Zoom R12 Multi Track Portable Recorder, with Touchscreen, Onboard Editing, 8 Tracks, 2 Combo Inputs, Effects, Synth, Drum Loops, Battery Powered, and USB Audio Interface

Product Information

The R12 features 2 XLR/jack combo inputs, 8 tracks, records directly to SDHC or SDXC cards up to 1TB (not included) and can be powered by an AC power Adapter, 4 AA Batteries or a USB power bank. Around the back, things are equally simple, with two combo jack (XLR/TRS) inputs, TRS master outputs, a 3.

Zoom R12 MultiTrak Is the Perfect Portable Studio - Lifewire Zoom R12 MultiTrak Is the Perfect Portable Studio - Lifewire

If you run a recording studio, you may have a dedicated computer that's always running Ableton and always ready to record. To spice things up, an EQ, compressor and gate as well as a full MFX processor, which is compatible with our Guitar Lab software, are at your fingertips.For this, the R12 has two inputs, for mono microphones or guitars, or stereo samplers, drum machines, synths, mixers, etc. Connect a MIDI keyboard via the USB-C port and you can play the R12’s onboard FM synthesizer which offers eight-voice polyphony, 18 different synth sounds and one PCM drum kit. Great care has been taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this article but neither Sound On Sound Limited nor the publishers can be held responsible for its contents. You want to grab a real fader, one that always controls the same thing and shows its current state just by its location. The R12 houses 150 internal rhythm patterns in a variety of genres, as well as an import function for adding your own backing tracks or samples.

Zoom R-12 Multitrack Recorder - GAK Zoom R-12 Multitrack Recorder - GAK

The R12 offers 150 internal rhythm patterns as well as import functions for audio files from an SD card or USB stick, making it easy to integrate your own backing tracks or samples into your project. With that said, the R12 is a much more portable unit, obviously thanks to its size but also thanks to the option to run on four AA batteries or a USB power bank (the R20 requires a 12V power supply).

Throughout the 1980s and beyond, Tascam's PortaStudio was the best—if not the only—way for home musicians to record their work. Today, we are spoiled with all kinds of amazing hardware and apps that can do way more than record and overdub on four tracks, but there's never really been a good successor to the PortaStudio. That way you still get all the portability, and the hands-on ease of knobs and dials, but you can also choose the software you use. Then again, I see this more as a tool for live recording, not for capturing tracks from sequencers and drum machines. The hardware layout is easy to understand even if you’re a complete newcomer to recording: the front panel is dominated by that touchscreen plus a bank of 10 faders for track levels, effects and master level.