 tracks (guitar, lead guitar, vocal and bass). The biggest problem was the direct sunlight made it hard to see the LCD screen. A cardboard shade was constructed with gaffer tape.  We were able to capture 24 songs with very little effort.

Features

The Zoom R16, which shipped in the summer of 2009, has three basic functions: recorder, audio interface (when recording on a laptop or computer) and control surface.

Recording

R16 main recording controls

If it only functioned as an 8 track simultaneous recorder of 24-bit 44.1kHz audio, the R16 would be a marvel. It does that in spades. There are 8 combination XLR and 1/4 inputs that feed 8 pre-amps. You can’t map inputs and tracks.

The pre-amps seem OK but they are not the equivalent of my pricey Millennia Media pre-amps and channel strip. Who cares? This is portable not studio recording.

I didn’t hear any noise from the pre-amps in the recording. The whole idea is the R16 is ultra portable, smaller and quieter than a laptop. You use it to record music anywhere it’s happening.

Intuitively we upped the bit rate to 24-bit for the extra headroom which takes a little more room on the SD card.

The gain knob feels solid if tiny and the 45 mm channel faders work well. There are only 4 segments to the dB display to tell you if you’re clipping plus a peak light on the gain control. That sounds pretty flaky but it worked well. We tried to keep the peak light flashing and never hit above -5 dB making the display red.

All of the songs recorded had plenty of gain or volume. Some of the signals came to – 3 but not once did they clip. The audio tech worked at it reasonably but once the levels were set it seemed to work without being temperamental.

To record the second bank of 8 tracks, you flip a switch. Phantom power is available on or off on channels 5/6.

Other 8-track SD recorders we looked at only recorded a 2 track stereo. 8 tracks at a time is optimum for later editing on a DAW. Two R16s can be linked if your recording session needs more than 8 tracks, which will happen the moment you add a drum kit to the mix.

For quick musical notation, the Zoom R16 can be ready in 30 seconds. Channels 7/8 also connect to the two condenser mics in the R16’s handles. Slide the switch, arm the tracks, set your levels and you are ready. The condenser mics are good for a quick recording of a song idea when inspiration hits.

This is a real bonus. It can take an hour to get a studio ready to record a quick song. The mics have to be placed, equipment powered and warmed up, computers turned on, drivers loaded, DAW loaded and checked for midi and audio i/o, tracks readied and armed. Then you start recording.

Copying the WAV files to DAW was quick. Connect the R16 to the computer with a USB cable, switch the R16 to USB card mode and the computer sees the card as a remote device. Copy or move the files depending on your needs.  23 4-track songs used 3 GB of an 8 GB SDHC card. The R16 comes with a 1 GB card.

Zoom R16 connections

The unit comes with a wall transformer or uses 6 AA batteries for about 4 hours of recording. The maximum recording session is 2 hours so make a break if the performance is long.

When you turn it off, the R16 saves open projects so nothing is lost. Since there isn’t a hard drive, the R16 is silent.  Some reviews said there was condenser mic crosstalk but others said it was fixed. We didn’t test that.

There is a L/R master out that can drive a P/A or monitors with level control and a headphone out with control. There are no digital inputs for a CD player or beat machine.

I noticed a tiny latency in the DAW when another track was  recorded while listening to previously recorded tracks. The reviewers picked that up as well. It’s easy to fix in Sonar but it can be an issue if recording very long sessions.

Audio Interface

If you want to record directly to the computer, the R16 can act as an audio interface with the connections, preamps, AD/DA conversion, and USB interface. You feed 8 channels to the computer and it returns a 2 channel monitor.

As an interface, the maximum sample rate is a respectable 24-bit 96kHz. No doubt the R16 doesn’t have the quality of AD/DA conversion of a Lynx Aurora but again it’s portable and costs one tenth the price of the Aurora. It worked fine for us and we’re very happy with the quality of the sound on the DAW.

Control Surface

The R16 can also function as a control surface with your DAW, although it would be tricky with those 45 mm faders. None of the reviewers recommended it and we didn’t try it.

Effects and Mixing

The R16 has plenty of effects but we didn’t test them. We simply wanted a clean recording of the sound that could easily be copied to the DAW. Some of the reviews go into the mixer capabilities in detail.

It doesn’t have a drum machine. The new R24 released this summer does and the early reviews are a notch down from the very popular R16.

It does have a metronome and tuner which might be handy.

Other reviews

Jamon has tested the Zoom R16 and put up a web page dedicated to it.

Electronic Musician which concluded “Having spent several months with the Zoom R16, I really like it, whether used as a sketchpad for laying down song ideas, as a DC-powered location recorder for budget video shoots, or for recording rehearsals/live performances. Add in its “bonus” DAW interface capabilities, and the R16 is a deal that’s hard to resist, especially at $399.”

Sound on Sound‘s verdict was positive. “When you get so much for so little, then, it’s hard to fault Zoom for anything they have left out. However, I do think that the R16’s spec leaves room in the market for a more professionally oriented sibling. I, for one, would happily pay extra for better preamps and metering, phantom power on every channel, some sort of digital I/O, a couple more outputs, cue mixing and a system of proper virtual tracks or playlists for managing overdubs and multiple takes. If you could attach a nice stereo preamp via S/PDIF, for example, it would make an excellent device for low-budget classical music recording applications.”

“In the meantime, though, there’s a huge amount to like — and enjoy — about the R16 just as it is. As a truly portable, truly silent multitracker, it’s the perfect complement to a computer recording system; and as an eight-channel interface, it’s also a central component of a computer recording system. Unplug the USB cable, sling it in the back of the car, and you have the means to capture your rehearsal or gig with the minimum of fuss. Bring it back home afterwards, and it becomes a very capable front end, helping to pilot your PC through the overdubbing and mixing process. Neat!”

There is also an active forum on the R16 at Gearslutz. There are now 21 pages of user comment.

Where to buy it.

In Canada, Long and McQuade had the best price at $479 and their 30 day no quibble return policy made it easy to buy it before reading any of the above stories. Thomas Mears,  the salesman recommended it. He is a musician and recording enthusiast. I trusted him because he is a friend.

Some people recommend trying eBay where the new price was between $399 and $414.

Amazon.com sells the R16 for $399 with free shipping but not to Canada.

Zoom R16 website.