Hey Hed of Led:
I used a 488 in my studio for a few years. Not a bad box but compared to the sound and speed of
the Yamaha MD8, there is no comparison.
As soon as I plugged in my MD8, the 488 was obsolete. If you notice the price of the 488 has dipped below 800 dollars. It's old technology. I made some good mixes from the 488 but too many clicks, pops, and "sounds from nowhere."
Although the start-up pages for the MD8 are pretty straight-forward, the rest of the manual is as usual: gummed up logic. I have yet to bump into a chat group for the MD-8 that can answer some questions I have. Yeah, Yamaha will answer but the same people who wrote the manual are in customer service.
However, I do believe you will enjoy the MD8 and using discs. I still mix down to tape but I use a Sony ES model twin tape deck and it is a very good box. Go to a dealer and listen to the MD8. In the long run, I believe it's easier to run than
the Tascam 488. Any other questions, you can post me at: bmocini@davenport.edu
My E-mail address is not correct in my vita and Dragon hasn't corrected it yet.
Listen and then decide.
Green Hornet