D1624 any good? users please read

[ralf]

i recently saw an ad for the Fostex D 1624 16-Track Digital Recorder for $900. can anybody tell me if this is a good buy and a good product. i've never used a fostex product and don't know much about them. how much recording time will 10 GB give me and if i can remove and replace that hard drive how much does that cost? i thought i read something about the punch i/o on this. is it noisy and problem causing. do i just hook this up to a 16 track mixing board. thanks for your help fostex geniuses!
-ralf

[skippy]

Yes. I have two, and I'm glad I do. At that price, I'm amazed that there are still any left- they are discontinued (in the US, anyway) and are being blown out by musician's friend and sam ash.

For more info, use the "search" button in the upper right and search on the keyword D1624 (no space).

[gelon]

Yeah, check out what Skippy said (he's probably posted more stuff on that unit than anyone else!). I picked one up, after asking Skippy a bunch of questions, and it's really a very amazing recorder. They are coming with 30gig hard drives now, so you've got a lot of recording time, especially if you work at 16 bit/44.1kHz (and that's one real bonus on the machine - lots of choices on sampling rates). The only thing I'm unhappy with is the noise generated by the fan and disc seeking. But Skippy solved that problem, and the details of his work are on the BB. If you're not comfortable doing the work (and I'm not - at least at this point) you've either got to track with open mic outside the room or figure a way to isolate the box without blocking the air flow.
In any case, you could do much worse for the money, as this is a very versatile machine. And if you can still find one, better snap it up quick! All the best, gelon

[Lt. Bob]

I just got a D1624 which I'm using with a soundcraft board. I am, however considering sending it back and getting a Roland VS-1824cd. But the Fostex doesn't use any data compression and the Roland does so I'm wondering about the sound quality of the Roland since I care about those subtleties of sound. Does anyone have any thoughts about these two units and how they compare?