I have one, and I'm happy with it. Here's my take.
Upsides: It's adequately quiet, quite flexible, and very compact (if you're working in a small area). The EQs work well, and can be bypassed like a proper mixing board.I've always preferred the inline design philosophy (tracking and mixing with no repatching, and the ability to do a completely independent foldback mix using the monitor section). It seemed a better deal to me than the competitive Mackies and others, and a better match for my working style.
Downsides: some people don't like the stereo aux returns (which can make it more difficult to return a mono effect without using a channel to pan it- this doesn't bother me, though). 60mm faders- hate 'em, but you'll never find 100mm faders that are worth having on any inexpensive board. The compactness makes getting to some of the switches and controls a tad bit awkward for those with big hands- a drawback that's shared with all the compact mixers. 4 subs is a little lightweight for some uses, but hasn't presented a problem for me. Long-term reliability is an unknown: I've had mine a year, and one of the mic gain trim pots has gone intermittent. I regard that as an excuse to rip the unit apart, more than a drawback... The mic pres aren't the quietest/cleanest for the most critical/bitchy work, as is also true of most of the inexpensive mixers. In any case, external preamps are usually one of the first pieces of outboard gear anyone gets these days, and then you just use the line ins and that point becomes moot. The pres are fine for project studio work, but for the highest quality production work, they might leave you wanting a little more.
Bottom line, IMHO: Decent headroom, decent S/N and dynamic range, decent phantom power supply, decent aux send structure (selectable pre/post, like a real board), well-thought-out soloing and monitoring. Perfectly usable for a project studio. I was able to walk up to it and be productive pretty much immediately, since I have a lot of experience with the inline approach. One thumb up- I have to stop short of two thumbs, given the 60mm faders and that pot going funny. I'm hard to please, though, and I'm still pining for my old large-format board (which had some funny pots as well), so take that with a grain of salt. An SSL it *ain't*, but whaddaya want for under $800? (;-)
Lay hands on one before you buy it... Your mileage may vary.
Hope that helps. Let's see what other folks think...
