I could only wish that every manufacturer of tech products produce this type of truly helpful video! So helpful and supportive. And I am impressed by the R4 performance!
Thanks for this review. I've bought/sold multiple 4 track recorders because the mixdown, bounce, and export functions require so much time in a maze of drop down menus and confusion. I want simple when I'm in a creative headspace, like an old cassette 4 track. Have you had time to record, mix and export any files and how did that go?
Simple recording and overdubbing works like a charm with this unit. I recorded a song with about 7-8 separate tracks and 2 intermediate bounces. Comparing with previous units I've owned, this so far is the simplest and easiest to work with. However, simplicity comes at a cost: limited track editing options (no regions copy, cut, paste, etc.). There is punch in/out, but you can control it only with the record button (no footswitch control) and there is no autopunch. Also, the punch parts are not recorded as separate tracks (so you do not have different takes and parts of takes in post). What you get is a bunch of whole tracks only. For my style of music (acoustic singer-songwriter) this is not a big drawback. Unlike other units that I've used (Tascam portastudios) there is no mastering option, so you have to do this in post (which I normally do anyway). In general, this is a unit to put your ideas together fast and easy and then finish them in a DAW.
Thanks for that amazing video. Could elaborate on editing and overdubs/punch in? I was wondering if one could, say, record several times on the same track without erasing anything? Like, recording A from 0:00 to 1:00, recording B from 1:30 to 2:00, recording C from 3:00 to 5:00, etc? And is it possible to navigate through a recording by bar or beat increments? Cheers!
Hi, great video! I've been looking at getting one of these mainly for recording vocals and acoustic guitar so I can record in a different room and then bring it over to the DAW for mixing later, what I really want to know is, could I put my song on this and load it onto a track to use as a backing track while I'm recording? This would be really useful because I can set up a microphone in a room that has better sound.
Hello, can you comment on the track effects, the reverb and echo? I can't get an answer from them on the reverb and delay type? Is it a plate? A hall? Tape delay or digital type delay? Do you get a sense of this? I was also wondering if you tried plugging the headphone output to a set of speakers with a Y cable? Thank you.
In the menu these effects are not specified, it says only "echo" and "reverb" with a simple slider for the amount. I would guess the "echo" is a digital delay and the "reverb" is a hall type.
Have you ever pressed record, only to find that the track doesn't appear on the memory card with no sign of recording? I shot a wedding and reception in a day, but the clips from before the reception aren't showing on my memory card, despite pressing record and stop.
After you’ve recorded on the mini sd card, what do you do either the card, for playback ?? When download to your computer, you’re still left with the same issue. I want to play my music in the car ! An sd card is not going to work. I feel like the only one that’s asking this question..
I purchased this product and have experienced some issues when trying to record a backing track from a device (both PC and iPhone) to one of the tracks using a 3.5mm audio cable with 1/4 inch adaptor (multiple cables and adapters so I have ruled out those pieces as malfunctioning). When I record using this method, the volume is low and has some sort of interference. I have tried input A and B with same results. I was able to use this method with my old Zoom MRS-4 without issue. It is almost as if the backing track is too much to handle. Any ideas?
If you look closer at the inputs to the two-track recorder (not 4 as there are only two inputs) you will see that the jack inputs are unbalanced so make sure the corresponding cable and adapters you are using are also unbalanced. Or record the backing track to two tracks (ie stereo L& R) with a proper splitter cable.
The Tascam portastudio series units (incl. DP-008EX) are certainly more versatile and have more options, focusing on the editing, exporting, mastering, etc. However, as major drawback for me is the bitrate of the .wav files produced (44.1kHz/16-bit) which is not enough by today's standards. Also, the connectivity - it's a completely standalone unit, no computer interface (soundcard) options.
Say what you want it for . For me Tascam should be ashamed of themselves for selling something with just two inputs and does not deserve the title Portastudio. Doing any video work? then for audio you shouldn't be looking at 16-bit technology.
