Zoom Gear & Home Recording Forum

Hi, I'm new and this is my first post.

Is it possible to load cd backup data from a MRS 1266
to a computer without the recorder? I understand the
drums, etc would not work, but can I get the recorded
tracks if I wanted to import them into other software?

Hi Kenny,

Yes, you can back up your system to your PC. HEre's what you need to do.

1) Use the on-board backup utility to make a CD copy of your project.
2) Go to Zoom's website and download the appropriate Audio File Manager
for your unit: http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/download/ ... rs1266.php
3) Copy the backed up file to a folder on your PC
4) Delete the file called 'backup.ini' from the new folder. (no one knows why, but you have to)
5) Use the Audio File Manager to convert your data files to .WAVs.

Good luck. Ask back for more help.

Cheers,

Mike

If you don't have the USB adapter and you don't want to burn backups to CDs, you're only other chice is to pull the drive and use and IDE-to-USB adapter (or get and external USB drive case).
connect the drive to the computer using the adapter and copy the PROJxxxx folders to your computer's drive.
download the Audio File Manager (see the above post for the link) and use it to convert the tracks in the PROJxxx folders to WAV (PC) or AIFF (Mac).

Thanks,

I did find the utility and it worked as described. It's tough to
see which buttons are pressed on the screen, but it works
good enough. It would be nice if you could get the drum program
to convert somehow. I guess I can record and backup the drum
track, but my concern is if the mrs crashes. At least now I can
get my recorded tracks if this happens.

Thanks again, kb

Yeah, you can just 'bounce' the drums to a empty V-Track and then convert that to WAV.
This is what I ended up doing.
If you want the MIDI file, I think both Armin and Zoomermo have apps that will extract that for you.
they both charge for the app.
I haven't used either one, so I cannot recommend one over the other.

Armin
Pattern Editor:
http://www.soundside.de/shop/mrspatterneditor.htm
Song Editor:
http://www.soundside.de/shop/mrssongeditor.htm

Zoomermo
http://musicians-solutions.tripod.com/

Thanks for posting this as I had the same question and now I know the answer,..LOL

As for the "backup.ini",.that stores all your settings that you did when you recorded all your tracks, fader position, effects and so on. So it is a useless file when you just want to use the other files and covert them to .wav for editing in a DAW. BUT,.it's very useful when you backup a project to a CD for later use, because it saves every setting so you can load it back to the 1266.

A while ago I wrote a program as an AFM replacement, as I found the Zoom one so frustrating to use for various reasons. Click below to see the original thread.

AFM/Card Manager replacement for Zoom recorders

A few of the features are:
Same program for all MRS and PS-02/PS04 recorders
Faster conversion to .WAV files.
More than one track/take can be selected for conversion at a time.
File import facility (.WAV->Zoom format)

The program can still be downloaded from my website, and includes a .PDF help file:

Zoom Converter

It was originally written and run on an Windows XP PC, but seems to run quite happily on my new Windows 7 PC as well.

If you try it, let me know what you think.

Thank you! I will download it and give it a try. I use Windows XP,.so it should be fine.
I know the MRS 1266CD is older but I picked it up over the weekend for $200 and it's in mint condition. The only thing that was missing was the Factory CD. I would like to bring the unit back to factory default,.but I'm afraid to without the factory CD with the OP system on it,.but I really don't need to do that as the unit works fine. It would be good to have incase an issue comes up that I need to set it back to default if needed.

The link above for your program,.is that the latest build? Thank you again for posting this.

I do have a question about using your software. When I record the band,.I save the tracks to the CD writer and then insert the CD into my PC. How do I go about getting your software to import the files from the CD?
Thank you,

John

Edit: Looks to be the source button. Correct?

The 'Source' button is correct. It dictates where the software will look to find the Zoom files (.DAT files for the MRS-1266). These should be created by the MRS when a backup is done to CD.

Phil

Phil, thank you very much for all the information. I download the software and it looks really good and pretty easy to use. I'll give it a shot after tonight's rehearsal. I use Sonar-8. It will be a breeze to edit the tracks/.wav. I can also change drum samples too.

codekiddie!! Your program works perfect. I recorded the band last night just for a test and saved to CD. Opened your program converted the data to .wav in under 16 secs. Imported the wavs into Sonar 8 without any issues. Thank you very much for this. I'm looking forward to mixing the bands tracks in Sonar-8. It would have been really nice if Zoom put out a software application for the MRS-1266 to bring up on a PC that you could edit it's setting instead of using the buttons, but its not bad to navigate as it is.
Thanks again,

John

Glad I could help you and the band John.

The program has had quite a bit of testing done by other members, (thanks again Surfercook), which led to the addition of several of the features that the program now has. If you have any ideas on how to improve the program, I will consider adding them when I get the time.

Best regards

Phil

Hi Phil, I don't think the program needs any updating in the way of how it runs. It's perfect and does what it's intended to do,.BUT LOL. It would be really nice if it had a graphics upgrade. Something appealing to the eye. (more modern look). Cool buttons,.some nice background graphics, fancier text, things like that. I added a picture I did in a few minutes and tweaked your layout. But it needs more. Better buttons and other things,.but just to give you an idea!

Hello,

I recorded the drums for a friends band using the Zoom MRS-1266 CD.

I followed the instructions to backup onto CDs. The project was about 2GB so it took three CDs.

When I go to put them into the PC The first two CDs are identical and the 3rd contains a couple of .DAT files.

I think half of one of the tracks has disappeared or split between two CDs but it's just being a pain.

I've managed to salvage 4 tracks using your program (which is great by the way).

Is there a way of backing up a track at a time? I have loads of blank discs so that's not a problem!

Thanks