I had an L20R a few years ago, and in about 6 months or less, i ran into its many limitations. The iPad requirement was obviously the big one, but fortunately I had the money and Sprint had the latest model on sale for about $600. The manual is very light on useful information, and their website wasn't much help, either. You have to dig through their forums to know what type of SD Card you need, and you have to dig even deeper to find out that a 512GB SD card is too big, which results in audio glitches during playback. I don't have condenser mics, so I was unable to test the phantom power function, but judging by how the line on the front under 4 phantom power buttons is segmented, it appears that it applies to all channels under that line. So, if you have 4 condenser mics, you would put them all on 1-4, or 5-8, or 9-12, or 13-16, not spread out, and not with dynamic mics in the same "group". As I said, the manual and website didn't answer that question, and I didn't have condenser mics to verify that, and I wasn't about to risk my SM57s or 58 to test it. It's an assumption based on those segmented lines, and the fact there's only 4 of them. I loved the fact that it had a dedicated footswitch jack for the built-in effects on/off, as my band had a few songs where I needed a delay to kick in and out for the vocals in a live setting. I also loved the fact that the Monitor outs on the back were all stereo. That made it better for IEMs. It needed more Monitor outs. The SD card will record individual tracks as well as a 2-track Master at the same time, which is also awesome. It works very well as an interface for a DAW like Adobe Audition. The biggest complaint I had about it was that the built-in effects were very limited, and the whole thing was built with the limitations of a traditional console mixer, when it should have been more full-featured since it was entirely digital. The effects were global, and there were only 2 FX channels,. There was no way to get a different reverb on each track (different plates for snare and vocals, halls for backups, etc), and you have to settle for a "meet in the middle" setting. Again, as an all-digital, software-controlled unit, it should have had at least 2 FX per channel, not built with the limitations of a traditional board. While it is rack mountable (4-space), you actually need an extra space below it because of the feet, and the rack frame which is not removable. It is also a good idea to mount it on the bottom 4 spaces: for one, you have clearance for the feet, and two, you can reach the inputs, which are then angled upwards. Sitting on a table, the front panel is angled and the back panel is flat, but once you mount it, the front panel is flat and the back is angled. So you need a 6-space rack just to have clearance for the XLR connectors. The "20" for number of tracks is misleading, at best, and false advertising at worst, because you cannot pipe in 2 separate mono sources to feed 17+18 or 19+20. If you run two mono devices into a 2xTS-to-TRS Y-cable and hope to get Tip on the left and Ring on the right, and have those as isolated tracks, it won't happen. You get a stereo-grouped track that cannot be separated and cannot be mixed independently in the app. This makes the unit an 18-track, not a 20. As well, you couldn't use the RCA and 1/4" input jacks at the same time. However, I replaced my L20R with a PreSonus StudioLive Series III 16R, and the L20R beat it by a mile in some areas. Namely, the 16R had 10 Mix (Monitor) outs, but they were all mono. If you wanted 4 stereo IEM signals, that took up 8 of them. The 16R had no dedicated footswitch port for built-in effects on/off (I did figure out how to run a Mix out to an ABY pedal, then feed it back into a second channel that had the delay I wanted, but that took up an extra channel, and required some deep diving in the app to pull off). The 16R also did not have built-in Bluetooth or other wireless connectivity (but you can buy it from them), and the biggest tragedy: you can only record a stereo master track to the SD card, not individual tracks like the L20R. That said, the 16R beat the Zoom in other areas, namely, the circuit-modeled effects of the Fat Channel plugins, and those plugins were the same ones that came with their DAW, StudioOne. That means the same settings you have in the mixer are what you have in the DAW. I spent years fighting with Adobe Audition to get the built-in plugins to recreate the mixes I recorded onto a digital 12-track (AKAI DPS12), so PreSonus did right by having their hardware and software sync up that way. However, in only 2 months, I ran into every limitation the 16R had - sooner than I did with the L20R - and went with the Presonus 24R. It's not as limiting as the 16R, and the L20R still beats it in some areas (that dedicated FX footswitch port, built-in/included Bluetooth, individual tracks to the SD, and the stereo Monitor outs), but the Pros of the 24R outweigh the Cons for me. If you already have an iPad with nothing to do, an empty 6-space rack, a spare footswitch, and you need a simple-to-use, easy-to-carry mixer that gets the job done for a 4-piece (or more, depending on your signal splits), or you want an attractive tabletop interface that looks like a piece of art rather than just another box, the Zoom L20R will get you there. Just don't expect it to grow with you.
Hey if you don't mind me asking, what SD card did you end up using? And what size? Is 128GB enough to record 2 hr long rehearsals with 20 inputs? Thank you!!
I used a 512gb card. You have options for bit rate In my experience, filling the card did not seem possible with my card. I was worried about it at first but realized, in the corner there was a time remaining, which was really long. You should be able to see from the app how much space it would allow you to record at that rate
Just make sure you have the fastest speed for read write. Faster write for when saving to SD then read so you don't gotta wait forever for transfer haha
Great video, thanks for the perspective...
I had an L20R a few years ago, and in about 6 months or less, i ran into its many limitations.
The iPad requirement was obviously the big one, but fortunately I had the money and Sprint had the latest model on sale for about $600.
The manual is very light on useful information, and their website wasn't much help, either. You have to dig through their forums to know what type of SD Card you need, and you have to dig even deeper to find out that a 512GB SD card is too big, which results in audio glitches during playback.
