The R12 MultiTrak is Zoom’s portable project studio for recording and editing music tracks. Built on the features introduced by the R20, the R12 provides the same smartphone-friendly experience offered through the onboard touchscreen — which is fully integrated with a multi-channel mixer board and transport controls. In addition to this, the R12 has the ability to play out sequences (‘playlist’) for live performances requiring backing tracks. 

Main Features

• 2 input (Combo Jacks with phantom power) / 8 track recorder
• 2.4-inch colour LCD touchscreen for full operation
• 8 channel mixer/fader board, with Effects Send and Master
• Click routing (Phones / Output) on panel for use during live performances
• 2 in / 4 out, USB audio interface, and MIDI host for connection to a MIDI keyboard
• Loop-based drum patterns (x150) for building rhythm tracks
• Onboard 8-voice FM music synthesizer
• Built-in multi-effects processor, compatible with Guitar Lab software

The R12 also provides up to 5 hours on four AA batteries allowing users to bring production anywhere. Additionally, the R12 can be powered with the included AD-17 power adapter, or a USB battery.

The market for musicians wanting to record music at home remains strong. By taking advantage of its portability and ease of operation, the new and improved features of the Zoom R12 MultiTrak provide a useful tool to hobbyists and professionals alike.

Zoom’s new addition to the R Series is a recorder, mixer, and control surface. That’s an ambitious undertaking for such a pared back device. As we’ll see, the R20 is a multitrack recorder with a few tricks up its sleeve.

Confession: it’s been 20 years since laying my hands on a multitrack recorder, before shifting focus to the world of computer DAWs.

I must say, on un-boxing I found that it had quite an appealing solidity to it —  a far cry from the clack-y plastic casing of the Roland VS2000CD I used half a lifetime ago. The heft presents it as a very different product, and I can immediately understand the appeal of such hardware. With the uncluttered aesthetic of its design, alongside the portable size and weight, it’s seeking to take users to a potential utopia of uncomplicated, distraction-free workflows not readily available from computer-aided music production.

BARE NECESSITIES

We can all acknowledge the power and flexibility of working in-the-box. If you’re fine-tuning a mix, for example, a well-endowed DAW is essential. But this isn’t the tweaky, left-brained world the R20 is wanting to insert itself into. Untethering yourself from your DAW can feel quite liberating.

Even up against a more minimal setup of a laptop, an interface and/or mixer — and their attendant power supplies — this product urges me to just grab a guitar and some cans and take the R20 to an isolated cabin for an uncluttered, mindful approach to recording.

TASCAM has announced that its DA-88 Digital Multitrack Recorder has been inducted into the NAMM TEC Awards’ TECnology Hall of Fame. Founded in 2004 and developed by George Petersen, the TECnology Hall of Fame honours and recognises audio products and innovations that have made a significant contribution to the advancement of audio technology. The award ceremony took place during this year’s NAMM Show in Anaheim.

Introduced in 1993, the Tascam DA-88 was a 16-bit recording system with sampling rates of either 44.1kHz or 48kHz. The system used Hi8 8mm cassette tapes, which offered a superior metal tape formulation that provided higher density recording than any competing digital systems at the time. A single Hi8 tape could record for 108 minutes in the DTRS (Digital Tape Recording System) format. 

As a modular multitrack recording system, it was possible to link upwards of sixteen DA-88 recorders to achieve 128 tracks of digital recording with extremely fast lockup among the machines. While the DA-88 was initially introduced as a new digital recording system for the serious home recording enthusiast or project studios, it also became tremendously successfully in the audio postproduction community for both TV and film applications. Whereas it is not the least bit uncommon for film production to include a hundred or more tracks of sound effects, the DA-88 became a terrific solution for the creation of mix stems, whereby sound effects tracks were sub-mixed into smaller, more manageable groups. 

With the DA-88’s first rate audio performance and its rapid and highly accurate synchronisation capabilities, the recorder re-defined many aspects of audio postproduction. This year’s NAMM TEC Awards’ TECnology Hall of Fame ceremony included five inductees. Paul Youngblood, Tascam Director of Product Marketing, was on site to accept the award on behalf of Tascam. He reflected on the success of the DA-88 and its induction into the NAMM TEC Awards’ TECnology Hall of Fame, “All of us at Tascam are honoured to be included in the NAMM TEC Awards’ TECnology Hall of Fame. The products that were inducted this evening are truly innovative and have had a profound impact on music and audio production. This award is indicative of all the thought and engineering effort that went into the creation of the DA-88 and to have it recognised in this manner is very special to us. Thank you.”

Avid has announced that its audio production software Pro Tools is now available to every segment of the music industry with three subscription-only offerings starting at US$9.99/month: Pro Tools Artist for aspiring music creators, Pro Tools Studio for serious audio engineers and music producers, and Pro Tools Flex, a subscription bundle for professional audio post and music facilities. These products build on the current Pro Tools product lineup with significant new capabilities and content, including new virtual instruments and strategic partner solutions. All current Pro Tools and Pro Tools Ultimate customers with active plans will enjoy the software enhancements introduced with these new products, helping them continue to create the world’s most loved music, movies and other content.

Pro Tools Artist (US$99 annual or US$9.99 monthly subscription) is a brand-new offering specifically designed for the millions of next-gen music creators looking to produce great songs, and includes everything needed to make beats, write, record, and mix music. And as the Pro Tools session format is the industry’s universal language, they can take their project to any producer or studio around the world to collaborate and take their music to the next level. With thousands of instrument sounds and loops, and over 100 included plugins, as well as MIDI tools, aspiring music creators now have a professional yet affordable solution to create any style of music.

