I hear what you are saying about time...time to learn is of no concern to me though...final product is my concern. I'll be doing this stuff till I die, so I've got all the time in my world. If a scope is not needed...well so be it. But I've been reading an old text book on engineering, and it says that a scope is all important cause you can't always here signal cancilation....until you get to the very final stages of the mix when it becomes apparent to the trained ear. I just want kick ass recordings and will do anything to get them. Also, it doesn't matter, but I'll tell you anyway, I used a scope in school in my electronic music class. We used oscilloscopes, big synths that took up the whole wall (I poop you not) with sine waves, saw waves, plug in chords like telephone companies connecting it all....old school stuff....and we learned that right along side pro-tools....way cool. See, I know kinda how to use a scope, but figured with digital, it's not that big a deal, but this book, (though it is from the 80's but then revised in the late 90's) says you need a scope to help get crisp, clean, strong signals, and multiple clean signals recorded. I don't know, maybe I'm being to picky, not many people have responded to this thread which makes me think most people don't use them...and therefore possibly they are not neccasary...