Tabletop Digital Recording Workstations that do it all - Still Relevant?

babysnake

Sadly, a couple of weeks ago my iMac died. I have the stripey display and can now only boot in safe mode.

I still have some functionality but it can't output any audio, can't detect my Apogee Duet etc. etc. Apple care is in the distant past.

I'm aware of the "baking the GPU" temporary fix and I may give this a try but I am not prepared to throw any meaningful amount of money at this as it is an older model (21.5" i3 Mid 2010) and I can't afford to replace it at this point....

So I have noticed that those big recording workstations that once were the bees knees and cost a small fortune are changing hands these days for next to nothing....what do you think?....good temporary solution?....If so what machines are worth looking out for? Cheers!

Sporky

I had a Tascam 2488 for a while - I thought it'd suit me better than a PC-based DAW.

I was awfully wrong. I didn't manage, in six months, to record even a snippet with it!

You may fare better, but I'd definitely suggest trying something out before buying it. Evilmags bought the Tascam from me and I think he got on with it really well.

babysnake

@Sporky what was it about the 2488 that you found so disagreeable?

Sporky

I think it was that it was neither PC DAW-like nor anything like using a desk and outboard gear, or even a basic 4-track. It complicated every process to the point that I gave up trying.

Just trying to plug a guitar in and record it was a ridiculous faff involving lots of sub-sub menus and holding-buttons-while-pressing-other-buttons. Then trying to get any sound back out was just as ridiculous.

Whereas I had no significant trouble combining a Trigger Finger with FruityLoops, Kontakt and NSKit7. Odd, I know.

steamabacus

A mate of mine still has a couple of Yamaha AW4416 recorders that I've used occasionally and they are very good. I'm not sure what they'd go for these days but considerably less than they were new!

The positives are that everything works very, very reliably compared to a computer DAW (Linux based operating system, I believe) and the inbuilt effects (compression, reverb, modulations, etc) are varied and very good quality.

The only downside, I'd say, is that loading/backing up multitrack data (to CD ... or several CDs) takes an age (in modern terms). There is a bit of free software called AWextract out there on the web that allows you to extract individual .wav files from the AW backup discs and so load the multitracks up onto a computer based DAW.

babysnake

@steamabacus - Searching online reveals quite a bit of love for the Yamaha AW4416....I think they were around £2500 new!

These seem to be changing hands for around the £300 mark!

The more I look into this the more sense it is making....

Heartfeltdawn

I'd take the AW1600 over the AW4416 for one feature only: USB. Faffing around with CDs is a pain. 

babysnake

Heartfeltdawn said:

I'd take the AW1600 over the AW4416 for one feature only: USB. Faffing around with CDs is a pain. 

Yes, I noticed from threads on other sites that the AW1600 was preferred due to the USB....this is great guys, your input is much appreciated!

tabbycat

i haven't used it for a while but when i used to do a lot of multitrack recording i used one of these.
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan02/articles/zoommrs1044.asp
the sos review can explain pros and cons better than i can, but, as a guitarist mainly (this seems geared to guitarists), adding on bass, drum, keys in layers, this was perfect.
i think if you are trying to record a whole band at once it's not best for that, but if you are building up one or two tracks a time, then mixing to final, it does a great job. there was an optional pc out board for backing up but i used to aux out into audacity.

no idea what they would go for now but very cheap for an all in one that does what it does. big pic so you can read buttons.

babysnake

babysnake said:

Heartfeltdawn said:

I'd take the AW1600 over the AW4416 for one feature only: USB. Faffing around with CDs is a pain. 

Yes, I noticed from threads on other sites that the AW1600 was preferred due to the USB....this is great guys, your input is much appreciated!

Can anyone chime in with some of the others that have a USB capability?

Winny_Pooh

There was a decent i7 930 pc on here recently that will do excellent with Reaper. Sell the Duet and buy the small Audient interface and you are sorted.