I don't have condenser mics, so I was unable to test the phantom power function, but judging by how the line on the front under 4 phantom power buttons is segmented, it appears that it applies to all channels under that line. So, if you have 4 condenser mics, you would put them all on 1-4, or 5-8, or 9-12, or 13-16, not spread out, and not with dynamic mics in the same "group". As I said, the manual and website didn't answer that question, and I didn't have condenser mics to verify that, and I wasn't about to risk my SM57s or 58 to test it. It's an assumption based on those segmented lines, and the fact there's only 4 of them.
I loved the fact that it had a dedicated footswitch jack for the built-in effects on/off, as my band had a few songs where I needed a delay to kick in and out for the vocals in a live setting.
I also loved the fact that the Monitor outs on the back were all stereo.
That made it better for IEMs. It needed more Monitor outs.
The SD card will record individual tracks as well as a 2-track Master at the same time, which is also awesome.
It works very well as an interface for a DAW like Adobe Audition.
The biggest complaint I had about it was that the built-in effects were very limited, and the whole thing was built with the limitations of a traditional console mixer, when it should have been more full-featured since it was entirely digital. The effects were global, and there were only 2 FX channels,. There was no way to get a different reverb on each track (different plates for snare and vocals, halls for backups, etc), and you have to settle for a "meet in the middle" setting. Again, as an all-digital, software-controlled unit, it should have had at least 2 FX per channel, not built with the limitations of a traditional board.
While it is rack mountable (4-space), you actually need an extra space below it because of the feet, and the rack frame which is not removable. It is also a good idea to mount it on the bottom 4 spaces: for one, you have clearance for the feet, and two, you can reach the inputs, which are then angled upwards. Sitting on a table, the front panel is angled and the back panel is flat, but once you mount it, the front panel is flat and the back is angled. So you need a 6-space rack just to have clearance for the XLR connectors.
The "20" for number of tracks is misleading, at best, and false advertising at worst, because you cannot pipe in 2 separate mono sources to feed 17+18 or 19+20. If you run two mono devices into a 2xTS-to-TRS Y-cable and hope to get Tip on the left and Ring on the right, and have those as isolated tracks, it won't happen. You get a stereo-grouped track that cannot be separated and cannot be mixed independently in the app. This makes the unit an 18-track, not a 20.
As well, you couldn't use the RCA and 1/4" input jacks at the same time.
However, I replaced my L20R with a PreSonus StudioLive Series III 16R, and the L20R beat it by a mile in some areas. Namely, the 16R had 10 Mix (Monitor) outs, but they were all mono. If you wanted 4 stereo IEM signals, that took up 8 of them. The 16R had no dedicated footswitch port for built-in effects on/off (I did figure out how to run a Mix out to an ABY pedal, then feed it back into a second channel that had the delay I wanted, but that took up an extra channel, and required some deep diving in the app to pull off). The 16R also did not have built-in Bluetooth or other wireless connectivity (but you can buy it from them), and the biggest tragedy: you can only record a stereo master track to the SD card, not individual tracks like the L20R.
That said, the 16R beat the Zoom in other areas, namely, the circuit-modeled effects of the Fat Channel plugins, and those plugins were the same ones that came with their DAW, StudioOne. That means the same settings you have in the mixer are what you have in the DAW. I spent years fighting with Adobe Audition to get the built-in plugins to recreate the mixes I recorded onto a digital 12-track (AKAI DPS12), so PreSonus did right by having their hardware and software sync up that way.
However, in only 2 months, I ran into every limitation the 16R had - sooner than I did with the L20R - and went with the Presonus 24R. It's not as limiting as the 16R, and the L20R still beats it in some areas (that dedicated FX footswitch port, built-in/included Bluetooth, individual tracks to the SD, and the stereo Monitor outs), but the Pros of the 24R outweigh the Cons for me.
If you already have an iPad with nothing to do, an empty 6-space rack, a spare footswitch, and you need a simple-to-use, easy-to-carry mixer that gets the job done for a 4-piece (or more, depending on your signal splits), or you want an attractive tabletop interface that looks like a piece of art rather than just another box, the Zoom L20R will get you there. Just don't expect it to grow with you.
3:06 reminds me of deleting files on a hard drive on Mac but not emptying the trash.
Nice video, what camera do u use?
Pocket 3 dji
Ciao, No Over dub?
How is the app for it? Are they still updating and upgrading it?
Iphone work too?
Ipad only in my experience
App great. It allows for multiple ipads to connect. One for FOH and then a few for monitor mixes
3:41 do the headphones out / aux out work through a snake? Last I tried and check they don't, cause they're in stereo?
Oh wow they have speaker mode. I wonder if regular L20 does too hm
Hey if you don't mind me asking, what SD card did you end up using? And what size? Is 128GB enough to record 2 hr long rehearsals with 20 inputs? Thank you!!
I used a 512gb card. You have options for bit rate
In my experience, filling the card did not seem possible with my card. I was worried about it at first but realized, in the corner there was a time remaining, which was really long. You should be able to see from the app how much space it would allow you to record at that rate
I filmed and recorded for 3+ hrs with plenty space
Just make sure you have the fastest speed for read write. Faster write for when saving to SD then read so you don't gotta wait forever for transfer haha
Can the APP be used in a macbook instead of an Ipad? Thanks!
No it can’t 😢