Zoom R16 16 Track SD Card Recorder Interface and Controller

Product Information

The R16 also offers microphone simulations (U87, SM57, C414 and MD421) and all sorts of effects. The list is very long and it would be boring to name them all — let’s just say it provides 390 presets for 135 effects. It’s possible to use eight compressors and eight EQs simultaneously, not bad! The insert FX list is very long and it comes with plenty of presets. You’ll find effects like autowah, phaser, ring modulator, guitar and bass amp simulations (Marshall, Mesa Boogie, Fender, SVT, Hartke, H&K, etc.), as well as standard effects like chorus, pitch, EQ, delay, tremolo, etc. In short everything a 6, 5 and 4-string enthusiast would need. The R16's real strength is in a recording role... If the R16 did only that it would be worth the asking price, but the additional audio interface and software controller make it an absolute bargain"

I use this for direct plug in recording then transfer it to REAPER or GARAGEBAND for editing and adding effects, EQ, pan, synth sounds, etc... As well as EQ on every channel, the R16 boasts three separate effects processors. Two are global auxiliary effects — a reverb and a modulated delay that can be used to create chorus and related effects — and the third is an insert effect. This can either be set up to provide eight channels of compression and EQ, or used in more DSP‑intensive modes on a single channel or pair of channels. This would be the case if, for instance, you wanted to apply one of the built‑in amp simulation effects to a DI'd electric guitar, but it also allows you to use various mastering presets to process the entire mix. The next step in my use of R16 is reading samples through the machine, I'd previously edited in Reaper and imported into the SD card R16. I only use very little effect outside of the reverb. It not seem that bad. In any case, in the context of use as I do, it seems more than enough. I needed the 8 inputs that it offered and it was at my price range so I got it after the disaster with the DP-24.

Audio excerpts

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The quality of the effects is generally perfectly acceptable, although I don't think many people would bother using them in preference to the plug‑in effects in a modern DAW. The EQ is clean, but rather anaemic, and although the dynamics are transparent, setting them up from the two‑line LCD is hard, and the signal path is fixed (high‑pass filter precedes compressor/limiter precedes EQ). More useful are the amp simulations and so on, which can either be recorded with the input signal or applied only in the monitor path, allowing you to monitor the wet signal and record the dry one for later re‑amping. The reason I don't feel too inclined to dwell on the R16's shortcomings as a mixer is that it is so clearly designed to be integrated with a computer recording system. Once you've installed its ASIO driver, you can hook up a USB cable from R16 to PC (assuming you have a USB2 port on your computer, which almost everyone does nowadays). The R16 will happily take its power from the USB connection where it's available, and when it detects such a connection, gives you the option of starting up in Card Reader or Interface modes. Assuming you actually want to work on material recorded to the R16, you'll need to use the Card Reader mode first, so that you can transfer the necessary files over to your computer's hard drive. For some reason, all R16 projects appear to the computer as 'PROJ001' and so on, regardless of any name you've given them within the R16, but confusion is unlikely unless you've got lots of them on a single card. You can't import Projects themselves into a DAW, but it's easy enough to line up the audio files — helpfully, even takes that were started halfway through a Project are automatically extended to the Project start. There's a flexibility of working here that's simply not available in any other single piece of gear in this price range" The R16's main control panel. With no shifted functions, navigation and operation are straightforward, but you will spend a lot of time looking through menus!

Manuals and other files

The R16 comes bundled with a copy of Cubase LE 4 for Mac or PC, now slightly outdated but still a worthwhile introduction to working with a DAW and easily capable of carrying out the editing tasks the R16 omits. Templates are supplied for Cubase that make it even easier to drag and drop your recordings into a new project. Algorithms: 9 (CLEAN, DISTORTION, ACO / BASS SIM, BASS, MIC, DUAL MIC, STEREO, 8 x COMP EQ, MASTERING) The quality is exactly what I wanted, no breath, no staining, very good intermediary between my gear and my PC Hardware. If you push a little too preamps there is a little breath on the last quarter of a turn, but I have not had any use for the moment, my MPC delivers all the potatoes and half the instruments enough. The built-in mics are quite impressive: the sound quality is very good for an acoustic guitar for example, and pretty good in the case of an acoustic drum (we get a usable recording). I've hauled this to gigs, live shows, bathrooms, and my home studio. It works anywhere you do. The onboard mics are really nice though I dont use them as much as I should. They are clean and warm with plenty of headroom/volume.

I recently started using the Zoom R16 as an audio interface (after returning a Presonus 44VSL after a week of adjusting, configuring to end up with latency problems) and have been very pleased with the results of the R16's interface capabilities. (You must install the interface software from ZOOM before connecting or it will not work properly.) The R16 offers very little in the way of editing functionality and focuses more on mixing, which we think is a wise decision on Zoom's part. Recordings made with the R16 are stored as 16- or 24-bit 44.1kHz WAV files and the results offer very good sound quality. The preamps are nothing to write home about but acceptably clean and quiet for a unit at this price level. Supports cards up to 32GB SDHC card which allows 108 hours 12minutes recording with 16bit/ 44.1kHz linear PCM format If some still raise the question of the quality of the preamps, I used the R16 with Schoeps capsules CCM4, I can tell you that quality is at the rendezvous. Basically, if your mics are qualitative and that you are using, the R16 will amaze you can be sure! Built-in microphones: Omnidirectional condenser microphones Gain: -50dBm to +4dBm continuously variableIn general, the work on the Zoom requires great attention because of multifunction buttons, cascading menus, etc.. Handle in peace!