I find a few like the H-6 and Roland R-26 that are marketed as 6-channel. But the channel count includes using the internal mics. However, I'm not in a situation where I can stand with the recorder in an appropriate mic position.

What I'm looking for is are field recorders with at least six inputs for external mics. And, as is often the case, price and portability are part of the equation. For example, the SD664 is out of reach. (Of course eight channels would be OK, but only if the bottom line is lower than a comparable six channel recorder.)

What's available out there? Does anyone have hands-on experience with anything like this?

Thanks in advance, and please excuse me if I've overlooked something obvious.

The H6 has six true XLR inputs with the proper input adapter.

The Tascam DR-680 has six mic inputs with phantom power.
However two of them use 1/4 inch TRS connectors (vs XLR)
And then it has another two inputs via digital AES/SPDIF.

Sound Devices 633??

Sound Devices 633 6-Input Compact Field Mixer and 10-Track 633

Wow!~ That sound device is pretty pricey. Probably for what it is, not so bad, but geez, I am using a zoom 2 channel for a lot less. How about using three zooms? You might even end up with shorter cable runs. You could do that for less than 1K, Synch in plural eyes or blow a whistle before your action. Add sound in your on cam mike to help synch better. It is more work and harder to monitor but a lot less expensive setup. A lot less to lose in the case of an accidental spill.

Chris,

Thanks for the suggestion, but the SD633 would break the bank for this situation.

Tim,

I failed to explain that this would be used for live music recording. I don't think three separate recorders could possibly hold sync close enough to be within a fraction of a cycle of the musical waveform.

It is very difficult to sync in post, but it can be done. I used Adobe Audition on a short doc we were working on. Obviously, the more tracks from multiple recorders, the harder it is. A six or eight track recorder will save you hours in post, but could set you back a pretty penny. As I mentioned in another thread, we are constantly striving to do more with less.

Tascam DR-680 8-Track Portable Field Audio Recorder DR-680 B&H

This work?

Edit: Oops... somebody already mentioned this. ;-)

Edit again: Looks like you can gang two of them together, so if the 1/4 TRS inputs won't work for you, you can get 8 XLR inputs (at 2x the cost).

Have you considered renting?

It may hurt your feelings to spend hundreds of dollars and not own the gear at the end but the once you work with something on the level of the Sound Devices stuff you won't give it a second thought on the next one.

I've never used any of these (and they aren't strictly FIELD recorders), but the Zoom R16 can record from 8 XLR mic inputs simultaneously. (Correcting here to include Richard Crowley's note about phantom power only being on inputs 5 and 6.)

Street price is $400 and it gets good reviews.

Comes with an AC adapter or can use 6xAA batteries for 4.5 hours WITHOUT the phantom power on.

The are several other models in this category of music-style recorders with 8 simultaneous XLR inputs, like the TASCAM DP-32SD for $500 or the Zoom R24 also for $500.

The Tascam will supply phantom power to all 8 XLR inputs, using two switches to power inputs A-D and E-H separately. I haven't checked how many XLR inputs on the R24 can actually be phantom powered.

The Tascam doesn't have an internal battery option but a battery adapter wouldn't be hard to achieve. It draws 12 watts with phantom power ON and the input faders and screen are nicer than the Zoom's.

The R24 can use 6xAA batteries like the R16 and has the same rated battery life with phantom OFF.

With phantom power on, I'd probably rig up a larger battery supply if AC power isn't available.

How "portable" does this recorder need to be for your situation?

The AETA 4MinX is an 8-channel mixer/recorder with up to 10 input channels that can be mixed as you like to the 8-tracks. About £3k exVAT in the UK as an 8-track and perfect for music recording.

I've never used any of these (and they aren't strictly FIELD recorders), but the Zoom R16 can record from 8 phantom powered XLR mic inputs simultaneously. Street price is $400 and it gets good reviews.

The Zoom R16 provides phantom power for only two channels (5 and 6)..

I have used mine as a backup recorder, and ended up using it as a primary recorder on an international tour from which a commercial CD was produced.

The AETA 4MinX is an 8-channel mixer/recorder with up to 10 input channels that can be mixed as you like to the 8-tracks. About £3k exVAT in the UK as an 8-track and perfect for music recording.

If the SD664 exceeds Mr. Miller's budget, then it seems unlikely that the AETA is more affordable.

If it's for musical performances, have you looked at this? 16 track standalone recorder.
Allen & Heath ICE 16 - NAMM 2013 - YouTube
ICE-16 - Allen & Heath (http://www.allen-heath.com/ahproducts/ice-16/)

With this, you can record each track separately, and in sync. The advantage of this device is that you can connect from the board's direct outs or inserts PRE-FADER! So even if the event is mixed for the house but not for video, you could always go back in and remix it exactly the way you want it. Price is reasonable too, about $1K.

If it's for musical performances, have you looked at this? 16 track standalone recorder.

With this, you can record each track separately, and in sync. The advantage of this device is that you can connect from the board's direct outs or inserts PRE-FADER! So even if the event is mixed for the house but not for video, you could always go back in and remix it exactly the way you want it. Price is reasonable too, about $1K.