I've been in contact with the unapologetic reps at zoom about this device. We live in the future now, not 1986. They had almost everything right when they built the MRS-8. That was a decade and a half ago. There is no reason for this device not to have a function as fundamental to home recording as auto-punch in the year 2023. Yet it does not have this function. Zoom claims that all of its engineers are musicians. I would like one of those engineer/musicians to explain to me how you can punch in and out while simultaneously playing an instrument. Additionally, the R4 has zero midi capability. So it cannot even sync with an external sequencer such as the Circuit Tracks or MPC ONE, etc. It also has no ability to shift/nudge a track forward or backward in time, which would allow someone, at the very least, to pseudo-sync an external sequencer or arpeggiator. Why not? These are not hard asks. They are, in fact, no-brainers. I'm sorry. I'm a big fan of Zoom products, but this is an incredible unforced error. We have the technology. Guys are building their own space ships these days; but Zoom just took a dive on a digital recorder that they could easily have gotten right out-of-the-box by including nothing more than an auto-punch feature. It's appalling. It's infuriating. It's disappointing as hell. I would gladly have given them the extra ten, or even twenty, dollars per unit that it would have cost for R and D to implement this one feature alone. And before you say something like, "they'll probably fix this with a firmware update", I urge you to take the advice of guys like Gabe Miller, who implore us all, to never buy equipment that fails to meet our expectations at the time of purchase. Never expect a corrective firmware update; much less, one that will correct the issues that concern you in particular. Frankly, I don't trust the assertion that Zoom's engineers are all musicians. Anyone who has ever touched a musical instrument would not have missed such an easy goal. Phooey ! ❤
Is it me, or EQ used to be more functional as well? Like, at least you could have set the frequency and Q for the middle band - but not anymore... Not even asking for 5-band EQ... And when I had an R16, I used to think faders on that device were too small for riding, so might as well use rotary knobs like Tascam 008... This almost looks like a joke
I've been playing and recording for years...auto-punch may be a draw back, but I don't really care. When I am recording myself I do not use an auto punch feature even in my DAW. I want to be able to play it through without stopping. If I can't play it all in one take, I will do it all over. Takes more time.
@@sonorous8028 I respectfully disagree. The ability to set auto punch points was included in a device that Zoom manufactured years ago, the MRS-8. I feel that the same functionality could be included, even now, in firmware, and could be accessed via a menu option. That might make it a little more difficult to get to than having dedicated buttons on the surface, but at least it would be there. I don't see how punching in can be accomplished any other way short of having another person do it for you. And that would be unreliable at best. It seems to me that the programming cost for such a function would be negligible compared to a redesign of the device interface, and even preferable to that. The ability to shift an audio track forward or backward could, likewise, be accomplished in software without adding extra hardware. Midi would require at least a TRS jack, so I can see your point there; the engineering cost and logistics might be prohibitive.
1 of these days these companies need to incorporate a way to actually send what you’ve recorded to someone via email or WiFi or cellular. It’s absolutely insane to me that function isn’t available on all 2023 recorders. Does anyone know of one that when I’m done tracking and mixing ON the device, I can then send it to someone’s phone or email?
@@BAND-MAID-USA I can’t believe I’m explaining this but - the R4 uses an SD card. A card reader attached to your phone would let you send the mix down files to someone else.
I was interested in seeing a well done review of this unit. Didn’t happen. After a long recounting of recorder ownership, replete with left hand rolling over and an occasional glimpse of the bottom two inputs, you didn’t do the expected thing of saying what the four inputs were, and what kind of inputs they had. That imagined list should have been followed by a similar list of output connectors and their possible uses. But, you chose to push buttons while making out of focus views of the display. Tuner? Yes, it has a tuner you say? What does it tune? FM, perhaps? Suggestion: if you are using a bedspread as a background, put the unit on the bedspread and get your hand off the unit, except to turn it over or otherwise position it. 😢 unlikely to watch your promised next video on this product completely, unless the first minute proves your technique has significantly improved.
Even if it was sarcastic you asking about a tuner and mentioning FM tuner still shows that only a noob would ask that. Let me ask you, was there ever an FM tuner on a recording device?
@@pagpapaitim Well, it was loud and overt sarcasm. If you look at my photo and see a noob, see an ophthalmologist at once. And, I still don’t know what kind of tuner was being referenced. Do you?
I could only wish that every manufacturer of tech products produce this type of truly helpful video! So helpful and supportive. And I am impressed by the R4 performance!
Do you think you will buy one?
best overview ive seen on this so far, thanks plamen
Thanks for this review. I've bought/sold multiple 4 track recorders because the mixdown, bounce, and export functions require so much time in a maze of drop down menus and confusion. I want simple when I'm in a creative headspace, like an old cassette 4 track. Have you had time to record, mix and export any files and how did that go?
Simple recording and overdubbing works like a charm with this unit. I recorded a song with about 7-8 separate tracks and 2 intermediate bounces. Comparing with previous units I've owned, this so far is the simplest and easiest to work with. However, simplicity comes at a cost: limited track editing options (no regions copy, cut, paste, etc.). There is punch in/out, but you can control it only with the record button (no footswitch control) and there is no autopunch. Also, the punch parts are not recorded as separate tracks (so you do not have different takes and parts of takes in post). What you get is a bunch of whole tracks only. For my style of music (acoustic singer-songwriter) this is not a big drawback. Unlike other units that I've used (Tascam portastudios) there is no mastering option, so you have to do this in post (which I normally do anyway). In general, this is a unit to put your ideas together fast and easy and then finish them in a DAW.
