jslator, I think you're one of the sharpest guys posting on the audio forums,
however, in this instance I must respectfully disagree with you.
I compared recently (again), the VTB-1 with the;
1) Presonus MP20
2) M-Audio DMP3
3) Aphex 207 (somewhat improved from the 107 I previously owned)
And it still came out on top for my vocals.
Keep in mind that I record my "practice" vocals 3X or more per week so
there's been a certain amount of mileage done getting familiar with the
VTB-1. And I record a dozen or more singers twice a month at my
acapella chapter so I'm keenly sensitive to vocal tone quality.
The top quartet group went to a "professional" recording studio to do
their demo and were unable to match the sound quality of what I
recorded for them in their "scratch" sessions so proper microphone
placement can also be a factor as you know.
Harvey's review, and Brian Lucey's in Tape Op were pretty much along the
lines of my experience. Dan Richards (Dot), was also interesting, however,
I never have used an Amek console or the HHB Radius model he referenced.
Chris