Anyone looked at the Yamaha AW2816??

[berkleywoods]

Hey,
I'm looking to purchase the standalone Yamaha AW2816 for Christmas. Looks like a powerful machine.. Anyone have any comments about it??

I've thought about going the PC route instead but there's so many options and it can be a bit overwhelming. I'm stuck tightly to this 2000 dollar budget and the consensus I've gotten is that I can't put together a PC machine that beats the Yamaha under that price.

Any comments??

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Berkley of the Woods:]

I have the Yam 2816 in my studio; however, I've not unplugged my Yam MD8 yet.

The 2816 is really a PC with all the menus in a smaller environment.

The manual, AND YAMAHA PAY ATTENTION TO THIS, "REALLY SUCKS."

For such a prestigious company to market a "good" product with such a piss-poor manual is not unheard of. I also have the Yamaha DX-7 which took me three years to really understand.

I just got the "free video" from Yamaha which will help defuse my brain as I attempt to use this box. From almost all reports, the sound you will get is GREAT.

So, man, I can say that the 2816 is really a hi-tech box with about all you need to burn down your CD. If you are familiar with Roland Boxes, the 2816 probably works in a similar fashion.

I just think it is a real bummer for a good product to be delivered to the public with a toilet paper manual. There, I've vented.

Will post when I get into the video. If you buy the 2816, you can register your box with Yamaha and get the "free video."


Merry Christmas
Green Hornet

[Nofrets]

berkleywoods,

I've had an AW2816 for a short time and have been happy with it. I usually end up having buyer's remorse after awhile but so far everything has been as advertised.

Specific things that appealed to me personally: motorized faders (restores your settings when switching between songs and works great with mixing automation), 24 bit recording, Internal cd-rw (there are several other units that have burners but it was something that I wanted), 8 input channels expandable (I needed more than 2) and the overall construction of the unit.

Dislikes: The only thing I didn't like was only having 2 xlr's. Other than that I think it's incredible for $2,000.

I did several months of research before buying this. I think that there are several PC based solutions that are just as good or better. The deciding factor for me was the fact that I couldn't fit my electronic drum kit in my office where I have my PCs. I like the fact that I can carry the 2816 out to another room to record or take it over to a friend's house.

I agree with Green Hornet that the manual isn't great. I basically use it as a reference. There are certain functions that you expect the recorder to be able to do. I skim through the table of contents and find the appropriate section. Then I work through their instructions until I figure it out.

I'm admittedly more of a newbie than an expert on this stuff. I've been in professional recording studios a few times so I have a basic familiarity with the recording process. These are just some of my comments as an AW2816 owner.


Pete

[berkleywoods]

Thanks for the replys....It definately seems like an awesome machine.....do either of you have and mp3s yet of any recordings you've done on the machine??

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Berk:

Got the video a few days ago and have been through it twice.

It helps a great deal; however, the chick doing the voice/over gets babbling about 200 words per minute like she will only get paid for 22 minutes no matter how many words she has to spit out.

But, as I said, the video does help one understand the "machinations" of this box. So, I expect to be doing tracks and mixing and burning in a short time.

Green Hornet

[berkleywoods]

tight tight....definately just keep updated on how things are coming with it..... merry chrstmas