Would a digital multi-track recorder be a good substitute for a laptop and an interface?

Depends on what you're wanting to accomplish.

I had one and I totally hated it. It was a Korg D-16. The issue I had was you had to work totally in the audio world. Sure it had digital drums built in but what a freaking pain. If you are recording an audio performance, there would be the need to export it, and sync it properly to the tracks in the DAW on the lappy.

There is also the matter of timing between the two machines. The performance live, has to match perfectly in time or you have other problems. Tracks easing out of sync as they progress.

For me, it was so much of a pain that I sold it on Ebay just a few months after I bought it from someone on Ebay and then I decided to buy into a laptop based DAW.

Really, if you have a laptop, and a decent interface with good preamps, why can you not simply use the laptop at the live location? Most USB interfaces are nus powered so you can do the entire session on the lappy battery. Plug in and rock... that is really how I would go.... but that's just my opinion.

Well, how far away is the location from your DAW?
And, how often do you want to do that?

If the location where you want to record is within 20 meters, I would get some long cables and maybe control the DAW through MIDI. You can also remote desktop to the DAW using another laptop.

If it is a special occasion, I would pack my stuff into a couple of boxes.

If you e.g. live in a noisy appartment, and you have to record elsewhere, I would consider a recorder that you can also use as a mixer and audio interface. Maybe something like the Zoom R24. (Please don't interpret this as an recommendation. I don't know how good this thing is. However, it seems to meet your needs.)

Wilko

A laptop with a USB interface is a great mobile setup.
You can make visual edits, punch ins, arrangements, etc a lot easier and faster.

Just an opinion!!

FWIW, MTC/SMPTE won't give sample-accurate sync.
It would be fine for flying in short parts (like the vocal you mention)... where phase between tracks isn't an issue.
If you tried to fly in 8 channels of drum kit (two at a time) using MTC/SMPTE... you'd have a phase nightmare.  

I have the Cakewalk VS20 and a laptop which works well.  It provides you more options than what you are asking for like BOSS COSM guitar and vocal effects as well. The beauty of it is you can use it with Cakewalk or just use the GuitarTracks software that comes with it to record. It works as a controller so you can adust things with sliders versus having to use the touchpad on the PC.  I have not had any problems importing into Sonar.  Of course at $299 this may be more than you are willing to spend by the time you get the laptop.   The software and interface is supposed to be pretty light so that you could run it on a netbook but I have not tested that. 

Good Luck,

Terry

What you really want is not as much a possible solution for remote sessions as a standalone recording device that you'll also be able to use as a control surface for Sonar, right? Kind of like justifying the acquisition of a new studio toy, uh? ;)

Because, in all honesty, besides being eminently portable, a laptop/usb or fw interface is hard to beat as a solution in this scenario.

M@ B

a lapper will also serve purposes other than audio, so although the price of a laptop/interface will be more than a decent portable digital recorder, you'll also get a lot more for your money

hth,
matt

That is a major bonus. To be able to do all the tedious tasks that you don't necessarily feel like doing when you spend time in the studio - it's quite awesome to be able to edit my own loops, create libraries for my sampler and do stuff like maintenance or exploring some functions I'm less familiar with while sitting in bed at night.


The time you have to spend performing those less glorious tasks suddenly becomes fun again and you're not "wasting" studio time.


I put my portable set up together out of necessity, as I'll be on the road for the next 5 years, and, honestly, I've reached a point where I can't imagine going back to a strictly static rig. Even when I finally get back home, my laptop will remain a crucial element, if not the center of my rig.