Pro Tools Studio (US$299 annual or US$39.99 monthly subscription) enables serious music creators, producers and engineers to easily create large projects. Pro Tools Studio builds on the current Pro Tools offering with numerous enhancements like increased track counts, surround and support for Dolby Atmos mixing and advanced automation features (both previously only available in Pro Tools Ultimate), and more. Current Pro Tools subscribers and perpetual license customers with active plans will automatically transition to Pro Tools Studio and receive all of the software enhancements.

Pro Tools Flex (US$999 annual or US$99.99 monthly subscription) is Avid’s solution for high-end music professionals, as well as audio post and music facilities, requiring the full power and advanced workflows of Pro Tools to tackle the most challenging and complex projects. Pro Tools Flex is a subscription bundle that includes an enhanced version of Pro Tools Ultimate software, plus additional content and third-party software. Active Pro Tools Ultimate subscribers will receive the full Pro Tools Flex subscription bundle, including the latest version of Pro Tools Ultimate, while Pro Tools Ultimate perpetual license customers with active plans will receive the Pro Tools Ultimate software enhancements.

New Virtual Instruments
Along with the three new Pro Tools software offerings, Avid is introducing two new virtual instruments, GrooveCell and SynthCell, as well including bundled content from strategic partner SoundFlow, to enhance workflows ranging from beat and music creation to advanced editing workflows and spatial mixing and monitoring.

GrooveCell is a virtual drum machine and sequencer for Pro Tools that makes it easy to create intricate beats and drum patterns, while SynthCell is a virtual synth that delivers dynamic polyphonic synthesis in an easy-to-use, yet powerful instrument. Both virtual instruments come bundled with all three Pro Tools offerings (both subscription and perpetual) which—along with the existing collection of included virtual instruments, sounds, and loops—provide music creators with a comprehensive sonic palette.

SoundFlow Integration
SoundFlow is a state-of-the-art workflow automation platform that enables Pro Tools users to reduce complex, many-step tasks to single keystrokes or presses on a touch surface. SoundFlow Cloud Avid Edition is included with all annual Pro Tools Flex subscriptions, providing access to over 1,600 prebuilt macros and commands for Pro Tools that can be custom assigned and triggered by keyboard shortcuts, MIDI controllers, and HID devices. Whether bouncing stems, navigating plugins in large sessions, or triggering complex workflows, SoundFlow saves users significant time and enables them to stay in their creative flow.

All customers on active subscriptions or perpetual maintenance plans will automatically migrate to the new offerings, including the applicable software enhancements and content:

• Pro Tools customers (subscription and perpetual) will receive Pro Tools Studio
• Pro Tools Ultimate subscription customers will receive Pro Tools Flex subscription bundle
• Pro Tools Ultimate perpetual customers on an active update + support plan will receive Pro Tools Ultimate software

Tascam announces the Version 1.30 firmware update for the Model 12 Integrated Production Suite. As a sophisticated desktop tool for music and multimedia creation, the Model 12 incorporates a mixer with I/O and analog-style controls, multitrack recorder, a USB audio/MIDI interface, DAW control functions, and a wealth of podcasting capabilities including mix-minus and smartphone input capability. With the new V1.30 firmware update, this versatile production tool gains additional functions that further enhance its ability.

The V1.30 firmware update increases the Model 12’s DAW control surface integration. This latest update adds Studio One, Reaper, and Cubasis 3.3. This is in addition to existing support for Pro Tools, Logic, MOTU Digital Performer, Steinberg Cubase, Ableton Live, and Cakewalk by BandLab. Supported functions include basic external DAW control (Faders, Mutes, Pans, Solos, Record arm, Play, Record, Stop, FF/REW, and Jog) using integrated HUI/MCU protocol emulation for tactile control.

The ability to accurately monitor one’s work is crucial to successful production. In this regard, the Model 12’s dual headphone jacks that facilitate monitoring of two discrete headphone mixes simultaneously is an important feature. With the V1.30 update, this capability has been expanded to include Main Mix Pre to Phone Source selection in addition to Main Mix Post. Prior to V1.30, when working with headphones only, without producing sound from the speakers with Main Mix Post, the sound of the headphone output was muted when Main Mix was muted.

When working on podcasts or other streaming media projects, the ability to have clean, accurate sound delivered through one’s computer speakers is of paramount importance. The V1.30 firmware update also adds a level attenuation function with a range of 0-40dB for the Model 12’s Main and Sub outputs. Whereas a small PC speaker could easily be overloaded resulting in distorted sound without raising the Master fader much at all, V1.30 corrects this situation.

For Model 12 owners who have not updated their systems in a while, two important previous updates should be noted. For streaming media applications, an Output Delay for Synchronized Audio/Video Streaming was added in V1.20. The output delay (adjustable from 0 – 2000ms) creates stable sync between streamed audio and video for all networks and video systems. This easy to set-up function enables dual Audio Delay for both the USB and Main outputs (Main output can be selected On/Off). In addition, it is possible to monitor the output delay signal by headphones if the Main output on has been selected.

Equally noteworthy, a VAMP playback function was added with the V1.11 firmware update. The VAMP playback function provides seamless loop playback between two selected points in a song. In addition to being a valuable tool for individual practice or ensemble rehearsals, it can be used during live playback for extended solos/jams, or repeated playback of a selected track only. As many as ten VAMP points can be specified for an individual song.