Zoom R16 users?

[ckyratm]

Hey guys! Anyone have any experience with one of these? Im thinking about getting one for some demo/live use with my band. So far all the features seem pretty great. I'm curious as to how user friendly it is, as well as sound quality, reliability and other stuff like that. Let me know what you guys think! Thanks

[Jondog]

I'd be interested to hear too. A buddy of mine had a Zoom multi-effects unit back in the late 90's. It was an absolute piece of junk. I've pretty much written them off since then.

[misterfolkertsma]

Well, I'm absolutely positive about my Zoom H2 but ofcourse that's something entirely different. I feel quite confident about Zoom''s offerings though and I too am very interested about the R16 and R24.

[Jondog]

Well, I'm absolutely positive about my Zoom H2 but ofcourse that's something entirely different. I feel quite confident about Zoom''s offerings though and I too am very interested about the R16 and R24.

Is the H2 the recorder? I've only heard good things about their recording hardware.

[DiabloS]

Sorry I don't know anything about the R16. However I've own the Zoom GFX-5, which I bought about 10 years ago and aside from a plastic knob breaking, it's never given me any problems and I still use it regularly for the built-in drum machine mostly.

On the other hand, I bought the Zoom G9.2tt and it sounded great, but broke down on me a few weeks after owning it, looks like it was defective.

I also own the Zoom H2 and that thing is great for recording jams/gigs, etc.

... so 2 out of 3 from my personal experience!

[misterfolkertsma]

Well, I'm absolutely positive about my Zoom H2 but ofcourse that's something entirely different. I feel quite confident about Zoom''s offerings though and I too am very interested about the R16 and R24.

Is the H2 the recorder? I've only heard good things about their recording hardware.

Yup, that's the one. There are newer version out, but this one still works like a charm. Got mine from teddy actually, I believe he still uses them for his LeChatNoir live videos (mixed with sound from the camera).

[ckyratm]

I've used the H2 before, and I own a Q3 video recorder. Those are both great. I don't think I've had any issues with either of those. Hopefully the R16 is just as good.

[witchtrials]

I have one and its brilliant, extremley user friendly and packed full of useful features. It doubles as a computer interface and at the price it offers a considerable amount of value for money. I only possess a moderate amount of recording experience but havent had any issues with the R16 during the past year, wont be parting with mine anytime soon/ever.

[jontheid]

Used one to do some recording in standalone mode. Lots of features but a tad fiddly to use and switching between the banks of 8 tracks can get a bit much. EQing is also not straightforward as it is all menu based with only one knob to twiddle per channel.

It comes into its own when used as an interface with a laptop I find.

There is a monitor balance pot so you can balance between the DAW output (in my case cubase) and the sound going directly into the zoom that you are recording.

This is a great feature, as it means you don't have to worry about the latency in cubase as you aren't doing any monitoring through it.

You can also use the zoom's insert effects when in )interface mode (44.1 khz only, not 96khz) - really good for vocals as you can put in a compressor to bring things together a bit.

The main failing I find with it is that the headphone output is rather underpowered, so I plug that into a dedicated headphone amp. I got a cheap 4 channel MCM one off ebay for £15 - it was underpowered so I changed all the chips for OPA2132PAs and it is plenty loud now.

I wish they would bring out a 16 XLR input version of this so you could use it as an interface and record a whole band with kit live properly.

[ckyratm]

Well I went ahead and got one. So far so good! I would agree about the headphone output. I couldn't really hear anything through the headphones while I was recording with my band.
This thing is extremely handy though. Especially for a live bands or practices. After everyone is miced up and has good levels, you can record and worry about any mixing and EQing later. Haven't used it as an interface yet, but I've done a little control surface work with it and that seems pretty great too so far. Maybe I'll post some recordings I've done with it a little later.