ZOOM R16 & UBUNTU 12.04 LTS

[Veerstryngh Thynner]

Greetings all,

My current recording device/preamp is nearing the end of its shelf life. And so I have been looking around for suitable replacement.

I'm very much taken with Zoom R16 (review on http://en.audiofanzine.com/pocket-recor ... under.html). But machines like these are usually geared exclusively towards the MS/Mac OS market (that's what the label says, at least).

What I'd like to know is how well/badly R16 will go together with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. What I'd especially need is R16 fully cooperating with Audacity; and, possibly, with Ardour (at some later stage).

Hopefully, somebody out there has personal experience in this area - as well as some useful advice to offer!

Thanks very much in advance.

tnob

[nate]

I recently bought an R24. I have seen some folks have mixed success with drivers. I actually bought it to get AWAY from recording on the PC.

So far I'm doing all my audio tracks on the recorder, then I just copy the files off the SD card. Not exactly integrated workflow, but I can use it with audacity. I think Ardour must be either mimicing something I'm not familiar with, or else just making up random workflows (the time honored open source tradition. We don't want to dictate anyone's workflow, so we just won't support any. You really should be writing makefiles to do non-programming related tasks like mixer automation. Okay, I'm being sarcastic and combining a couple different project opinions on that one. Not all of them music related. But it's sometimes not far off the mark.)

But now I'm wanting to put some sampler stuff in it, and I don't own any dedicated HW capable of consuming midi and spitting out audio, so I'm back to the PC. I'd be ok with importing my Zoom projects into Audacity or Ardour. AFAIK right now I can only import the wav files without having any project meta data mapping tracks, takes, faders, effects, etc..

[Veerstryngh Thynner]

Hi Nate,

Since my initial post, a Zoom R16 has been added to my gear.

I'll never be a computer whizz, so in order enjoy some fruits of the digital revolution, it's sometimes better (from my personal point of view, that is) to keep matters manageable, at the very least. I had a look into samples and sampling on Linux, for instance - and before too soon, I couldn't see the wood for the trees. But over the time past since first writing in, a method that's working for me has been emerging.

Presently, basic tracks are done on the R16 (click track and whatever live strings required). Music instrument sample playback, from a separate Windows "feeder pack" laptop, (meaning that it's only in use for playback) are added when and where needed. And when my recording has been completed to satisfaction, it's very simply transferred to Audacity, in Ubuntu 12.04 (on my desktop), for further editing (tempo or key changes, for example, or replacing the incidental off-note). And back, if need be, without loss of quality.

I sympathize with you regarding moving away, initially, from recording on PC: I still spend more time trying to figure out connections than actually making music. But although the combination of Zoom/Windows "jukebox"/Ubuntu 12.04 Audacity may be against rafts of running orthodoxies in Linuxland, this fashion of back to basics is totally suited to my needs - and, at long last, effectively conducive to music making.

I love Linux because it's utterly reliable. I love my Zoom R16 because it finally lets me do what I have been trying in vain for donkey's. And even Windows coming in useful, for once - which happens very rarely, in my personal experience - must be a good thing, surely.

What's not to like?

tnob