Zoom MRS-4 Digital Multitrack

Fairly easy to operate once you get your head around it. The manual (like every other Zoom manual I've seen) is very concise and informative.

So far I have only used the unit in Hi-Fi mode, as opposed to Long Play, which is of poorer quality. Crystal clean recording, provided you don't get any buzzes from your guitars etc. The effects sound great, even if there are no tweakable parameters. From a guitarists viewpoint, it would be nice to have a few effects aimed at guitarists, though for something in it's price range, its only a minor gripe.

Well it's a little to early to see how well it lasts. Still very handy for capturing takes, wherever you may be.

Too new.

I have recorded many styles with this unit, but the results are always the same - great. It's a great thing for ease of use, and it sure beats tape based recorders any day. I would strongly recommend the purchase of a larger Smart Media card, as the one that comes with it doesn't allow for much recording.

The new Zoom MRS-4 MultiTrack Recording Studio. Incredibly easy to use. I owned one of the Roland VS840EX digital workstations until I sold it last year because it was an absolute nightmare to use. It was the most creativity-stiffling piece of gear I've ever owned! Getting to know this little MRS-4 is less complex than an analog tape 4-track deck. You simply turn it on, and press record. The manual is excellent.

I'm using this to record light Jazz with my wife who plays piano. We need to record piano, bass, drums (the Zoom MRT-3 in our case), and various guitars. The sound quality is as good or better than the Roland VS840EX. The Roland units certainly have far more variety of features and effects, but the MRS-4 has excellent quality effects, though they are few and somewhat limited in controllability (then again, you won't be spending the better part of the day getting all 10 parameters of a given effect to sound right). You get great Compression, Two band Parametric EQ, great Reverbs, ok Choruses and Delays, etc. Has Cabinet Simulators for guitar, but no preamp sounds. Has a built-in Tuner and Metronome, Auto Punch, A/B Repeat, etc.

Just bought it a few days ago, so I don't know. The input jacks themselves are nice and tight for inserting cables, but the way they are fastened to the chassis or PCB doesn't seem as solid. I would be careful whenever connecting/disconnecting cables incase the jacks are soldered to a PCB, or they may break from the board over time. I find that this is basically how everything is manufactured these days, so it's not uncommon. Other than this, everything seems solid enough.

I've been playing guitar for 23 years, and like many styles. This unit seems to have everything necessary to create excellent sounding demos. It has 32 "virtual" tracks (tracks 1-4, plus 7 "virtual" tracks for each), for multiple takes on a given track. There are limitations such as there are only two inputs for a maximum of 2 simultaneous recording inputs. However, this unit has a MIDI output to connect to a drum/rhythm machine, so you don't have to waste a track for synchronization. Also, there are two auxillary inputs where you can route the drum machine's stereo outputs back into the MRS-4, which then goes to the master fader so no external mixer is necessary. I highly recommend the new Zoom MRT-3, because it's was designed just for the MRS-4. If this were stolen, I'd run right out and buy another. Because of its simplicity and ease of use, it's great for times when you're suddenly inspired and just want to pick up an instrument and record. Again, it's not a $1,000.+ unit, but it's an excellent value for people like me who just want to create quick demos and record sudden inspirations.