Does $ = quality, in Dig Rec Studios????

[EveningSky]

Dear Folks,

I know that many have responded much to this issue but for the rest of us, confusion remains.

I am very interested in a digital recording studio, and am considering the Korg D1600, the Akai DPS 16 and the Yamaha AW2816 and 4416.
There are differences in price and features, but are the differences significant and are the differences worth the money?

I do not have the opportunity to try these units out, and they appear so complicated, that I would need more time and conditions to try them out side by side that most music equipment dealers could ever provide me.

Has someone in the readership had the opportunity to compare these units? Would you please share your opinion? Be very greatful.

Also, should I spend less $ on the recorder and more $ on monitors? or more $ on both.

Do we really get what we pay for, or does the increment become smaller past a particular price (recorder and monitor)?

Thank you,
ES

 

[John Sayers]

Eveningsky - do a search on those units and yuou will get loads of opinions about the.

as far as the monitors v recorder are concerned I would worry about the recorder first as it will be your biggest payout. You can always update the monitors later.

cheers
John

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

Hmmm...I haven't used any of those units, but I have another perspective that might help the issue.

With everything-in-one box units, you have to know what you want it to be able to do. Once you decide on a machine with a certain set of features you're stuck. You get what you pay for- if you save money buy skipping features that you don't think you need you will miss them when you eventually need them. If you spend money on features you never use, well you still got what you paid for.

I would do a careful study of all the features of each machine and see how they fit with your recording process. Find out how the signal chain works, how the effects work, how the mixing and EQ works for each unit and imagine using it. Go to the store a tweak with it to see if it responds the way you thought it should. See if you start getting a sense for how the controls are laid out.

Then buy the one with the features you think you will need and seems the most logically laid out for you.

And wait on the monitors until you've had a chance to learn how the machine works and are comfortable with it. Sink what you can into the machine now because there is no turning back once you sign the receipt.

Good luck and happy hunting!
Chris

 

[TexRoadkill]

The first thing to decide is how many channels you need to record at once. Many of the smaller systems will only do 2. If you need more than that it will narrow your choices pretty quick.