According to the manual, six AA batteries should give you nearly five hours' use, but the supplied 5V power supply is obviously preferable where mains electricity is available. With no MIDI, word clock or other sync options, you're dependent on the accuracy of the built‑in metronome if you want to line up R16‑recorded material with anything else. Phantom power is available, but only on inputs 5/6, so unless you have an additional phantom power supply or preamp, you'll be limited to using dynamic mics and line sources on the other inputs. The first input can be set to a high‑impedance mode for DI'ing electric guitars and the like, while the built‑in stereo mics can be substituted for inputs 7/8 if required. The eight analogue inputs (there's no digital I/O at all) are all on combi XLR/quarter‑inch jack sockets, and the stereo outputs and single headphone socket are on quarter‑inch jacks. The R16 can be powered using AA batteries, the supplied adaptor, or over USB. It's also surprisingly compact, with a footprint not much larger than a sheet of A4 paper. Admittedly, it's made entirely of plastic, but the casing feels solid, the design is sleek and stylish, the controls are well laid‑out, and the socketry is easily accessible. Given its low price, you might expect the R16 to be toy‑like in appearance, but it's not. But does the reality live up to the theory? On The Outside Take the R16 with you to recording locations, rehearsal rooms, spaces in your home - you could even record outdoors - capture your audio, then take it back to the studio and bring all your computer's mixing power to bear on the results. The concept is, to my mind, a really attractive one. Oh, and I did I mention the built‑in stereo microphones, guitar tuner and digital effects, or the ability to sync two R16s for simultaneous 16‑track recording? Not only does it act as an eight‑in/stereo‑out audio interface, but you can use its faders and transport buttons to control your DAW software of choice. It's a stand‑alone, 16‑track, digital recorder, which records up to eight inputs simultaneously to solid‑state media, and can even be powered from six AA batteries but plug a USB cable into it and it becomes a pretty capable front end to a Mac or PC recording rig. So I was more than a little excited by the announcement of Zoom's new R16, because it seems like a product designed with people like me in mind. What's more, like most laptops, they generate infuriating fan noise, and running them away from a mains power supply is rarely a realistic option. I have two laptop rigs, and both are technically 'portable' but actually porting them anywhere involves packing up and untangling a mare's nest of USB and Firewire cables, dongles, hubs, interfaces and external hard drives. Yet even to the hardcore PC user, there is undeniably something attractive about a portable, stand‑alone recording system. When it comes to expandability, flexibility and sheer processing power, there's really no contest. There are still plenty of them about today, but the inexorable rise of the Mac and PC as recording platforms has had a huge impact in this area. If you wanted an affordable way to record, mix, master and burn CDs in the home environment, devices such as Roland's VS‑series recorders were pretty much the only game in town. There was a time in the '90s when stand‑alone digital multitrackers dominated the market. Have computers made digital multitrackers obsolete? Zoom don't think so.
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