FMR is a very small shop. They can't make these things fast enough to support an extensive dealer network. I think the RNC's are more readily available because they've been around longer.
None that I'm aware of.
I disagree with this on two points. Firstly, rap isn't really "spoken". Nor is it really "sung". It has elements of both, but it's really it's own thing. The dynamic and tiberal textures of rap will often be as varied as they are with singing. You can't equate it with something like a "book...
You might be able to find a 2-channel Mytek for just a bit more than that. Otherwise, Lucid would probably be your best bet. The Benchmark will probably be pretty good, but I'm not sure when it's coming out or what the price might be.
It's not possible to win an inter-genre lyrical battle. No matter what one person posts, the other can just say that it sucks and there's really no further proof that can be offered either way. It's pretty ignorant, though, to think that there isn't both good and bad in every genre of music...
Check this forum, Harmony Central, Pro Sound Web, recording.org and rec.audio.pro for any of the following users: "agent wisdom", "big ears", "cranko", "Joshua AUSTRALIA", "kat", "kat28", "lucy", "pingo", "soundhead" and "wise guy".
The m.o. is that they sign up to a newsgroup and start saying...
No such thing. An Avalon VT737, Demeter VTMP-2b and UA 2-610 are all really good tube pre's and sound nothing alike. The cheap solid state/tube hybrids (Art Tube MP, Studio Projects VTB-1) sound nothing like the high end ones either. Nor do Neve 1073's, API 312's or Trident A-Range's sound...
Given Sebatron's shady marketing tactics (planting shills in every recording newsgroup on the planet to push their product), I'd be very leery of them until somebody I trust has actually tried one out. Over the last several months, they have apparently offered to send evaluation units to...
Yes. Or turn off the power bar. Or just leave it on.
No, but any mixer costing under a couple of hundred dollars typically has a number of cost-saving "features" built in - like no power switch.
-/+ if it's unpowered; 1/4", XLR or RCA (or all of the above) if it's powered.
Powered monitors have amplifiers built-in. Unpowered monitors require a separate power amp.