Fostex MR-16 HD: Hard Disks, Easy Multitracking

[MarshallAmpMan]

Do they still make these? I bought one of these right after they came out and have never been able to use it correctly. Too complicated for me. I am used to my Tascam and Fostex portable 4 tracks What is the best reasonably priced multi-track recorder to buy?

[chowpuppy]

Wondering if any of you guys know the answer to this question. All of the .wav files created on my Fostex MR-16 HD display a time/date stamp of 2/12/2008 12:00 AM. True time/date stamps would be a big help when I'm doing backup, archive and retrieval. Is there any way to set the time on the Fostex itself, or does the unit simply not have a built-in clock?

[balderdashsir]

This is a biased review because the music you recorded is awful. It makes the machine look terrible. I'm inclined to believe that's just what gear wire is about. Being awful. I once saw a dan augusta review for the epiphone valve jr. where he said "uh" and "um" about a thousand times each in 4 minutes.

[GuitarShredderish]

Can you use Pro Tools on your computer with this mixing desk?? please reply!!

[happystudio1]

quantize needed....desperately aaahahahahaha

[djdrxx]

THE TASCAM 2488NEO IS MUCH BETTER THAN THIS

[pauldeanpearson16]

Hi

Just had some info sent to me re the Fostex. Problem is, I use a Tascam DP02 ! It is a greta machine and very easy to use, type in Paul Dean Following The Sun, the mix on there took an hour from start to finish.

[RichardBLongly]

...the info (by recording from the MR's output) that hasn't been bounced to the last stereo track.

That said, I think this is a reasonable price to pay, along with the actually money, for what you do get. I've bought two of these, the second because I ran into the problem I've just described. The reverb and delay are very usable and the mastering effects are decent.

[RichardBLongly]

...record this allotment is diminished, regardless of whether you delete or record over what you've just recorded. So once the time comes when the record light has been on for 110-or-whatever hours, you better have had been backing up meaningful tracks to your computer because you will need to reformat before you can do anymore recording, including the bouncing (which is recording) necessary for exporting to a computer. If you haven't, you will a secondary recording device to remove...

[RichardBLongly]

"2mix" file, and there will be the track you've just bounced which can be "copy'd and paste'd" to your hard drive a WAV file.

My complaint with this unit is that while you can delete tracks and the like, this only allows you to record new info in the temporal location of what you've deleted, without actually freeing disk space. The only way to free disk space is to reformat which deletes all info. In other words, on the MR16, you have some 110 hours of recording time. Every time you...

[RichardBLongly]

This is a great multi-track recorder. I've had no problems making CD's. You don't need the Fostex program or any program, actually. You just need the appropriate USB cable: bounce what you want on the final track to the last stereo track, convert it WAV, connect the MR to a computer, set the MR to "USB Device Mode," your computer should recognize the MR as a "Removable Disk" or the like, opening the MR on your computer will reveal files with your song names, open the song file, open the....

[stevoe1000]

Can you master on the machine quite well and have only that one track to send and make an mp3 out of....

[djdrxx]

THE TASCAM 2488NEO IS ALOT BETTER THAN THE FOSTEX MR-16

[pauldeanpearson16]

Hi Guys

After reading the comments I am confused beyond belief.

I'm thinking of buying an MR16, it says it has cd burner built in.

Surely if I hit burn cd, it will give me a cd with my stuff on it, mixed by me on the MR16's mixer ?

[RichardBLongly]

@pauldeanpearson16 I would save the money by buying the MR without the built-in burner. It's what I have and I can make CD's on my computer using the appropriate USB cable, which costs some 30 dollars. (see my comments above on the video page.)

[theeightgate]

Can this be used as an audio interface for a cpu based recording software,

[bergweg]

is it possible to transfer each individual recorded track to the computer through the USB port?

[shizahole]

@bergweg You have to bounce each individual track down into a separate stereo mix. It is possible, but unless you have great software, I would recommend just doing all the mixing on the recorder itself. It really is good if you learn to use it correctly and efficiently.

[bobmacdon]

When I record it comes out the monitors in sterio but after recording and playing back it only comes out of one monitor, anyboby help?

[nyrangers731]

does anyone know how i can get all my tracks off the MR16 seperately (without actually mixing on the unit), that way i can mix on computer software?

it seems the unit wants to mix the entire song before it exports it, which is not what i want to do, at all.

[MKlukowski]

@nyrangers731 I'm pretty sure there's a program offered by Fostex for the MR16. I have the MR8HD and use Wav Manager which exports each channel as a mono wav file which you can later mix on a computer.

