phantomvintagegear, post: 459121, member: 40493 wrote: Im unaware of anywhere I could rent a standalone 24 track recorder unless you know something I dont.

I standardised on Alesis HD24XRs many years ago, and still use them. They operate like a 24-track tape recorder but with the data stored digitally. HD24s and the enhanced HD24XR models were discontinued some time back, but come up regularly on Ebay. For ADAT input and output, the HD24 and HD24XR operate identically.

Boswell thanks for chiming in. thats exactly what Im talking about. I actually owned the XR and had the adapter to transfer the tracks etc. This was the absolute best unit for me.
Back then I could record 24 tracks at a time. Play then back. Flawlessly. No issues. Ever. No freezes. No skips, no burps, no locking, no restart etc. It worked perfectly.
I never had the ISA 428, back then it was the RME Fireface 800 and was going through that. Then I realized, holy smoke I need to monitor the 24 tracks while Im recording.
Started looking into mixer options and all of a sudden costs and space were becoming an issue. I got the most work done on that machine, but wasnt monitoring properly.
Then went to a computer and now find myself back looking for something similar . An all in one that will do what the HD24XR did for me back then. Thanks Boswell. Just curious what you use to monitor on yours?

Sorry, I'd forgotten that many pages back you had said that you used HD24s. They certainly fill a niche that has never properly been covered by any other single piece of gear since.

What I use for monitoring depends on the circumstances. I do a lot of live recording, about half of which is at gigs where I'm also supplying the PA, so monitoring tends to be via the soloing facilities of the FOH mixer. However, for the recording-only gigs where I don't bring a desk mixer, I generally monitor from the HD24 outputs through a portable rack of Studio Products SP828s. These make pretty average pre-amps, but in my usage are not in the recording signal chain.

The main reason I settled on SP828s for this job is that they have a unique expandable daisy-chain monitoring scheme that allows track soloing of any number of tracks at once, with the big advantage that each channel remains individually panned in the L-R space. You need reasonably nimble fingers for quick operation of the rather cluttered front panels, but I continue to use them as I have yet to find anything that suits this function better up to 48 channels. I gave up on high channel-count rack mixers.

For small sessions (up to 8 channels), a 5U portable rack case housing an Audient ASP880, an HD24XR (ADAT connected) and a single SP828 for monitoring makes a convenient high-quality 96KHz rig. By re-patching one or more of the HD24XR analogue outputs to use insert leads into the SP828, I can also monitor M-S microphone signal pairs in L-R stereo. Note for those people interested in trying this trick: it doesn't work with standard HD24s, as the outputs on those are only pseudo-balanced.

Thanks for the input.

Looks like the x32 has an optional ADAT card. My internet is acting up, I can't say for sure, but I don't believe it has transport. It does have hui mode, so it may be possible to assign some buttons to transport functions. The adat card does 32channels at 48k max sample rates.

As far as the zoom vs tascam, you could put both on a credit card, try them, and return the one you don't like before the billing cycle ends, and your not have to put a dime of your own money. I did this when buying my first pair of monitors so I could complete the top two contenders in my own environment.

Given that 96k has been standard for about a decade or so, I'd err towards the one that did 96 if there was no other deciding factor to tip the scale. Then I'd be more likely to be compatible with other studios and sessions, and further into the future.

Hey K-metal, the X32 is not a stand alone recorder or it would be the one, without a doubt. There are limitiations with the 96khz on the zoom, I have been recording 24/48 for quite some time with great results.
Still has not arrived in stores, but the layout, features etc, its looking like the Tascam for me. Wish the Transport was at the bottom. But there is a footswitch for punch in and out. can't have everything.

phantomvintagegear, post: 459138, member: 40493 wrote: Hey K-metal, the X32 is not a stand alone recorder or it would be the one, without a doubt. There are limitiations with the 96khz on the zoom, I have been recording 24/48 for quite some time with great results.
Still has not arrived in stores, but the layout, features etc, its looking like the Tascam for me. Wish the Transport was at the bottom. But there is a footswitch for punch in and out. can't have everything.

There's the Behringer X-live card that allows to record 32 channels to any USB media. It's only 200 €...

haha and the X32 is $2000. Let me check that out. Thanks

The X32 is more like 1.500 € over here. We bought two about a year ago. In that period, we paid around 1.800€ for the compact, incl flight case.

Yes Ive seen smaller footprint.

I've just checked. The full size X32 is 1.927 €, incl. VAT. The compact is 1.604 €. There are "open box" full size X32's for 1.638 €.

If you shop around, you can skim off another 200 € or so. Everybody's pushing stock atm, it seems. New models soon?