Thanks for that amazing video.
Could elaborate on editing and overdubs/punch in?
I was wondering if one could, say, record several times on the same track without erasing anything? Like, recording A from 0:00 to 1:00, recording B from 1:30 to 2:00, recording C from 3:00 to 5:00, etc?
And is it possible to navigate through a recording by bar or beat increments?
Cheers!
Hi, great video! I've been looking at getting one of these mainly for recording vocals and acoustic guitar so I can record in a different room and then bring it over to the DAW for mixing later, what I really want to know is, could I put my song on this and load it onto a track to use as a backing track while I'm recording?
This would be really useful because I can set up a microphone in a room that has better sound.
Yes, it supports importing files onto tracks.
Hello, can you comment on the track effects, the reverb and echo? I can't get an answer from them on the reverb and delay type? Is it a plate? A hall? Tape delay or digital type delay? Do you get a sense of this?
I was also wondering if you tried plugging the headphone output to a set of speakers with a Y cable?
Thank you.
In the menu these effects are not specified, it says only "echo" and "reverb" with a simple slider for the amount. I would guess the "echo" is a digital delay and the "reverb" is a hall type.
Thanks for video a nice little recorder
Have you ever pressed record, only to find that the track doesn't appear on the memory card with no sign of recording? I shot a wedding and reception in a day, but the clips from before the reception aren't showing on my memory card, despite pressing record and stop.
A question about case material - does it have non-slippery rubber coating, like some other zoom devices? ir is it just plain plastic?
There are two rubbery anti-slide pieces on the bottom (for table-top placement). Other than that, yes, it's all plastic.
After you’ve recorded on the mini sd card, what do you do either the card, for playback ?? When download to your computer, you’re still left with the same issue. I want to play my music in the car ! An sd card is not going to work. I feel like the only one that’s asking this question..
Does it connect to the computer to extract as a wave file
Yes, it's fully functional both as an audio interface and an external storage device.
@@PlamenSivov So does this mean I can transfer a WAV file from my laptop to the Zoom R4?
@@angeluomo Yes, you can import a .wav file to a track. There is a short video in the official Zoom channel that is demonstrating this.
@@PlamenSivov Thanks for the info. I ordered mine yesterday and should have it by next week.
No line out?
I purchased this product and have experienced some issues when trying to record a backing track from a device (both PC and iPhone) to one of the tracks using a 3.5mm audio cable with 1/4 inch adaptor (multiple cables and adapters so I have ruled out those pieces as malfunctioning). When I record using this method, the volume is low and has some sort of interference. I have tried input A and B with same results. I was able to use this method with my old Zoom MRS-4 without issue. It is almost as if the backing track is too much to handle. Any ideas?
If you look closer at the inputs to the two-track recorder (not 4 as there are only two inputs) you will see that the jack inputs are unbalanced so make sure the corresponding cable and adapters you are using are also unbalanced. Or record the backing track to two tracks (ie stereo L& R) with a proper splitter cable.
is it possible to record a track while listening to another track ?
Sure, it's called "dubbing".
Would it be better to get this or the Tascam DP-008EX?
The Tascam portastudio series units (incl. DP-008EX) are certainly more versatile and have more options, focusing on the editing, exporting, mastering, etc. However, as major drawback for me is the bitrate of the .wav files produced (44.1kHz/16-bit) which is not enough by today's standards. Also, the connectivity - it's a completely standalone unit, no computer interface (soundcard) options.
@@PlamenSivov Thank you. I am looking for something that's standalone and sounds good, so what else do you suggest?
Say what you want it for . For me Tascam should be ashamed of themselves for selling something with just two inputs and does not deserve the title Portastudio. Doing any video work? then for audio you shouldn't be looking at 16-bit technology.
Is that have looping the track is going playing when the record stops
No looping option for this model.
How are the FX on this? Comparable with the zoom multifx pedal everyone uses for synths?
Acceptable, still pretty basic. I would use them just for preview purposes during initial mix.