[shizahole]

@nyrangers731 You can mix the entire song with each track you do not want in the mix silenced. It is a bit redundant, but this is the only way I know of to do this. I would say the best way to do this is to create a stereo mix of each track you want to upload onto the computer by bouncing them into separate songs. Make sure each track is as loud as you can get it without it distorting before you upload them to your computer. It is better to have that extra volume and not need it.

[nicemrmustard]

@nyrangers731 you have to download wave manager from Fostex, then import each track into your computer program

[TAMA6344]

i want to burn my songs to a cd. what do i do.

[xdrumer4]

nice

[cMaXeJIJIo]

Has ANYONE had a problem with looping? I`ve recorded a guitar riff, chose the A and B playing points with milesecond accuracy and still, there`s such a delay when the recording returns from point B to resume playback at point A that it, sorta, defeats the whole purpose of looping lol %) I tried to tinker with the pre-roll, post-roll thingies, but those only seem to matter when both loop+punch-in-out mode are working together, which is irrelevant. Any ideas, guys? Getting pissed off over here lol

[HRcircut85]

I cannot for the life of my get a decent sounding distortion track on this thing. The built in pre amps are horrid for hard hitting distortion. What do you people do to get decent tracks? Currently, I'm using a Sennheiser e609 mic an inch away from my Peavey 6505. I run the mic into a ART pre amp, but to no avail it sounds very airy and thin. Any suggestions?

[25877852]

@HRcircut85 By a "Line-6 POD"!

[HRcircut85]

@25877852 That defeats the entire purpose of a hard disk multi-tracker. Ever figure out if you can use the Hall effect on a recording and get it to onto disk? Hahahah

[25877852]

@HRcircut85

If you only want hall on maby track 5 and 8, then you just silence the other traks, while you bounce 5 and 8 to either 9/10, 11/12 or 13/14.

And when you are done bouncing your tracks, You just bounce the 9/10,11/12 and 13/14 tracks to the 15/16 track..

And then you bounce the 15/16 track to a stereo WAV file..

Is that what you are askin me?

[djdrxx]

dude get the tascam 2488neo it's way better than the fostex

[allenoshdog]

can u import mp3's in to it?

[bluesglenn]

I'm trying out my Fostex MR 16 it records well but I'm trying to do overdub and every time I try I can't hear my first track to overdub with, can someone help

[KarnagieRecords]

@bluesglenn it should work if u turn ur initial track u started with up.

[jimmydwade]

It is easy to record on the MR16, but getting the recorded sounds to a CD is a nightmare I have not awakened from. The person who sold the MR16 after owning one month had the same problem and the manual drop off in this area. Yhe suppliment download is little help. Why does fostex make getting a wav file to a CD a horrible experience. I created the 9 wav files and tried disk at once and track at once and devoted much prayer to this nightmare. Fostex needs to create an easier way to record

[guitarjoe52154]

same problem with mine

[KarnagieRecords]

@jimmydwade u try converting all 16 tracks to a "new song" (its a button on the mr-16), connect it w/ ur USB to your computer, place the song in a file on ur computer, then u can do w/e u want with it. place them all in a folder until u r ready 2 put them onto a CD. i always use iTunes 2 convert mine n2 mp3 format before i do that. hope it helps

[mojorisen74]

@jimmydwade Yeah, I have the VF16 and it's a very unnecessary process to got through. I don't know if this will work for you but on mine I have to go to the save screen, go to backup, IDE, all tracks, pick the program I want to upload to disk, then it will start burning. It usually takes for 16 tracks on a 5:00 song about 10 minutes to burn. Try this method if it is the same on the MR 16

[skezza]

@jimmydwade sounds a bit of a pain mate. is there any way you can just dump each track to a wav file on ya PC then mix it using somethng like Acid ?

[NairuBergman]

@skezza yes.

[NairuBergman]

@jimmydwade thats horrible! They fixed that on the MR16-HD though... I´ve been told.

[shizahole]

@jimmydwade I use the MR16 a lot and have recorded about 3 CD's with it. What I do to get it into CD format is upload the wav. file to my computer, and then in free audio editing software (Audacity), I just cut out any extraneous silence at either end of the song and then convert it to mp3. Then I can just make a CD by putting the mp3's into iTunes and making a playlist which is then able to be burned onto a CD. All the mixing and effects however can be done on the MR16 itself with good quality.

[nicemrmustard]

@shizahole yup, that's the way I do it as well. No big deal

[shorteststraw100]

@jimmydwade so do you mean that you can't get your recorded song to a CD?

