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[J.Worricker]

Hi guys,

As a "weekend warrior" I am considering an Otari Radar 24 -- "like new" with controller/meter-bridge.  14 day return policy. The intent for me is to replace my daw and have it simply become my MTR.  I have outboard console/equip/processing;  and so the current daw has been relegated to "MTR" duties for sometime.  While this set-up (mac/reaper/rme) sounds quite acceptable to me--it has unfortunately failed me with odd sound glitches, at the most inopportune times.  It really hardly ever happens--but when it does, it has always been while tracking something which we were excited to hear played back...and then of unfortunately, that take was ruined.  Often the glitches are to the point of being unable to hear the track played back at all (so we could maybe use the "ideas" for another take). 

So the goal is to have less stress and a less cumbersome production process for tracking -- pre-production, basic tracking--and even live tracking.

Of course, there is the option of a new Radar--and I certainly agree with the notion "you get what you pay for".  However, I just would like to be certain I'm not overlooking something that will do the trick (for 1/10th the price).  So for those who are experienced with them:  is it unreasonable to expect daily reliability and simplicity from those machines (Otari spec Radars) here, in 2015?

For the record - I'm simply a weekend warrior.  I would love for things to be simple and "turn-key" so we can focus on the writing and the performance.

Thanks for any responses or comments,

Best regards,

B. Willet

[Fletcher]

I've been using RADAR units for well over 15 years - in that time, I experienced one (1) failure / unexpected shutdown.  Granted, it hasn't been the same machine for the last 15 years, but the one I currently have and am using is probably about 8 years old [its a RADAR V].  Zero problems, zero struggles!!

The Otari version of the RADAR has the same basic infrastructure as the current RADAR units... and with that, pretty much the same converters if you're doing 44.1 / 48k recording [I'm not sure of the bit depth on those machines... for some reason I think its 24 bit like the subsequent ones... but honestly the Otari units are before my time].  I started my relationship with iZ [the actual manufacturer of the unit] shortly after their divorce from Otari and am pretty sure my first RADAR was the same unit [or at least pretty damn similar] as the Otari units.

The converters sound wonderful -- I'm quite sure you'll hear the difference quite rapidly -- and while I know a fair bit of why those converters sound better than most, I'm under a "non disclosure agreement" so I can't share that information with you... but suffice to say, it sounds better than most solutions for reasons that are based in physics and are quantifiable.

That said -- you might want to go to the website http://www.izcorp.com and perhaps shoot them an email with any additional questions you might have about the unit.  I'm 99% sure they're still supported by the factory, but 99% ain't 100% so you may want to confirm that information.

I hope this is of some assistance.

Peace

[J.Worricker]

Thank you Fletcher.  I probably should have pm'd you directly, as your take is one of the voices I was certainly looking to hear from on this question. 

I had actually "stumbled" across the existence of iz's version of Radar, when I come across one of your posts quite a while back.  (At that time I had used a suggestion of yours--to the general public--regarding mix-buss compression:  stereo-linked pbc-6a's across the 2-buss. ...So here is an opportunity to say something to you directly, regarding that suggestion:  ...Thank You!)   At that point I filed the notion of Radar away for a rainy day--to be considered if my workflow with the daw ever became tiresome.
 
I think since the main goal here is workflow and removal of focus from the reliability of the "MTR"-- I will probably grab a new one direct from iz (I did contact them regarding maintaining a used R24 and their tech's mantra seemed to focus on taking the converters from the r24 and placing them in a new Radar Studio chassis.  That makes sense and that's what I would do if I were them as well:  I would want to warranty and maintain my latest product--for which I would have parts and service allocated.)

I also will keep my eyes peeled for a Radar V or newer, used decks for sale--as those seem like the perfect sweet-spot (in 2015 anyway -- and of course, in my opinion) regarding newness and used price-point vs new.

Thanks again Fletcher and thanks for the other posts you have left around the net--some of them have been of great use to me over the years.


Regards,

[Fletcher]

First off, you're more than welcome [and made me blush a bit]... second, sounds like a good working plan -- BUT -- I'm not sure I'd go with the Otari converter set.  The "sweetest" sounding converter set I've heard is the 96k set [they used to call them the "Nyquist" set -- I have no idea what they call it these days].  The 192k converter set actually sounded a bit sterile [almost bordering on "harsh"] in comparison to the 96k set.  I don't understand why that is, but have had the opportunity to do a "comparative analysis" on several occasions all with the same result.

Peace

[J.Worricker]

Yup.  Agreed on all counts.  96k is the way we will go.