That and the products from HOME - cymatic audio (http://www.cymaticaudio.com) and JoeCo (http://www.joeco.co.uk/) (and likely others) are a new breed of compact recorders. But they are line-level in and out, so they don't appear to qualify for Mr. Miller's requirement for mic-level input.

The H6 has six true XLR inputs with the proper input adapter.


I have been using a Zoom H6 several times a week for 18 months now, and have been pleased with its reliability and performance under differing conditions using external mics.

Clearly the H6 is not a professional quality field recorder, but it may well do the job for you on a budget perfectly adequately. It is a big improvement on the infamous H4n in terms of noise and much more suited for recording 6 channels than 3 separate recorders or an R16.

Note however that there is no phantom power available with the XLR module which replaces the internal mic module on the R & L channels. I use a separate mixer on the occasions when I need 6 or more 48V mics.
If you can work around the phantom power being on 4 channels only it is certainly worth considering.
I do find the extra 2x -12dB backup channels derived from the L & R inputs quite reassuring though I have only once had to resort to actually using the safety net recording channels in the delivered product.

Thank you all for your suggestions thus far!

Here are some comments that will answer some of your questions and clarify a few issues.

There is no rental house nearby, and these are one-time non-repeatable performances, so I would much prefer to have my own known-and-tested recorder, and eliminate variables like shipping, etc.

Any of the recorders mentioned are a suitable size for this application, namely recording live music, usually in an "acoustic" setting (i.e. no amplification, so no house mixer in existence). Therefore, I would greatly appreciate a recorder with mic inputs; otherwise I would need to provide a source of preamplification, which adds to price and complexity of the setup.

Syncing multiple 2-track recorders is not a good idea for this application. Any timing slip between recorders would result in phase cancellation and comb filtering. (I do not expect to close-mic the performers, so there will be some inevitable bleed between mics. Yes, I know that's not really ideal mic technique, but this venue, and some of the performers, don't want mics to be obtrusive, so I'm forced to hold back on the distance. But the venue acoustics are too live to allow recording with just a stereo pair. I realize this is not ideal, but it's not negotiable, and it's been discussed here before, so please let's not rehash it in this thread.) And if the two machines drift around by even as much as 1 msec, that will create moving comb filtering right in the middle of the audio band. In other words, sync requirement here is much more stringent than lip sync would be.

The H6 with XLR module (I had forgotten about that option) might be a reasonable solution. I might be able to come up with two self-powered mics for those inputs.

The Zoom R16 seems almost too good to be true, but then one notices a few drawbacks, including lack of phantom powering on six of the eight inputs. Even so, it's tempting to take a closer look. I'm puzzled by the specs. It says "Audio interface: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96 kHz sampling rates." But it also says "Recording data format: 44.1 kHz." Can anyone tell me with certainty whether it recording is actually limited to just this one sampling rate? And since Mr. Crowley has used this to produce a commercial CD, I would especially appreciate your comments about the preamp quality and any other comments you might have.

The R24 also looks similar, but from the product photos, it appears that only inputs 5-8 have phantom available. Is that correct? (And, if so, why is Tascam holding back on phantom power???)

The DP-32SD also looks very attractive (although a bit large), and lack of battery power would not be a drawback, at least for this particular project. And the DR680 also is interesting.

Finally, I've just stumbled across the Roland R88, although it's somewhat pushing the price barrier. Has anybody had any experience, or heard any personal feedback, about this machine?

Thanks again for all the useful input! More is always welcome.

Greg,

From what you have posted here I think you should hire a company that already has the equipment and experience to do the audio side of that job. I think you are going to be behind the 8-ball trying to gear up for that one. That would allow you to concentrate on the shoot and the edit.

Chris,

I have been called in specifically to do the audio. Nobody has yet gotten really good audio in this venue (for reasons discussed in another thread) and the client is willing to let me take a stab at it. I've agreed to do this on a "proof of concept" basis, with confidence that my first attempt will be better than what has been done to date by others. If my first recording isn't good enough (hah!) then we will make adjustments before the next gig. The client is even allowing me to add some acoustical absorption to try to tame the reflections (the room is very live, provided it doesn't detract from what the audience hears.

I have a more than adequate collection of mics, I simply don't have the multi-track recorder that I need. Hence, this post soliciting suggestions about recorders. As I said above, this has already been discussed at length in another thread, I would rather not be redundant by rehashing all the details here.

You're right, though: it will be a challenge. That's why I agreed to do it!

Thanks.

The mic preamps in the Zoom R16 are adequate. They are likely very similar (or even identical) to the mic preamps in other portable digital recorders (like the popular H4n, etc.) I typically used it with a more proper mic preamp feeding it (Studio Projects SP828). However on the tour of South Africa a couple years ago, I ended up with the R16 as my ONLY gear, operating on AA batteries, no less. But from the tracks I recorded, they mixed and mastered a good-sounding CD:
Lifestyle Magazine (http://www.lifestyle.org/transaction_detail.php?id=45)
ARISE O MAN - 2012 Brotherhood Tour, South Africa, Arise O Man CD (http://www.sabbathtimemusic.com/Arise_O_Man.html)

There are some discussions on gearslutz re use of a laptop or mac mini with an interface to record 16 tracks, so that might be an option with room to add mics if needed.

