Zoom R16 review by Jace Nuzback

Review at a Glance
What is it?	16-track digital recorder, audio interface and control surface.
What does it do?	• Records eight tracks simultaneously @ 24-bit/48kHz • Playback and mix 16 tracks @ 24-bit/48kHz • Two FX sends • Seven insert FX including amp modeling • Eight in/two out USB 2.0 24-bit/96kHz audio interface • Control surface with Mackie Control emulation • Records directly to SD media • Back up via USB thumb drive • Sync two units via USB
Who would use it?	Songwriters, guitarists and live recording.
How does it sound?	Great.
What is so great about it?	Amazing features for the price.  Can run on batteries.
What is not so great about it?	Nothing.
Review Summary?	The Zoom R16 cannot be beat for the price.

 

Zoom has been making digital recorders for many, many years now.  However, the R16 has three features that Zoom has not offered in the past.  The R16 is their first digital multi-track that can record at 24-bit resolution, the first to be able to record 8 simultaneous tracks directly to an SD card and the first that allows synchronization of two units.  That’s an impressive amount of new technology!  With a price point of only $399 MAP, the Zoom R16 should easily take over the digital multi-track segment of the market.

As if the previous list of features weren’t enough, the R-16 can also be used as an eight-in/two-out USB 2.0 24-bit/96kHz audio interface!  You can even use the mixer and effects to monitor with reverb, etc.

But there’s still more!  The R-16 can also be used as a control surface!  You can use the transport controls, the faders and the five function keys can be assigned.  Specific instructions are supplied for Cubase, Logic, Digital Performer, Sonar and Ableton Live.

Did I mention this thing can run on six AA batteries?

 

Inputs and Outputs
All of the inputs and outputs are located on the back of the unit, including the main outputs and the headphone output.  The level controls for these outputs are also located on the back.  This is not where I would want them, but I had no problem accessing the level controls.  Plus the main outputs are balanced TRS jacks, so I’ll cut them some slack!  Input one has a hi-Z switch allowing you to connect a guitar or bass.  Inputs 5&6 have a phantom power switch so connect your condenser mics here.  Lastly, inputs 7&8 can have the internal stereo mic assigned.  

Here's what the mixer input section looks like:

First Impressions
With a price point this low, I was expecting the unit to feel a little cheap, but it doesn’t.  Everything actually feels nice and solid.  I’d also like to point out that even though the unit can be battery powered or USB bus powered, the R16 still comes with a power supply!  Very nice.

Tuner
The tuner functions of the R16 are pretty cool.  Not only can you change the reference pitch of 440Hz anywhere from 435Hz to 445Hz you can also select different tunings like DADGAD, open E, etc.  There's also a chromatic mode so you can tune any way you like.

Click Track
The R16 also includes a pretty cool click track.  You can tap or enter the tempo, you can select between 0/4, 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 7/4, 8/4 and 6/8 for the time signature of the project, you can select between 5 click sounds and you can even control the pan and volume of the click.  Up to right beats of pre-count are available.  You can have the click on during recording, playback or both and you can assign the click to just the headphone output or the headphones and the main outputs.

Effects
The R16 includes a wide variety of effect processing.  There are two send/return effect processors and one insert processor.  All of these can be used at the same time.  The send/return effects are used for monitoring and mixing where as the insert effects can be used for recording and/or mixing.  For example, when you record your vocals you can insert a compressor and record the compressed signal.  While you’d use the reverb send/return to monitor your vocal with reverb while you’re recording, yet not record the reverb effect.  You could also use the second send/return effect to monitor with some delay as well. You can assign the insert effects to inputs or to tracks.  Thus you can record the insert effect sound or add it at mixdown.  The insert effects have different categories; CLEAN (mostly clean amp models and effects), DISTORTION (mostly high gain guitar amps and effects), ACOUSTIC GUITAR AND BASS SIMULATOR (allowing you to play electric guitar and make it sound like an acoustic guitar or bass), BASS (bass amp models and effects), MIC (compressors, effects for recording acoustic guitars with mics, crazy voice effects, etc.), DUAL MIC (presets for recording stereo guitars, vocals, etc.), STEREO (stereo effects for all kinds of instruments and models of popular mics), 8X COMP EQ (provides 8 channels of compressors and EQs for live recording) and MASTERING (Multiband compression presets for mastering the stereo mix). There are plenty of parameters to dial in your sound.  I was quite impressed with the sound of the effects.  I was able to dial in all of the guitar sounds that I needed.  The vocal compressors worked just fine.  I used some of the effects with the internal stereo mic and was really surprised how good they sounded.  There are also some really fun video game sound effects and such too.  But this preset takes the prize.  There is a preset in the MIC insert effects called “HANGUL.”  According to the manual, this effect turns Japanese into Korean!  As I can’t speak Japanese and I don’t understand Korean I was unable to take full advantage of this effect.  : )

Moving Files Around
The R16 records to standard SD and SDHS cards.  It includes a 1GB SD card, but you can use 2GB SD or 4GB-32GB SDHC cards.  There is a compatibility chart at the bottom of this review, but you can always check www.zoom.co.jp as I’m sure they’ll be updating the list over time.

