Zoom R12 MultiTrak 8-Track Recorder with Colour Touchscreen
The R12 is a standalone multitrack recorder built around a full-colour touchscreen. You record, edit and mix songs on the unit itself, with no computer in the chain, and it runs on batteries when you want to work somewhere else.
- 8 tracks of audio: enough for demos through to release-ready songs.
- Two XLR/TRS inputs: fed by clean preamps, with a compressor available on inputs 1 and 2.
- Colour touchscreen editing: cut, copy, loop and edit tracks by touch instead of through a menu tree.
- Send effects channel: reverb, chorus and delay with a dedicated effects return fader.
- Guitar Lab tones: load presets and effects from Zoom Guitar Lab for more involved sounds.
- Per-track control: pan and a 3-band EQ on every track.
- Sequence Play: build a playlist of your projects and use them as backing tracks live or in rehearsal.
- Portable power: up to 5 hours on four AA batteries, or run from the included AD-17 adapter or a USB battery.
- USB interface: works as a 2-in / 2-out audio interface, including with an iPad.
The R12 is for musicians who want to capture and finish ideas without opening a laptop. It is a compact 8-track recorder with a full-colour touchscreen, real faders' worth of control on screen, and battery power, so the songwriting session can happen wherever you happen to be.
Everything on board
Recording and mixing both happen on the unit. The full-colour LCD touchscreen handles cutting, copying, looping and editing tracks, which is the part that usually forces people back to a computer. Doing it by touch on the machine that recorded the audio keeps the whole process in one place, and it keeps a take from turning into an admin task.
Inputs and sound
Two XLR/TRS inputs feed super-clean preamps, and with 8 tracks of audio available the R12 handles everything from a rough demo to a finished song built up a part at a time. A compressor is available on inputs 1 and 2 for taming vocals and bass on the way in. Each track then gets pan and a 3-band EQ, so a mix can be shaped without leaving the unit.
Effects
A send effects channel offers reverb, chorus and delay, with a dedicated effects return fader so the wet level is a real control rather than a buried parameter. For guitar and more involved processing you can pull presets and effects from Zoom's Guitar Lab, which extends the tone options well past what is loaded at the factory.
Take it out of the room
Four AA batteries give up to 5 hours of use, and you can also run the R12 from the included AD-17 power adapter or a USB battery pack. Sequence Play turns your finished projects into a playlist, which makes the R12 a backing track player for live sets and rehearsals as well as a recorder. Over USB it doubles as a 2-in / 2-out audio interface, including for an iPad, and as a mass storage device for moving files.