What about a 6 or 8 mic mixer married to a laptop?

Seems to me that the suggestions regarding the Zoom R16 are by far the simplest and most affordable option. As Richard said, the preamps will be similar or the same as those in other moderately priced digital recorders. Ok there are only two phantom powered inputs, but at the price of the R16 you could easily get a simple external phantom power unit for some extra capacitor mics if you need them. Here's a dual one for £27 Dual channel Phantom Power Supply: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics (http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A2NEV0U/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000FG795I&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=08WT05ZYMP65RT00D1ZH)

You've got onboard 8 channel recording, plus effects, compression, eq if you need it, you can whip out the SD card and transfer straight to your DAW for multitrack editing, or onboard if you want a quick portable edit. It's also powered by 6 AA batteries for several hours portable recording and you can use it as a hardware controller for your software DAW if you want. It even comes bundled with Cubase LE if you haven't already got suitable software. At a price of less than £300 it's a giveaway, so I'm going to get one for my own use :-)

Roger

...
The Zoom R16 seems almost too good to be true, but then one notices a few drawbacks, including lack of phantom powering on six of the eight inputs. Even so, it's tempting to take a closer look. I'm puzzled by the specs. It says "Audio interface: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96 kHz sampling rates." But it also says "Recording data format: 44.1 kHz." Can anyone tell me with certainty whether it recording is actually limited to just this one sampling rate? And since Mr. Crowley has used this to produce a commercial CD, I would especially appreciate your comments about the preamp quality and any other comments you might have.

The R24 also looks similar, but from the product photos, it appears that only inputs 5-8 have phantom available. Is that correct? ...

These two recorders can be used as audio interfaces for computer recording and in that mode can deliver up to 96 khz. It's common for Zoom recorders to include an audio interface mode.

The R16 is specced by Zoom to record internally only 44.1 16 or 24 bit.
The R24 is specced to handle 44.1 or 48 khz with 16 or 24 bit depth when recording to the internal card.

The R24 has 6 phantom powered inputs.

I found the R16 to be similar in preamp performance to the H4n and H2n. The H6 preamps have less self-noise. I haven't used the R24. Unfortunately Zoom doesn't provide specs on the EIN of the R16 and R24.

Fran

That and the products from HOME - cymatic audio (http://www.cymaticaudio.com) and JoeCo (http://www.joeco.co.uk/) (and likely others) are a new breed of compact recorders. But they are line-level in and out, so they don't appear to qualify for Mr. Miller's requirement for mic-level input.

There is a JoeCo with mic.inputs.

I've just stumbled across the Roland R88, although it's somewhat pushing the price barrier. Has anybody had any experience, or heard any personal feedback, about this machine?


A friend has one and swears by it - he is very happy with it.

Yes, it's a bit "plasticky" but gives excellent results in its price bracket.

Actually, the ideal choice for someone who really can't stretch to a Sound Devices, AETA or Nagra.

I have used the Tascam 680, which has 6 mic/line inputs and 2-additional mix tracks (digital) which sounded very good.. (and was reliable through-out a 64-day shoot). The preamps however are in-line with the price point. The recently released MkII -allegedly- has better components and other GUI niceties.
FWIW. I used exteranl preamps, via line-in, which hard-wire (by-pass) the POS mic pres.
See manual: blockdiagram/schematic:

The Tascam DR-680 is a nice 6-channel recorder. The Edirol R88 is a larger option for 8-channels. The TRS (1/4') inputs on the DR-680 can take microphones and provides phantom power -- they just ran out of space for more XLRs, helping to keep it small. Get an adapter cable and you are set.

Here is a six-channel recording using the built-in preamps on the DR-680.

Haydn: The Creation. Credo Festival 2014 Finale Excerpt - YouTube

If you are looking to enter the world of real film production audio (which I am not)
then you might also need to provide a slate and timecode.

One of my pals who makes his living doing this has a Zaxcom Diva, which is like 12 channels.
But when I went to their site just now, I don't see it.
Perhaps it has been replaced by the Nomad. Not as many channels, but it has a TC output.

Nomad | Zaxcom (http://zaxcom.com/products/nomad/)

Another guy I know who does a lot of Indy Film sound uses this Tascam = $2.4K
Tascam HS-P82 8-Channel Field Audio Recorder HS-P82 B&H Photo

Nagra has an nice 8 channel audio recorder = $10K
Nagra Nagra VI 8-Channel Digital Recorder (Slate Gray) 7032001

Other film sound guys use this:
Sound Devices 788T = $7K
Sound Devices 788T-SSD 8-Channel Portable Solid-State 788T-SSD

There are rumors of a Deva 32 machine coming from Zaxcom around NAB time. There's also the recently released Sound Devices 688 with 12 inputs and up to 16 track recording, for a little over $5k.