[cosmoclutch]

@jimmydwade why dont you hook it up to your computer my dude, then burn it to a cd from the computer

[SONGSTICKS]

@cosmoclutch

Can this be used as an audio interface too? ie: recording simultaneous tracks straight into Ableton for instance? I've asked you cos the odds are I won't get a reply from gearwire !

[schallyn]

this video does not do this recorder justice.. If I was fostex i'd ask that it be pulled.. I have one and it works great.. this doesn't begin to show it off

[25877852]

If you chose the hall button to your song, will the hall effect still be on the song when you have transferd it to your computer??

[Jpkrao]

This demo is not appealing at all!

[RJiminez51]

compared to the zoom hd16 this is a piece of shit. very lame

[TraySTW]

its all off beat ......LAME

[RotoruaLakesMusic]

I had a lovely relationship with my MR16 right up to the untimely passing of its hard drive - agents weren't v. helpful, so it will probably stay with them even tho it is less than 2 years old - long live Boss, my next purchase I think!

[TheAustinWalls]

Can you add inputs, so there is more than 4.

[darkstararmorlight9]

someone help me how do i record tracks seperatly which i can do but then add the all on top of each other ive never tried it but idk can someone help me please?

[damanusee]

hey can you make a video of learning how to import a beat to the mr-16 fostex and learn how to record then put it on bounce then put it on the cd because when i do it its hard to do or maybe mr-16 fostex aint right for me but can you still make that video for everyone that will help alot thanks

[lDoubLelD]

Can you upload a beat on it buy cd or usb from a mp3 or such? Then record over it with a mic? vocals?

[Timobrien01]

Yes, im having trouble adjusting some things. Right now i have it set like this

Guitar > effects > Amp (line out) > Mixing board

The problem is that my Trim control is on 0 and i still get a little bit of fuzzy sound. any suggestions?

[wtw88]

Drop the output on your amp or guitar. Said as simply as possible, drop the level of input to the recorder.

[RaikohNL]

can you say offbeat?

[sankfinatra]

@RaikohNL BeatOff Sorry.... Dyslexic!

[dwarf2]

Hi i just bought the mr-8mk2 and i cant figure out how to record in stereo, could you help me I have not used any equipment in years , thank you

[mikevmpr3]

Dude, to record in stereo you must first:

((for example ill use guitars))

Record the two tracks (rythem 1 and rythem 2 OR rythem and lead)) on seperate tracks.

Set the desired volume level, then use the pan knob to pan one guitar to the left and one to the right. (not all the way however)

listen to it and hear the goo stereonesss

[theking12089]

hey i need some help i have the same thing as you the mr-16 how would i put my beats from a cd-rw that i burned and record my voice onto them? and then burn them.. thanks

[atennis55]

can u connect a midi or usb key board to it

[Innaband]

I have a Tascam TSR8. 8 inputs, 8 outputs. Record tracks, play them back to the board and add effects as you record. It's not that simple with this unit, but the tapes for the TSR8 used to be $50.00 each. I don't think you can record individual reverb or effects to each track after you record on this Fostex unless you record 8 tracks of music and use the AUX OUTS (1 & 2) to run each track through processors and back into the unit onto the remaining 8 tracks, respectively. I haven't tried yet.

[Innaband]

And I can't get my computer to recognize it... so that I can move my tracks or a completed song to the PC. I bought the version without the built in burner; mostly because I have a few computers in the house with burners in them.

[Floskeknosk]

What do you mean? Your computer doesn't recognize what? I'm thinking about buying the one with the built-in burner. Otherwise, is the Fostex MR16 a good equipment? Would you recommend?

[Innaband]

All is good. I bought the one without the burner 'cause my computers all have burners in them, so why waste the extra money. But, I was having trouble with my Computers recognizing my recorder. Then I tried using a different USB cable and it works great! The cable I bought at Dollar General was the problem (MY BAD), but the one that came with my old camera works great. So, the problem wasn't the equipment. Recorder works great. Some good and bad

[Floskeknosk]

Ok, thanks for the fact about the Fostex MR16! I think I'll buy the Fostex with the burner (only $410). Hope it will turn out good! =)

[Innaband]

It's a really cool little project recorder with a ton of tracks and the sound quality is great, but if you're looking to do some professional style recordings, go with a recorder that has an input and output for each track. This was my only disapointment with this machine. Other than that, it rocks!

[TheStonerpreneur]

Why do you need inputs for each track?

[Innaband]

Inputs for each track would be nice for live recording.. of each instrument/vocal... but it would be even better to have an OUTPUT for each track so that you can EQ it and add effect individually during the mixdown. Just like with my TSR-8. Only my tapes are expensive for that. Digital is nice!