portable recording studio questions

[maxi_musikero]

hi everyone!  i'm planning to buy a portable recording studio.  my PC really is not geared for recording and my house really is not a good venue for recording (by the road) 

any recommendations?  i would greatly appreciate it if you guys can also give me reviews on the different portable recording studios we have here as well as PRICE vs QUALITY assessments. 

thanks guys! 

[KitC]

Depends on how many tracks. Some portable solutions include the Roland VS series and other similar machines. For the same money I would spend on a Roland, though, I'd rather get a good laptop and a multi-input interface, maybe a firewire mixer if possible. That would give me editing flexibility plus the ability to easily port projects from laptop to desktop.

[maxi_musikero]

Depends on how many tracks. Some portable solutions include the Roland VS series and other similar machines. For the same money I would spend on a Roland, though, I'd rather get a good laptop and a multi-input interface, maybe a firewire mixer if possible. That would give me editing flexibility plus the ability to easily port projects from laptop to desktop.

sir KitC, i'm actually looking at the Boss Micro BR.  it's in the classifieds and i did a little research on the product.  what i'm really after here is the record-anywhere-you-are option.  and based on the website, the Micro BR really is PORTABLE. 

my bandmate has the PC where we usually record songs.  and one friend has his own recording studio na.  since i'm working, i just need a portable recording gadget so that once my band meets, then i can just transfer my recordings to his PC. 

any other similar products like the Micro BR?  or is it already the best in its class? 

thanks sir! 

[KitC]

any other similar products like the Micro BR?  or is it already the best in its class? 

I wouldn't exactly call it best in it's class. The micro BR offers 4 simultaneous playback tracks but you can only record 2 tracks at a time, so it's practically a stereo recorder - it supports virtual tracks, though. It will work if you guys are passing tracks around then just adding your own tracks to a BT, for ex. One big advantage is that it writes to SD cards, hence no motors and moving parts making for longer battery life. If the BR writes wavs to the SD card and your bandmate has a card reader, you might only have to hand over the SD card for transfer to his pc. Get the largest SD card you can because you will find that it's relatively easy to fill up the included 128 Mb SD card with 44.1 khz 16-bit audio. I do not recommend mixing with mp3s; I often hear aliasing artifacts when converting low bitrate mp3s to wav plus there is that audible lack of highs.

There are other portable 4-track digital recorders like the Zoom PS-04 and MRS-4B, and the Korg PX-4.

[maxi_musikero]

I wouldn't exactly call it best in it's class. The micro BR offers 4 simultaneous playback tracks but you can only record 2 tracks at a time, so it's practically a stereo recorder - it supports virtual tracks, though. It will work if you guys are passing tracks around then just adding your own tracks to a BT, for ex. One big advantage is that it writes to SD cards, hence no motors and moving parts making for longer battery life. If the BR writes wavs to the SD card and your bandmate has a card reader, you might only have to hand over the SD card for transfer to his pc. Get the largest SD card you can because you will find that it's relatively easy to fill up the included 128 Mb SD card with 44.1 khz 16-bit audio. I do not recommend mixing with mp3s; I often hear aliasing artifacts when converting low bitrate mp3s to wav plus there is that audible lack of highs.

There are other portable 4-track digital recorders like the Zoom PS-04 and MRS-4B, and the Korg PX-4.

thanks sir KitC for all this info! 

[skunkyfunk]

Major concerns on a portable studio:

1. Reliability issues
2. Power concerns
3. Acoustics of the monitoring environment
4. Having a direct connection with the inherent setup of the venue.
5. How to tap into the mixing console of the venue. (Are you gonna use inserts, or are you gonna use mic splitters?)
6. There should be 3 different signals: 1) Live mix 2) Monitor mix (for the artists) 3) signals going through your recording device

[starfugger]

how about a portable DAW setup?

what laptops would suit a portable DAW other than a mac of course?

[skunkyfunk]

how about a portable DAW setup?

what laptops would suit a portable DAW other than a mac of course?

One major concern of mine for a remote DAW setup is the dreaded blue screen.  I still see it despite using XP.