Excellent video but please demonstrate the item
I've been in contact with the unapologetic reps at zoom about this device. We live in the future now, not 1986. They had almost everything right when they built the MRS-8. That was a decade and a half ago. There is no reason for this device not to have a function as fundamental to home recording as auto-punch in the year 2023. Yet it does not have this function. Zoom claims that all of its engineers are musicians. I would like one of those engineer/musicians to explain to me how you can punch in and out while simultaneously playing an instrument. Additionally, the R4 has zero midi capability. So it cannot even sync with an external sequencer such as the Circuit Tracks or MPC ONE, etc. It also has no ability to shift/nudge a track forward or backward in time, which would allow someone, at the very least, to pseudo-sync an external sequencer or arpeggiator. Why not? These are not hard asks. They are, in fact, no-brainers. I'm sorry. I'm a big fan of Zoom products, but this is an incredible unforced error. We have the technology. Guys are building their own space ships these days; but Zoom just took a dive on a digital recorder that they could easily have gotten right out-of-the-box by including nothing more than an auto-punch feature. It's appalling. It's infuriating. It's disappointing as hell. I would gladly have given them the extra ten, or even twenty, dollars per unit that it would have cost for R and D to implement this one feature alone. And before you say something like, "they'll probably fix this with a firmware update", I urge you to take the advice of guys like Gabe Miller, who implore us all, to never buy equipment that fails to meet our expectations at the time of purchase. Never expect a corrective firmware update; much less, one that will correct the issues that concern you in particular. Frankly, I don't trust the assertion that Zoom's engineers are all musicians. Anyone who has ever touched a musical instrument would not have missed such an easy goal. Phooey ! ❤
Yes, auto-punch is missing. Definitely a big drawback for an overdubbing multitrack device. I also miss a control switch input for that same purpose.
Is it me, or EQ used to be more functional as well? Like, at least you could have set the frequency and Q for the middle band - but not anymore... Not even asking for 5-band EQ... And when I had an R16, I used to think faders on that device were too small for riding, so might as well use rotary knobs like Tascam 008... This almost looks like a joke
I've been playing and recording for years...auto-punch may be a draw back, but I don't really care. When I am recording myself I do not use an auto punch feature even in my DAW. I want to be able to play it through without stopping. If I can't play it all in one take, I will do it all over. Takes more time.
@@stephenchambers2637 That's a fair point. Thanks.
@@sonorous8028
I respectfully disagree. The ability to set auto punch points was included in a device that Zoom manufactured years ago, the MRS-8. I feel that the same functionality could be included, even now, in firmware, and could be accessed via a menu option. That might make it a little more difficult to get to than having dedicated buttons on the surface, but at least it would be there. I don't see how punching in can be accomplished any other way short of having another person do it for you. And that would be unreliable at best. It seems to me that the programming cost for such a function would be negligible compared to a redesign of the device interface, and even preferable to that. The ability to shift an audio track forward or backward could, likewise, be accomplished in software without adding extra hardware. Midi would require at least a TRS jack, so I can see your point there; the engineering cost and logistics might be prohibitive.
i prefer knobs
1 of these days these companies need to incorporate a way to actually send what you’ve recorded to someone via email or WiFi or cellular. It’s absolutely insane to me that function isn’t available on all 2023 recorders. Does anyone know of one that when I’m done tracking and mixing ON the device, I can then send it to someone’s phone or email?
Spire Studio had a similar sharing option, but the company seems to have abandoned the project recently.
@@PlamenSivov it just seems so important. At least for me it is. Would be the biggest selling point for me.
Why not just plug a usb card reader into your phone? It would probably take just as long to connect over Bluetooth/wifi
@@mickd22 how is plugging in a usb card reader into my phone going to text my song to someone elses phone?
@@BAND-MAID-USA I can’t believe I’m explaining this but - the R4 uses an SD card. A card reader attached to your phone would let you send the mix down files to someone else.
I was interested in seeing a well done review of this unit. Didn’t happen. After a long recounting of recorder ownership, replete with left hand rolling over and an occasional glimpse of the bottom two inputs, you didn’t do the expected thing of saying what the four inputs were, and what kind of inputs they had. That imagined list should have been followed by a similar list of output connectors and their possible uses. But, you chose to push buttons while making out of focus views of the display.
Tuner? Yes, it has a tuner you say? What does it tune? FM, perhaps?
Suggestion: if you are using a bedspread as a background, put the unit on the bedspread and get your hand off the unit, except to turn it over or otherwise position it.
😢 unlikely to watch your promised next video on this product completely, unless the first minute proves your technique has significantly improved.
Get your negative ass out of here, Edward. This isn’t Yelp. You aren’t at an Applebees.
LMAO, I kept fast forwarding looking for when he turns it on, I had same feelings
Even if it was sarcastic you asking about a tuner and mentioning FM tuner still shows that only a noob would ask that. Let me ask you, was there ever an FM tuner on a recording device?
@@pagpapaitim Well, it was loud and overt sarcasm. If you look at my photo and see a noob, see an ophthalmologist at once. And, I still don’t know what kind of tuner was being referenced. Do you?
That’s a lot of words