Hardware or software multitrack recorder?

Both answers can be right, it all depends on your needs and working environment. I have had my share of both worlds, and after shifting from one to the other and back a few times, the only good advise I can give is to try and have your finger in both solutions.

Investing in both hardware and software based multitrack solutions is the best way to go in my experience. Both of these systems have their advantages and disadvantages and can be understood as complementary to each other instead of being supreme.

My extensive, money-burning budget-studio-home-recording experience tells me the followings:

Hardware based multitrack solutions:

 

Tascam Neo 2488 - One of the highest level portable multitrack recorders

Pros:

• Reliable in most cases (apart from some bad series from Tascam and others)
• Easy to use for basic multitrack recording
• Silent operation, especially with the memory card driven ones, but even HDD based solutions are fairly quiet these days
• High portability
• Dedicated knobs for many functions like PAN, EQ, EFFECTS
• One-stop solution from recording to CD burning (models with CD burners)
• Connectivity to PC for further editing

Cons:

• Can be very complicated for complex recordings / mixes
• Can be very limited in number of tracks
• Usually very limited in number of dedicated stereo tracks
• Small LCD screen, in many cases with terrible view angle
• Multi level menu driven operation
• Limited or no future expansions or upgrades
• No options to save user settings (except for a few multi thousand $ models)
• No mixer automation
• 'As is' solution with almost 0 customisation opportunities
• Expensive

Software based multitrack solutions:

Pros:

• Can be cheap ( software available from free / 25 EUR)
• Runs on any standard PC or Mac
• Works with any standard sound card
• Easily upgradable
• Expandable with third party software like effects, virtual instruments
• Can save and restore any user settings
• Offers maximum mixing automation (volume, panning, effects etc)
  
  
  

  Cons:

• Can be highly unstable
• Might be fairly complicated to use (Logic Pro)
• No dedicated knobs and buttons
• Works best with a high quality sound card (starting around 70 EUR)
• Requires a computer

The last one seems pretty obvious, but if you are mostly recording yourself alone at home as I do, or you regularly have recording sessions at non-real studio environments, you will not have the luxury of a separate, sound proof control room. This means that the computer that serves as your recording tool with be in the same room where you recording is taking place.

Multitrack recording software usually require quite a substantial amount of processing power from the computer. The best way to go is to work on a laptop as they produce significantly less noise than desktop machines. Still, even with a laptop, at least from time to time, the CPU cooling fan will switch on during your recording. After the first few tracks have been laid down, due to increased system loading, the CPU might come often fairly often.

If you want to do a proper, studio like acoustic recording, you will have to get rid the CPU fan noise. The only way to do that if you do not have a separate control room and a supporting engineer, is to use a hardware based recorder for acoustic recordings. While you can play around with mic placement for recording voice for instance, you will never be able to eliminate the fan noise from a quiet, finger picking recording.

Tascam DP 004 - one of the smallest multitrack recorders

And with that, we arrive to the conclusion I already revealed at the beginning of this article. Unless you never record live acoustic performances (eg, you use the cable output of your digital piano, amp, electric drum etc), you will sooner or later feel the need of a standalone, quiet solution. This is not a must to start with, but if you are into acoustic recording, either you will have trips to a local studio (which, in fact, is not a bad idea), or you will invest in one of the available solutions that usually start around 150 EUR in price.