'Porta Studio' for a friend

springhead

Mate of mine is locked down on his own and would like to record some music.  He's a very talented guitar player but has limited funds and technology.  e.g. old laptop, no interface or mic's, no internet (only on his phone).  Hence to get him recording on a computer with Reaper or whatever would be quite a stretch.  Possibly a porta studio device would suit him.  He could then also take it to record gigs and rehearsals when things lift.

Does  anyone have any recommendations?  I've looked at Tascam DP-008, Zoom R8, Boss BR-80.  The Zoom and Boss will also act as an interface as and when his circumstances improve and he can maybe afford to replace his laptop.  Those two also have amp sims and drum machines. 

Would be great to hear from someone with experience either of the above or other similar devices.  Or any other way he can do basic guitar and keyboard recording and mixing. He's feeling very cut off from the world so this would be a great way for him to occupy his time.

andy_k

Boss micro BR, either of them, very easy to get some music done, editing is different, Reaper will run fine for basic mixing tasks on a very modest PC, and costs nothing to try.
All in, probably spending £60 ( in fact I have a mk1 which I could let go for that +p/p )
the world is his lobster

springhead

The Boss does look like it might suit him, and he could in future use it as an interface.  The Zoom might be better but not sure if his funds will stretch that far.

Wazmeister

Left of centre... the Izotope Spire... superb and simple.

springhead

That looks very clever, good rethink of the whole process with collaboration etc.   Not sure it's the right tool for my friend but I like the look of it.

newi123

I like the br80. Easy and quick to use and get ideas down, and completely self contained.

Also had an r8, which was very usable, but the drums work differently. I always imported drums to the r8 as a stereo track.

mrkb

Ive got a br80 I want to move on. Will let it go for £100 posted.

springhead

mrkb said:

Ive got a br80 I want to move on. Will let it go for £100 posted.

Thanks for that, I'll tell him. 

shrinkwrap

Had a Zoom R24 and I assume the R8 drums are the same - I'm pretty good at sorting our technical things but these were a pain. Other than that the R24 was great and I think R8 is the same for usage. Get the wav files from the SD card and import to Reaper for final edit.

springhead

Not sure how much use he'll make of the drums so may not be a problem, however he's not very tech savvy so worth knowing, thank you.