Zoom MRS-8 Recording

[stingx]

As much as I love recording to my computer, I equally enjoy the convenience of my old Zoom recorder and the no hassle approach it affords me. All I need to record any sound that I hear in my head is the Zoom, a guitar, a pair of headphones, and a 1/4" cable!

Here's a short clip of the intro to the 4 Non Blondes tune "What's Up":

http://www.box.net/shared/xbkuji245n

This was done using only the Zoom for recording, mixing, and mastering.

I think these units are a steal for the price you can get them at. You can use up to 2gb SD cards with them, they have a huge amount of drum and bass sounds and more effects than you can deal with. It's not a difficult unit to use but being small you need to master the the manual some to get to all the features and you obviously aren't going to have a knob for everything on the face of the unit. You get 8 digital tracks with 10 virtual tracks per track and the ability to record 2 tracks simultaneously. Also have a terrific sounding internal stereo condenser mic which makes it great for recording rehearsals and live performances too.

Here's the link for all the specs: http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/mrs8/index.php

You can find these on any of the online dealers for about $299 but I have seen them marked down considerably in brick and mortar stores like Manny's and Sam Ash.

[aeolian]

All I need to record any sound that I hear in my head is the Zoom, a guitar, a pair of headphones, and a 1/4" cable!

The recording sounds great! Don't you also need some sort of an amp sim between your guitar and the Zoom?

I ask because I have a similar setup with a Fostex MR8 (from 2004); I don't think it would sound very good without any sort of amp sim (or a real amp and a mic) in the path. I use a J-Station for that.

[stingx]

The Zoom has built in modeling. Check the stats on the manufacturer's link that I posted.

[Justaguyin_nc]

I likes it.. Like the jingley acoustic backing sound and then the pipes/growl comming in on that song... even if she does look like a nut... its in a good way..:) nice job... but.. yours usually are! :)

[stingx]

Here's a test track that I put together on the fly to demonstrate the MRS-8 to a friend. It actuallly took longer to fade out the clip and convert it to mp3 than to record it :rotflmao:

This is all MRS-8 - the drums are from the built in drum machine with a touch of 'verb added. I used only the built-in guitar effects modeling and did not mic any amps in this recording. I did play with some of the settings of the modulation, etc. to taste. I used my Fender JV Strat for all the guitar parts. I used the MRS-8's mastering algorithms to polish it (LIVE setting). Basically this was a quick recording of all the parts, setting the track levels, then mastering. This machine won't produce grammy winning soundtracks but it is very nice for ideas and for pretty good sounding demos.

http://www.box.net/shared/xrot28bk0s

[helliott]

Cool tone. The rhythm track has that jangly sound like an old Rickie.