The R-16 functions as a card reader when you connect it to your computer via USB, or you can take the card out of the R16 and load it in to a different card reader.  The card will show project folders.  Inside is an audio folder.  Inside that are the audio files.  From the computer you can back up your files or load the audio files to a DAW.

You can also load files to and from a USB thumb drive, although you cannot use a USB thumbdrive for recording media. You can import 16 or 24-bit/44.1kHz .wav files in to the R-16 as well.  This makes it easy to load drum loops or special effects.  You can also import tracks from one project in to another on the R16 itself.  It was very easy to make a stereo mix, transfer the file to my iMac and load it on my iPod.

Multi-track Summary
I had no problems getting around on the R16.  Everything worked the way I expected it to.  There is one function I had to figure out though.  There is a function called “Swap Track.”  This is where you record to a track and then move the recorded track to any of the other 16 tracks.  For example, input one has the high-Z switch for connecting guitars.  Once you record your first guitar track on track one, you have to “swap” that track to an empty track in order to record a new guitar track on track one.  This couldn’t be any easier, but it is something you need to know.

Synchronizing Two R16's
Zoom is really touting this feature and I have to say that I was very excited about it.  So I was a little disappointed when the manual didn’t have much to say on the subject.  I had to make some phone calls and talk to a few different people at Samson Technologies to get to the bottom of this.  What you can do is link the transports of two R16 units via USB.  One unit is set as the master and the other must be set as the slave.  What this allows you to do is record 16 inputs simultaneously.  But the two machines do NOT share any audio.  The stereo buss of the slave unit does NOT feed the stereo buss of the master unit.  So you cannot connect two units together for 32 tracks of mixing. However, being able to capture 16 microphone (or line) inputs simultaneously for less then $800 is still really cool.  You can either load the eight tracks from the slave unit in to the master unit and mix to stereo or you can load all sixteen tracks from both units in to a DAW and mix them there.

8X2 USB 2.0 Audio Interface
Not only do you get eight inputs and two outputs when using the R16 as an audio interface, but you still get to use the mixer and effects!  If you choose to record at 96kHz, you have access to volume, pan and reverb send.  This allows you to set up a nice headphone mix for recording.  If you record at a sample rate of 44.1kHz, ALL of the mixer functions and effects are available to you.  Meaning you can use the inert effects like amp modeling and compressors, etc to record to your DAW.  The insert effects can be used for monitoring only while you record a dry track.  This is great for recording guitar and bass as you can monitor your signal with a great amp model, but record a dry track.  Then later you can use your favorite amp modeling plug-in get the sound you’re after.  But you can record with the insert effects too.  The balance knob allows you to dial in the ratio of input signal to DAW playback signal- you would mute the tracks that you’re recording to and monitor your input signals from the R16 mixer.  This would be your “direct” signal.  Other tracks playing back from the DAW would be your “DAW” signal.  Use the balance knob to achieve a good mix of both signals.  This provides you with near zero latency monitoring.  I used Logic Studio 8.0 with great results.  I recorded some acoustic guitar with both the internal mics and some of my own mics.  The internal mics actually sounded quite good.  Recording electric guitar with the internal amp modeling effects was also painless and the amp models sound quite good.

Control Surface
You can use the faders, transports, the jog dial and five functions keys for control surface functions.  The R16 emulates a Mackie Control in this mode.  This worked perfectly with Logic.  I used the function keys to switch between different screen sets.  The jog dial allowed me to get to any point in the song very quickly.

The Bottom Line
The R16 represents an amazing value.  The multi-track functions are great.  The fact that the unit can run on AA batteries and has internal microphones really opens up the uses for this device.  The fact that you can link the transports on two units and capture 16 tracks is also really cool.  But the R16 is also the best deal out there for an 8x2 USB 2.0 audio interface!  The fact that you get to create a monitor mix with effects and use the amp modeling and such is just fabulous!  Zoom really has a winner here with the R16.

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE ZOOM R16 AT audioMIDI.com

Zoom R16 Compatibility Approved Memory Cards