WOW! Is the PortaStudio Back?

 
 
A 12 or 16 channel variant and USB 3 would make it better!

I had a Porta 05 4 track cassette back in 1987 that I loved. I still have it. I also got a Portastudio 564 4 track minidisc recorder in 1997. I didn't use that for long cause I got my first computer based DAW in '98, running Vegas Audio. But I still have a real soft spot for my old Porta 05.

I started with splitter cables and 2 cassette decks. I'd merge the guitar and whatever was coming from the first cassette deck and record on the second.
 
I love how great gear is becoming. I love recording live, but I still have challenges... things to learn.
 
The model 24 linked above looks so intuitive. I think I could work it without opening the manual.
 
It looks light and easy to use. Tempting.

Looks great, but based on the 90 Day warranty that came with my us-16x08 I would be leery.  I took a quick look and didn't see the warranty info on this new gear, so perhaps that has improved.

I had a Tascam 4 track cassette recorder.  Was pretty good considering what it was.  I then went to a Fostex hard drive unit with a built in CD burner and I liked it until I found Sonar (V6) and then it was "history".  I don't think I could go back to a standalone recorder.
 
I have a laptop that I use with my MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid for "off site" recordings.
 
 
 
 

I started with a dual cassette deck in the early to mid 80s that could dub from one side to the other. I then got a PortaTwo and later a Korg D8. I got a Roland TR 505 when they came out and not long after a Roland S-550 that had a midi sequencer. In 1990 I got my first PC and I got the Cakewalk midi sequencer. I was using the PortaTwo then and had a Tascam MTS-30 that allowed me to sync midi to tape.
 
I love working on a DAW 

rsinger
I started with a dual cassette deck in the early to mid 80s that could dub from one side to the other. I then got a PortaTwo and later a Korg D8. I got a Roland TR 505 when they came out and not long after a Roland S-550 that had a midi sequencer. In 1990 I got my first PC and I got the Cakewalk midi sequencer. I was using the PortaTwo then and had a Tascam MTS-30 that allowed me to sync midi to tape.
 
I love working on a DAW 

 
Interesting. I started with one of those tiny Fostex X-15 4-tracks and then went to a TEAC A3440S 4-track reel to reel. But oddly enough, I later ditched the TEAC in favor of another 4-track cassette unit by Audio Technica called the RMX64, arguably the best 4-track cassette portastudio ever made. They somehow managed to get 16k of high-end from it (and yes, that's at 20 down and 0-VU at 3 3/4 ips). Lots of bells and whistles like XLR ins, two headphone outputs, 2 effects send, channel inserts, parametric EQ, Dolby C, lighted VU meters, and an excellent tape transport. It really did sound comparable to my TEAC reel to reel. If it had 8-tracks I might still be using it today.
 

 
I also had those horrible Roland drum and bass machine units, the TB-303 and TR-606. Then I went to the TR-707 which sounded miles better, but you were still stuck with forced quantization and no way to turn it off, which made them sound very robotic, and some drum patterns couldn't be done at all such as a bolero. Then I went to an Alesis HR-16 and all was right with the world.
 
I miss those days, but find DAW recording much easier and way more flexible. No turning back now I guess.
 
Bill

soens
Is this the 5th entry in the multichannel "analog mixer" interface genre?
 
1. Behringer UFX1604 & 1204
2. Soundcraft MTK 12 & 22
3. PreSonus StudioLive
4. Allen & Heath ZEDR16
5. Tascam Model 24

Then there is:
6. Zoom LiveTrak L-20
https://zoom.co.jp/products/production-recording/live-sound-recording/livetrak-l-20
 
 

To this day I do not think I've topped any of the recordings I made on my Yamaha MD 8 mini disk 8 track. I also had the MD4 4 track and figured out how to sync them together. SO I had 12 tracks plus the MIDI sync driving an Atari and my old Roland and Korg hardware synths. But mostly I only recorded audio in those days. ALl those recordings have a very clean crisp sound. The bottom end is also nice and round.
 

Back in the mid seventies I purchased my dream sound system: Teac-3340 four channel 1/4' tape reel-to-reel that handled 7" or 15" reels at 15 or 30 inches per second (ips) recording speed, the companion eight input \ four channel mixer, companion Teac AN-30 four channel Dolby A/B noise reduction system, Panasonic two \ four channel eight track recorder \ player, JVC two channel \ quadraphonic turntable with two cartridges and cartridge heads (one stereo and one CD-4), Sony TC-730 stereo tape recorder with built-in sound-on-sound and echo, Pioneer QX-949 four channel receiver and four Pioneer floor speakers.
 
I saved every penny I could while in military service and ordered the equipment about a month before returning to the US from an extended tour of Southeast Asia.  The package cost a little more than $2,500 in 1975 US dollars and arrived at the post office one week before I returned home.  Two trips to the post office in a pickup truck and later a U-Haul trailer rental to take from my Dad's home to my next duty station.

Yeah, it's too bad. They were so close to making the ZED mixers truly awesome. They dropped the ball big time.

There was a discussion of the XR18 usage in Sonar here on the forum:
[http://forum.cakewalk.com/Anyone-using-the-Beringher-Xair18-m3505035.aspx ]
 
In general the multi-channel recording is solid through USB, but the round-trip latency is too high for input monitoring.  Since this is a mixer, you should be able to arrange for mixer-centric monitoring and avoid round-tripping through the software.   
 
Soft-synths are always the bugaboo, so managing the way you use them is the key to success.  I use an M32 that shares the relatively high latency of the XR18, but I've managed to keep soft-synth sound generation confined to another computer, and therefore I'm free to leverage the many strengths of a mixer as an interface.