Good four track location recorder

[Luke_Adamson]

I am shooting a student short film and the university store does not have the required equipment.

I am therefore looking to rent for the duration of the shoot.

What I am looking for is a good 4 track (or more) location recorder and mixer. Imagine a Nagra LB or Fostex FR2 with four mic inputs rather than just two (need at least 1 for boom and 2 for radio mic).

I need it to be good at what it does as I am recording the on-set dialogue and need an easy, efficient method or recorder, controlling, and storing the onset sound.

Any ideas for the machine I need to achieve this?

Cheers

 

[Alcove Audio]

If you rent you are going to have to settle for what they have at your budget level.

Do you want to record four (4) discrete channels, or do you want to mix four audio sources onto two (2) channels?

Do you have a competent Production Sound Mixer?

 

[jax_rox]

I ain't no soundy, but the soundies I know tend to use recorders like the Zaxcom Nomad or the Sound Devices 788T for more than 2 inputs.

The top guys I know use something like an Aaton Cantar.

But yeah, as Alcove says - can depend if you want to mix everything into two channels, or record on seperate channels.

 

[AcousticAl]

As has been said, it really depends on your budget and whether you're talking about simply mixing 4 sources or discreetly recording four sources.

If you're just talking about mixing, and sending out to a 2-channel recording, then you have lots of options of mixer/recorder combos or separate mixers and recorders.

If, however, you want to record individual tracks and leave the mixing to post, you have a few multi-track recorder options to think about. You can rent a Sound Devices 744T - 4 discreet recording tracks, with time code - for about $100/day (typically, a week is billed as 4 days). Though, depending on the length of the project and number of rental days, you might spend the same amount purchasing something like the Tascam DR-680 or Roland R-44 (I'd go with the Tascam). You won't have TC, but with proper slating and thorough log sheets in the field, post isn't terribly complicated with non-sync sound.