I've heard good things about the MSR16. Some say
the Fostex G16 that was contemporary to the MSR16 had a better "sound quality", but I fearlessly say that that is a totally debatable issue, and that the MSR16 transport was hurkier...I think that may be a point of argument as well, but I think there is less opposition to that.
+1 to Rick's statement about the RCA jacks and cable.
Balanced I/O is overrated in a home or project studio environment IMO. It is unneccessary in cable runs less than 25' or so. I was so stuck on everything being balanced. These guys here convinced me otherwise. The advent of balanced audio circuitry was for the phone company...100's...1000's of miles of analog audio lines back in the day. Totally superfluous in a setting with short cable runs and you are actually risking negatively impacting the signal by running it balanced as you are sending the signal through unnecessary conversion circuitry. The response specs on my Tascam 58 are actually better through the RCA I/O. Balanced audio technology didn't creep its way into home studios because it "sounds better" (unless you are having a problem with hum and interference), but because we felt more "pro" because the big studios run balanced...why? Because the cable chases from the mixing desk to the machine isolation rooms were more than 25'. It was necessary.
The MSR16 is a good machine from everything I hear. I suggest you stay away from the 'S' models (MSR16S)...those are the Dolby S versions as opposed to the dbx versions...lots of stuff around the internet about Dolby S chips going bad after so many years...dbx is pretty much tried and true, and a dbx machine is likely to be lower priced anyway...more available too.
Just do all the things we talk about here all the time...buy local if you can help it...don't risk getting a deck online and having it shipped. I'd say at
best you have a 50/50 chance that something is going to be damaged in shipment. If you can buy local you can go and see a demonstration. Don't feel pressured to not do a thorough inspection...see it go through all its paces...make sure that all the inputs work and that it will play back from all tracks. Look at the heads. Ask about the history. Is it in an environment that looks caring? Give the seller a heads up that (if possible) you'd like it to be in a position to be powered up when you come to see it and connected to a mixer so that you can test it out.
Dave
